What does Job Bounties do?

Job Bounties launched on 14th November 2012, as the first ever social recruitment site which rewards you for recommending people you know. It lets recruiters post jobs for free and set the financial reward or ‘bounty’ they want to pay only if and when they successfully hire someone for their business. Users get paid the cash bounty for successfully headhunting their friends and contacts for the jobs posted.

What is your role?

I’m Co-Founder and COO of Job Bounties. I’ve been working with James Uffindell (Job Bounties’ Founder and CEO) for a number of years on his other business – Bright Network. The idea for Job Bounties grew out of Bright Network with the thinking that traditional recruitment was just too expensive, and that social media had the potential to truly disrupt the entire industry. So we founded Job Bounties to make things more efficient, cost-effective and to reward people financially for who they know.

What are your public relations objectives?

We set out with the big ambition of disrupting an entire industry with a a fantastic idea and a ton of drive –  but also as an unknown brand. We knew from previous business experience that you need to get your name, brand and business out there to make a difference. Our initial PR objectives were to make ourselves known, and now we want to establish Job Bounties as the number one referral website.

How Job Bounties works

What has been your most positive PR experience/best PR result?

We’ve had some fantastic PR hits in broadsheet newspapers – in the FT and the Independent for example – which we were absolutely thrilled to get. This piece in Recruiter, however, has been our favourite so far, as the journalist really took the time to understand what’s so different about Job Bounties compared to other recruitment services, the concept behind the business, and what we are aiming to achieve. It is great to find a journalist who is really interested in this level of detail. This article has provided an excellent way for us to help more people see how using Job Bounties can benefit them. In addition, we recently got some great traction on social media around a fun news hijacking opportunity, when the team produced a mock job advertisement for the Pope’s replacement.

What advice would you give to someone new to working with a PR agency?

Getting the culture and approach fit right is essential. We had a couple of lengthy meetings with Firefly (and a number of other agencies) before signing up. We wanted to be sure that they could deliver what they were promising, and that we all would enjoy working together along the way.

Who do you admire generally in business?

I think Sophi Tranchell of Fairtrade Divine Chocolate fame is pretty amazing. Aside from running a company which produces delicious chocolate, she has taken a wonderful (and fair) idea and made it into a solid profit-making brand that gives so much back to the cocoa farmers in West Africa, as well as helping young people start out in business in the UK. Firms that set out to do good beyond their bottom lines (which we hope we can do by lowering the cost of recruitment) are a true inspiration.

Sophi Tranchell MBE, MD, Divine Chocolate

What makes you mad in business today?

That more businesses are not creative and open about allowing for flexible, family-friendly hours for both men and for women. To my mind, that’s the only way we’re going to get any meaningful sense of equality in the boardroom and to carve out enough time to provide our families with the love and care they deserve.

Do you have a favourite writer or publication?

I love to read – from business books to historical memoirs. gritty novels to lighthearted magazines, so choosing one writer or publication is incredibly hard. Most recently, I was really impressed by Kerry Hudson’s novel, Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-cream Float Before He Stole My Ma, for its true story of surviving against the odds and for being brave enough to be different.

What is your biggest personal extravagance?

Regular subscriptions to the FT, Vogue, and the LRB … The big stack of unread papers and magazines on our kitchen table would suggest that work and family commitments don’t really leave me with enough time to consistently read all three, but I can’t imagine life without them.

If you won the lottery, what would you do?

Get some bigger desks for Job Bounties HQ – ours are a bit teeny tiny at the moment, even if we are a paperless office. Put plenty aside for eighteen years time when my children may consider going to university, because my downhearted guess is that it’s not going to get any cheaper … And the rest would go to some educational good cause because I think early years is where the biggest differences can be made – exactly which would require some research as to what would make the best charitable investment.