Why HiddenTalent Was Made.
The Passive Job Search.
There was a time a friend of ours was in a position that he really didn't enjoy and was looking to make a move. This happened to be right at the start of the Covid shutdown and there were many people who had just be let go from their jobs. LinkedIn and Twitter were filled with people looking for new jobs. We saw posts that had thousands of views and interactions, and some people ended up in a better position than they were in before.
Our friend however, had to quietly reach out to a few people that he could trust to make sure the news didn't get back to his current employer that he was looking for a new job. While some employers are cool about knowing their employees are looking for a new position, unfortunately from our experience that is not the norm. Many employers will fire you on the spot or treat you horribly. So networking, the greatest tools when finding a new position, was basically eliminated or greatly restricted for him. All public options like LinkedIn or Twitter weren't options either.
His only real option was what we would call "actively" looking for a new job. We define an active job search as you searching job listing sites like Indeed, LinkedIn, Monster, etc... for jobs that might fit what you are looking for. All the "passive" options weren't available to him. We define a passive job search is letting companies and recruiters find you and present you with opportunities. Passive options include things like posting on social media sites that you are looking for a new position.
So as we thought about the situation our friend was in, we tried to come up with a solution to this problem. After all in our opinion, the best talent already has a job, so there are probably many people who are in this same situation. We wanted to solve the problem and give people a way to passively find new positions without the fear of your current employer finding out.
Our solution was to make a site where you could enter in all your information, like education and work history, but then anonymize it but still give enough information that recruiters and companies can find candidates to fill the positions they need to fill. The companies and recruiters can find candidates via a simple search look at their anonymized information, then request access to the candidate's non-anonymized information. The candidate can see who is making these requests and give access to only those they want to.