Globally, the trend of
unemployment is an issue that often pose a major concern. While it has become a
threat to socio-economic peace and stability in Africa; In Nigeria, the
continent’s most populous nation, it is one of the most worrying socio-economic
incidence.
Yet, a recent report
released by the International Labour Organisation, "repairing the economic
and social fabric", warned that the number of globally unemployed persons
could rise to 208 million by 2015, up from 200 million today.
A report recently
released by the World Bank states that 56 per cent of the youths in Nigeria are
unemployed.
On this note, three
Nigerians- Opeyemi Awoyemi (25), Olalekan Olude (29) and Ayodeji Adewunmi (29),
in 2009 during their undergraduate years at the Obafemi Awolowo University
created a job website, Jobberman, where graduates can submit their Curriculum
Vitae and get information about available jobs in Nigeria.
Today, they have
the bragging right as West Africa most popular job search engine and have the
bragging rights as the No1 online
job search engine in Nigeria. According to alexa.com,
Jobberman is the
fifth most visited site in Nigeria.
The company has since
moved into Ghana, Nigeria’s close neighboring country and they have also
achieved commendable success there, having attained the second most visited
website in the country.
I spoke to one of the
founders of Jobberman, Opeyemi Awokoya on behalf of Ventures Africa Magazine on
the idea behind the business, their achievements and what they have learnt so
far since they have started the business. He also gave tips on what is expected
of job seekers/applicants and then shed light on some of the pressing issues
encountered by the organisation.
Kindly introduce yourself to the readers
Opeyemi Awoyemi, 25,
Technology Entrepreneur. I am presently focused on building Africa’s largest
jobs website. I am also passionate about scalable and commercially viable
products that stand the test of time and markets. I love Africa.
What inspired the founders of Jobberman to create a job website?
Why did you venture into the business?
We saw a huge vacuum
that could be filled with the tools provided by Technology. The idea to provide
a solution to the problem of job search using technology and the power of the
internet came to our heads and we decided to build a business out of the idea;
providing the widest pool of talent available in Nigeria to employers.
We wanted the space to
be creative. The goal at the time my partners and I started the business was to
create a service that could impact on Nigerians; a business that was viable and
could be used by millions of people.
What is Jobberman? Why do you choose to use the name?
Jobberman is a solution
to the problem of job search. It’s an internet business which provides the
widest pool of talent available in Nigeria to employers.
Four years ago, if you
needed a job, you had to go around physically to offices dropping your CVs, or
buy a physical newspaper to see the jobs available in town. Jobberman was at
the forefront of making jobs info available as well as making job applications
as simple as possible.
Today, Jobberman is the
platform (print and online combined) with the highest number of jobs and
jobseekers in West Africa.
As for the name, a
friend suggested the name and it sounded cool and we decided to use it.
You established Jobberman as an undergraduate; did you foresee
the acceptance you have now from the inception?
Our risk appetite was
high. We were willing to go all the way in achieving our set objectives. We
understood that it would take a lot of risk, notwithstanding in our own
opinion, the barriers were low – all that was needed was hard work and
relentlessness; we knew that if we continued delivering value we would garner a
lot of acceptance.
Of course we weren’t
sure 100 percent; every new day in business was a miracle.
How is the site funded?
Funding came at first
from our stipends, money from family and friends and other pools of other fund.
In December 2009, Chika
Nwobi of L5Lab approached the team and we finally met in January 2010 after
which we entered into a strategic equity partnership.
In August 2010, after
about a year of starting the company, Tiger Global (portfolio includes LinkedIn
and Facebook) invested a million dollars in the business.
You operate mainly in
Ghana and Nigeria; any plan for expansion into other parts of the continent?
How do you manage the present ones?
Yes, we do have plans
for expansion into other parts of the continent; it takes time and lot of
planning if you really want to win. We do have offices in Lagos, Nigeria and
Accra, Ghana where operations for the countries are managed. Technology is
however centralized – from Lagos, Nigeria.
What has been the acceptance like in Ghana?
Awesome, I must say.
Jobberman Ghana is the second most visited website in Ghana. We achieved this
by going local, understanding the Ghanaian market and job seeking culture and
this helped a lot.
What’s presently your staff strength?
We have a staff strength
of about 60 awesome people.
Approximately, how many
companies do you liaise with to get applications posted on your website?
More than 7000 companies
at the moment, and we’ve not peaked yet. This keeps growing every day.
Aside posting job applications on website, does Jobberman have
additional service it renders?
Our objective is to be the
destination place for Employers and companies to get the right people. For
companies, we offer a fully featured Applicant Tracking System which allows
in-CV searching, resume database search and communication tools.
We also provide Career
Services to candidates - they are able to request for an appraisal or makeover
of their CVs and help with cover letters.
Since Jobberman was
created in 2009, has there been a wrong move that you have made that could have
caused a setback for the business? If yes, what was it and how did you manage
the situation?
If you say setback, I
will say none. There are steps (internal and externally) that we’ve taken and
had to retract. We’re a start-up and being nimble and swift has helped us to
make these mistakes and correct them as quickly as possible.
There has been complain by members of the public about the
addition of premiums to your service or offer; why is Jobberman introducing
premium payments knowing that your target audiences are job seekers who
peradventure cannot afford to pay? And how does this premium service operate?
Premium Membership was
an upsell to or Free/Basic service. A premium member had access to view more
data about companies as well as apply for unlimited jobs on the website. Free
members were limited to a number of jobs.
What we’ve discovered is
that clear communication is very important in Africa as people do a lot of
“surface” conclusions. We have since improved on the communication bit and
increased the number of applications free users can get.
This I believe, saying
jobseekers cannot afford to pay for a service is erroneous and misleading.
Airtime, Transport, Internet Access -all these are paid for. It should also be
noted that over 80 percent of users on Jobberman are employed people looking for
better opportunities out there.
I think the focus should
be on the value they get from the Premium in comparison to the Basic/Free
service.
We have also made
advertising of vacancies free for companies so that there will be no
inhibitions to job seekers gaining access to all the jobs.
Hotnigeriajob accused Jobberman of imitating its job advert with
impunity; what is Jobberman’s defence to this accusation?
All advertisers on
Jobberman are spoken to by Jobberman sales staff. Quite often, an advertiser
will ask us to use existing copy of a particular vacancy from their website, HR
system or another source on the internet to make it easy for them.
Like all sales
organisations, individuals in the sales team are incentivised to find new sales
leads for new customers. The team definitely look at other local job websites,
although we do not have any express policy around this. This is common practice
by all websites in our space and pretty much any sales organisation anywhere.
I would suggest you ask
HotNigerianJobs to confirm that they have never copied a single job advert from
another source in this way, or looked at any other website to find new
customers.
They also express in the
article that they are OK with Jobberman reposting their ads - even though that
is not our policy - but don't like us charging jobseekers for those jobs. This
is also totally misleading, since Jobberman jobseekers can use the site for
free up to a certain cap.
Our attempts to reach
out to them have proved fruitless (the site has no address or contact details),
and it is unfortunate that they are not able to just pick up the phone to
resolve such an issue rather than trying to use the media to try get some
mileage out of it.
So, why do you think social entrepreneurs fail and what does it
take to be a successful social entrepreneur?
You need to know where
your ROI will come from. Lot of social entrepreneurs fail because they do not
fully define the goals and metrics of the business. If you are not going to
make profit, then you need donors not investors. To get donors, you must be
making ultra-massive impact in a way that helps the donor’s PR or intent.
Social entrepreneurship
is measured by the impact of a social change achieved and when impact is
difficult to measure failure is imminent.
You have the bragging
right as the business that redefines online recruitment in Nigeria, what is the
company doing at the moment to sustain the Jobberman brand as the No1 online
job search engine in Nigeria?
We are continuously
working on our products to make sure that they deliver more value to our users.
We’ve also intensified in our partnership efforts to make the brand more
visible across the country. Key initiatives are going on in conjunction with
the biggest brands in Nigeria in media, telecommunications, non-profits and the
Federal and State Governments at different levels/capacities.
How do you keep up with competitors with so many job sites
springing up? What is the competitive advantage Jobberman have over other
website that will keep it going as a leader among its peers?
Solid management team,
knowledgeable institutional investors who are veterans in the global job space,
already established brand. I think what is important now is for us to continue
to deliver superior value. As they say, “just don’t mess it up”.
Jobberman was recently represented at the Nigerian Blogger fair.
How do you think bloggers can blog profitably?
Most blogs will never be
profitable, this is a fact. However, profitability will increase generally over
time with increase in quantity and quality of online traffic in the Nigerian
internet space.
I think bloggers need to
choose niches and stick with it as well.
At the moment, there are
only a few outliers, LindaIkeji, BellaNaija, OMG et al; so it’s a time, chance
and demography game.
How do you think investors can help tech startups in Nigeria?
Cash first. Business
knowledge follows. Any other thing is more yadayada than real stuff.
Will you say tech startups are finding it easier now than when
you started your business in 2009?
It has become more
difficult than it was in 2009. The entrants in the tech start ups have
increased geometrically. It is definitely difficult to build say... another
Jumia or Jobberman now. But opportunities abound for people with original and
innovative ideas. I personally would love to see less of websites offering
basic stuff and more of paid services and software-hardware hybrid projects.
What do you think job seekers/applicants are doing wrong which
they need to correct to make their CV look more favourable?
My advice to
jobseekers: There are thousands of people like you out there. Don’t just
list your educational qualifications. Sell your skills and uniqueness to
employers in your CV. Mention things you’ve done. Add growth numbers or
anything that shows how much of a superstar you are. Let your CV look
professional, search online for samples or let a good CV writer help you out.
What do you think should be the paramount thing to remember/do
in a job interview?
Know as much as you can
about the company, their business model and the role you’re applying for. Be
confident and communicate clearly. You should also be objective with your
answers to questions; recruiters dislike those who beat around subject matters.
If you are to devise a logical means that will help tackle
unemployment rate in Nigeria; what will that be?
I will quote Governor
Fashola of Lagos State here - The ultimate answer to finding a solution to
unemployment and joblessness lies in three simple words which is “Made in
Nigeria” as no other nation has done it another way.
So to get to "Made
in Nigeria", we must innovate and be creative. Innovation requires us to
start looking for new and more efficient ways of doing the same thing.
Creativity is the hand maid of innovation which suggests we must develop things
for ourselves.
Where do you see Jobberman at the end of this decade?
I see Jobberman becoming
the #1 recruitment destination in Africa – online or offline – in terms of
revenue, jobseekers, employers and traffic. I also see a truly respected
pan-African Internet franchise.
Thank you, Opeyemi. Good
luck in your endeavours.