Graduate creates resource for potential employees

During this economic recession, applying for a job can sometimes translate to one resume in a stack of 5,000.

When Jonathan Rosen, 26, applied for work after earning his Ph.D. in international studies at the University of Miami, he learned just how inefficient the application process could be.

For some jobs, there can be hundreds of applicants, so employers typically devote only seconds to each resume.

“It’s really depressing applying to all these jobs and never hearing back,” Rosen said. “Especially entry-level jobs and especially for me because, even though I have a Ph.D., I don’t have enough experience.”

This is what inspired Rosen to create konectwork.com, a website where users can create a profile and be matched to jobs and employers based on their qualifications and criteria.

The goal is to make the process more efficient for not only the applicants but also the companies looking to hire. They also hope to take users through the whole process, beginning with getting internships all the way to landing careers.

Sophomore Camila Heard, an advertising major, hopes that this service will help her find an opportunity in her field.

“This website can expose me to different employers and filter the right services,” she said. “Anything that can help would be beneficial.”

This filtering feature also drew sophomore Armando Hernandez to Konectwork.

“It gets rid of the hassle of worrying if an employer is right for you,” he said. “It helps the process of finding an internship that is right for you.”

On Konectwork, users create profiles that include their basic information and any educational or work experiences. The process can be streamlined if the users agree to let Konectwork take the information from their LinkedIn profiles.

By using an intricate algorithm, companies can search for people who fit their exact criteria. For example, if a law firm is looking for someone who graduated from UM with a certain GPA and a certain skill proficiency, the site filters through the users to find a direct match.

Konectwork is essentially using reverse engineering with an algorithm specially created by one of its partners, a professor at FIU.

The website currently has 110 users (update or cut this sentence?), according to Nick Dusseau, the company’s CEO. The three main fields are law, business, and engineering. According to Dusseau, the makers of Konectwork hope to expand to as many careers as possible, from arts and sciences to engineering, to make the website a more diverse tool.

From the start, Rosen said he realized starting the website would be a challenge because the majority of entrepreneurial endeavors fail. But he persevered because he felt that his service could be highly beneficial.

“To be an entrepreneur, you have to have thick skin,” Rosen said. “You have to listen to people say your idea is dumb and it won’t go anywhere. It’s a risk because 99 percent of entrepreneurs fail. It’s never easy and you have to be realistic, especially when you’re a student looking for investors in this economy.”

The company’s focus is to garner as many users as possible to make the website a success. In order to expand, the business has made an agreement with some fraternities and sororities on UM’s campus.

If 80 to 90 percent of the members of a Greek organization create a profile, Konectwork will make a donation to the organization, which can be used for dues, fundraising or philanthropic work. Konectwork is looking for more organizations to sponsor, such as honor societies, engineering societies and any other groups.

“The most important thing to emphasize is that it’s free,” Rosen said. “There’s no way this can hurt you. You’ll only lose three minutes of your time, if that. We also want feedback. Part of a service is continually developing and getting better and that won’t happen unless people get involved.”

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Ashley Martinez
Ashley Martinez is a senior majoring in journalism and psychology, which have sharpened her people-watching skills. She has worked as a staff writer, copy editor, assistant editor and is now the Edge arts and entertainment editor at The Miami Hurricane. She serves as the president of UM's chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Her work has been featured in The Hurricane, Distraction Magazine, The Communique, Gables Home Page and The Miami Herald. When she's not working on a story, she loves going to the theatre and singing show tunes.