Switch – The Tinder For Jobs

by: Bryan Tropeano

Switch is the latest product to be making waves in the technology sector, having just received around $2 million in seed funding as well as announcing Marker VC as their latest investor.

Switch is an app available for iOS that is very similar in design and functionality to the popular dating app Tinder.In case you have been living in a bubble for the past year, Tinder focuses on dating and provides users with the ability to swipe left or right depending on their like or dislike of that profile in question. Switch uses the same principal of swiping left or right to indicate your interest, but applies this model to the job market. Using the Switch app users can browse through job opportunities and swipe to indicate their interest.

The app comes with some cool features including the ability for users to hide themselves from selected companies (this tends to be used to hide your profile from your current employer in order to avoid awkward situations) as well as allowing users to browse for jobs using specific criteria such as a minimum and maximum salary.

Switch is not the only app of its kind – it has several competitors including Jobr and Campusjob – but it is making waves with its innovative design and unique approach to the jobs market.

When using the app, if you find a job that fits your requirements,  you can mark your interest with a swipe. After which point the employer will be provided with full access to your profile and can then make contact with you regarding the position.

Switch has already signed up with 9 of the top 50 jobs sites in the United States, and boasts over 400,000 job applications and some 2 million swipes so far.

As well as listing jobs exclusively on the app, Switch has also pulled job application data from many job boards in order to maximise the amount of jobs that are searchable via the app. By providing a very large selection of jobs on the app, Switch now has gained access to a huge amount of data in relation to the job market.  They are using this data effectively to analyse the jobs market and compare various factors between cities in the US.

For example, Switch has calculated that when it comes to software engineers, the average salary is 24 percent more in New York than it is in San Francisco (something that doesn’t come as too much of a surprise). This is just one of many data points that Switch have been able to extrapolate from the huge amount of job data that they have at their fingertips.  This translates to them being able to use this information to the benefit of their users. For example users can filter jobs by criteria including salary requirement in order to find jobs that are very close to their ideal.

So if you are currently in the hunt for your new job and are interested in the concept of Switch, then head over to the switchapp.com where you can download the app and try it out for yourself. Currently the app is only available for iOS devices but it will likely be coming to more devices including Android very soon.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bryan Tropeano is a senior producer and a regular reporter for NewsWatch.  He lives in Washington D.C. and loves all things Tech.