The Jobseeker’s Dilemma
You arrive to the interview at a place separate from the office, odd, but not unheard of, and was sold by “this amazing work opportunity that could revolutionize the future“. After working out the details of work hours, dress code and probation period, you are given the actual address of the headquarters, which isn’t the place everyone is familiar with in the city. No, this is an hour away from civilization. Again, odd, but it’s not unheard of to have the headquarters at a different location to avoid the city’s dreaded traffic. You sign the papers and show up on the first day of work.
Not only is your seat in front of the toilet that is emitting the smell of death, your first task is to kick a puppy. This is not what you signed up for…
Some of us have been there, where the promises of the job sound amazing on paper and during the interview, but after settling down, you realize that it was all trickery and you’ve signed your soul over to Satan reincarnate.
Wobb.my Brings The Office Experience To Jobseekers
Wobb.my is the attempt to show transparency to the entire deal for jobseekers in Malaysia. The job searching website allows you to have a sneak peek of the interior of the office as well as the people involved. Don’t be fooled by the unassuming job description on the “Search Jobs” tab. Click on the “See Our Office”, “Hear Our People” or “Experience Our Culture” to experience not only their interior office, but also be able to watch testimonies from the current employees.
This personalization is what sets Wobb.my apart from job search engines like jobstreet.com.my. By allowing the jobseekers to see exactly what goes on in the offices, they are able to decide whether it will be a good fit for them. Some employees prefer corporate work with strict cultures and discipline, while others perform better when they aren’t bound by the no-nonsense policy.
Wobb.my allows the jobseekers to decide for themselves whether they will fit in before they even start working there, instead of wasting both the employer’s and employee’s time figuring out that “This uhh… isn’t working out.”
The website itself is fairly easy to navigate, allowing users to look through the companies that feature on the website via the “Discover Companies” tab. The companies are categorized into e-commerce, education, fashion, lifestyle, and so on to allow jobseekers to find their area of interest and expertise easier. Clicking into the prospective companies lets users see the company’s office, people and video introductions.
If the jobseekers think they would fit in the company, then they can click on the “We are hiring” icon (illustrated in the bottom right corner of the picture below) at the end of the page and see what positions they qualify for.
The Founding Father
Founder of Wobb, Mr. Derek Toh understands the plight of jobseekers. “The problem is that every job site is more of less still trying to do the same thing, which is to list jobs on the internet. There has been very little evolution in this space, and all these jobsites are just really boring to look at,” he said, “When I talked to jobseekers, they will always ask me questions about what it’s like to work in the company, what culture do they have, and how are the people that work there.”
With this in mind, Derek built a website that allowed companies to show exactly what the jobseekers are looking for. “We don’t just tell you what it’s like to work there,” he added, “we literally show you videos and photos of the people and the environment, so jobseekers can decide for themselves.”
Derek confided that the site initially started off as a hobby, “But since I launched the site, the response has been overwhelming! Many CEOs and founders that use us are referring other companies to join the site because it’s helping them attract better talent and boost their brand as an employer.”
With the abundance of information available about the company on the site, it’s no wonder that jobseekers are excited about looking for their dream job through the site. Derek added that even happily employed people would browse the site for fun, which is great exposure for the employers.
Standing Out From The Masses
There is no lack of job search engines available on the net, however, there is no doubt that few (if any) provided as much details as Wobb.my is able to. We asked Derek how they managed to get all the information of the companies. “I think some job sites try to make themselves look bigger than they are by scraping the internet for job advertisement data and then treating it as their own. We don’t do that at Wobb,” he said.
“Every job advertisement you see on our site was posted by the employers themselves who have a profile on Wobb. We help give advice on the best way to write a job advertisement, but essentially every company still writes it their own way. I think it’s good to have a bit of your company’s personality when writing a job advertisement.”
We asked Derek to convince us that Wobb.my is a better alternative to other job search engines and he had this to say:
“I think other jobsites are just there to list jobs and are generally really boring to look at. If people care about the culture of the company they are going to be working in, Wobb is a great place to discover companies like that. I know people in Asia always look at what companies like Google and Facebook are doing in Silicon Valley, but they didn’t realise there is a new breed of employers that have been quietly sprouting all over Malaysia. You probably already use their products or services, but you never thought of them as employers. You can find them on Wobb. Also the entire experience of browsing Wobb is just different, immersive and very very fun.”
Money Isn’t Everything, You Know
Noticing the lack of salary range on the site, I asked Derek whether it was deliberately done in line with Wobb’s “It’s more than just money” mission statement.
“You can include a salary range if you like,” he answered, “we don’t have any restrictions there.” He added that some companies think it’s important to have the salary range available for viewing in order not to waste anybody’s time. However, he said that the salary should not be a priority and made it a point to deter jobseekers from searching for jobs via salary range by not adding a function that did that.
Heh. Smart. “Most of the employers on Wobb actually pay well,” he said, “but we don’t want that to be the focus of the jobseekers that come into Wobb.”
Working On Bean Bags
Wobb is actually short for “Working on Bean Bags”. Derek shared that many Asians look up to the working culture in international companies such as Google and Facebook without realizing that there is a new breed of employees emulating those companies all over Malaysia.
Derek Toh dreams to help Malaysia transform its job and talent market. “As a returning Malaysian, I love meeting other returning Malaysians… I want to keep bringing our best people home.”
With an effective jobsearch engine like Wobb.my that showcases the company’s good culture, this far-fetched dream might actually be possible.
This article part of a series of collaborative articles between Vulcan Post and Malaysian Global Innovation and Creative Centre (MaGIC), to showcase successful and innovative startups from Malaysia. For more information about the Malaysian startup scene, please visit MaGIC at http://www.mymagic.my.
