Ask HN: Review my startup, hirednext.com

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2205199

by jerryblack • 15 years ago

7 10 15 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I have created a startup to help people build their resumes to find jobs easier.

Here is the link to the site: http://hirednext.com

e1ven• 15 years ago

Interesting, but I'm not sure why I'd use this rather than doing it on my own website.. I suppose it has a decent template, but couldn't I just create one in LibreOffice, export to PDF/etc and post it?

If the appeal is the Video, Maybe you could push that more?

If you're going after non-technical people (who couldn't do their own site), they're likely to just email a .doc, aren't they?

I don't mean to be critical, I'm just trying to understand who would use your service.

jerryblack4• 15 years ago

over the past years I have kept a bunch of resumes that were always outdated and every time i wanted to change a design, or to update it I did not know which was the better formatted one. Having it online, it is always accessible to you and anyone else like an employer to view it, see your video pitch etc...

jerryblack4• 15 years ago

Also in regards to the non-technical people. It takes time and effort to create something good looking and presentable, especially when applying for a job to stand out. So many people do not have the time, skills, etc to make it.

If you have something central where you can always store all your data, change resume designs in a matter of one click, why now use it?!

swellular• 15 years ago

This service is appealing to non-technical people because it makes them seem technical.

Unfortunately, I think people will looking to hire based more on online presence- specifically LinkedIn and your blog (assuming you have one.) The access LinkedIn allows you to past employers and your network of colleagues is becoming crucial to hiring.

polymind2• 15 years ago

I found this site very interesting and simple. Site color choice and layout is good for a startup which is still in beta, and can be improved. Page Loading time is wonderful. I haven't come across any cold fusion site in recent years, but this sounds like a nice work by hirednext.com.

I like the idea of adding you own 'css'(custom), so that you can create your own customized resume. Video pitch feature is great and the link for that is placed at an appropriate place.

Overall I think this has a potential of joining the likes of linkedin.com. So all the best hirednext.

jerryblack4• 15 years ago

wow, awesome review, thank you!

polymind2• 15 years ago

Clickable link: http://hirednext.com

ismarc• 15 years ago

I built a small personal tool to do the same thing when I was asked for my resume recently and realized just how out of date my resume was. It was a much simpler, much less polished one, but I think there's a definite need for the service and that there are a good number of monetization opportunities around it (recruiters and companies are more than willing to part with money to hire folks).

That said, there are some issues I ran into. If you delete all the text in the objective, I could no longer save the resume and adding text back into the objective and then selecting "done editing" didn't actually retain the text, so I lost any potential changes I had. Requiring at least one education entry seems a bit limiting, especially considering the market for job seekers includes much more than just those with a college degree. Also, the length/format of the customizable URL meant that I could barely fit my name with no spaces. What I would have liked to see was hirednext.com/<name_I_chose>/<company name the resume is for>.

I think that being able to reorder the entries would be a good next feature to add. Where I went to school is a minor footnote compared to a large number of the achievements from my professional experience and having it first is frequently distracting from the rest of the resume. Along those same lines, being able to rename the "Portfolio" section would be nice...there's several open source projects worth listing, but doesn't constitute an actual portfolio.

All that said, this is a good start and I think if you can keep it free to job seekers, you've got a good start on your hands.

jerryblack4• 15 years ago

we have addressed all your concerns and they have been fixed/updated.

see the change log at http://hirednext.wordpress.com

JoachimSchipper• 15 years ago

A minor quibble, but I found the resume on the front page distressingly square. Also, an example resume might be useful to convince people to sign up.

Ask HN: Review my startup, hirednext.com

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