A new labor force software is currently in development to be piloted in Jacksonville that can help potential job seekers find the right job in the area. Everett Grady, a native of Jacksonville, is the founder of ProHub, a new recruiting software based off an idea of Grady’s 20 years of experience in the pharmacy industry.
Grady says the software bridges a gap that many employers and job seekers have in the labor force market of today. Grady says that on average it costs employers about $4000 per position from advertising an open position to getting the new employee trained. ProHub, he says, will bridge the cost gap and find an already-trained worker looking for a new job quicker and easier. Grady said that the whole world of job fairs, job boards, online applications and websites as being broken and disconnected. Grady said that numerous clients have talked to him about the wasted hours in filling out multiple applications on time and playing “the waiting game” to hear back about applications. “We decided a few years ago to hit the ‘reset’ button on our credentialing software and add a component that would be involved in fixing this problem by matching qualified candidates to employers much faster than the old way of just doing an online application and resume process.”
Grady has been working with workforce development organizations to implement his software in Nashville and St. Louis currently, but he is interested in developing a program for the Jacksonville area as a pilot for rural communities. “Along the way, I keep getting asked how can we help rural America. I’ve even been asked about how we can help Native American reservations. How do we help bring this workforce to struggling rural areas that need this help? We took a step back. I’m an actual resident of Jacksonville. Before we start in other areas, we said we wanted to see if we can make this work – let’s do a pilot in Jacksonville. Let’s see a) what’s the need for Jacksonville? What’s out there that the employers are looking for? and then b) See how we can actually bring that workforce to this area or see what the workforce already looks like. If we do that here, we feel that we can do that in other rural areas.”
ProHub, he says, is an inexpensive way to recruit new workers. The service only costs employers $25 a month for unlimited job postings. Grady says the reason the cost is so low is because ProHub wants to take inventory of all of the jobs in a specific area. He ways it is a way for the software to analyze and develop the workforce internally through a special algorithm to match potential job candidates to employees. He says the software’s work is twofold in that it can be used as a way to get current residents to specific jobs or to promote the town to a specific job sector to bring in workers from outside of the area.
Workers have an easier process for applying to jobs, as well, according to Grady. He says that potential candidates can build an online detailed portfolio of their job and work experience. “They have the ability beyond a resume and an application to tell an employer more about themselves. It tells a story about their skill bases, experiences, and projects that they have worked on. There is a section for military veteran experiences and release forms. They can compile everything on the portfolio about themselves.” Grady says that the algorithm then keys on specifics in their online portfolio and matches their experiences and skills to potential employers. He says the candidate will then receive notifications about the potential job fit. “Here’s the beautiful part about it, once they find a job they want, they just click one button: ‘apply.’ What happens is they are sending their electronic portfolio over to the hiring manager.”
He says that once the hiring manager accepts the portfolio, the software alerts the applicant every step of the way if they are being asked in for a potential interview or not. Hiring managers who sign up also have the ability to do a Work Now option. “We’ve allowed employers to also post a single shift. What happens is an employer like Lonzerotti’s who needs a dishwasher for a night, they can actually go in and find out who is available to work that night and they can simply invite them to come cover that single shift for x amount of salary, or they can post the job and say they need someone for the single shift. We call it ‘Work Now’. We have built a very extensive referral program in the St. Louis area this way. Anybody who signs somebody up for ProHub and they go to work, they can receive 5% of every dollar earned by that person.”
ProHub is currently awaiting roll out with potential employers in Jacksonville within the next few months. For now, people can sign up at https://prohubdata.com/ or visit them on Facebook for more information. Grady has met with officials with the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce and the Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation to preview and implement the software locally.