A revolutionary new online recruitment platform – ‘Pick & Link’ was recently launched in Sri Lanka to help recruiters and job seekers in the country. A unique feature is that it does away with the popular CV formats by introducing a comprehensive template. The service is free for job-seekers. It is also free for recruiters up to the initial screening.

Explaining the new initiative, Francis Nanayakkara, Director of Bleucollab (Pvt) Ltd., the promoters of ‘Pick & Link’, said, “Often job seekers with very fine credentials are dropped out because of issues with their CV. It could be that the presentation is poor or that some critical information has been missed out. This key problem is eliminated by ‘Pick & Link’ by having a standard template to be filled out. All the essential information is therefore captured and catches the eye of the recruiter. Comparison is also easy. With most opportunities where 300 – 400 job seekers are vying for the same vacancy, recruiters become weary after going through the first 50 – 60 applications. As a result, late applicants lose out. By uploading a self-recorded video to the profile, candidates can now introduce themselves much better than with a CV format, to impress the recruiters.

The recruitment process is normally tedious and consists of preparing the job description, creating a recruitment plan, designing and publishing ads, starting the search, shortlisting CVs, conducting an online or phone screening, interviewing in-person and offering the job. This is also very costly if the companies put a rupee value on the time spent for these activities by executives, managers, top management and the difficulties of not having the vacancy filled on time.

“Pick & Link makes the process simpler, faster and more cost-efficient,” said Nanayakkara. All that a job seeker has to do is upload his details on our site. It is absolutely free; no charge at all. Potential employers who wish to recruit will shortlist profiles using the provided filters and select the most suitable candidates for their vacancies. Recruiters won’t have to pay for registering or shortlisting the profiles; it is only when they want to contact the selected candidates a payment will apply. The charges are also very competitive and are based on the number of candidates selected and the salary-scale attached to the vacancy.”

“Normally, it would take approximately 25 – 30 days from the time a vacancy occurs to finalizing the candidate. On this platform, the same process can be completed within 4-5 days. With the capturing of a candidate’s details on one template and the availability of the candidate’s video, the recruiter’s job is made so much easier. However, in order to maintain a candidate’s privacy and confidentiality, only a limited profile is made available initially. If the recruiter likes the profile and wishes to proceed further, the next step is to ask permission from the candidate to view the full details, which includes the candidate’s identity. The recruiter’s request goes to the candidate via an email and SMS from Pick & Link. This is particularly useful with job seekers who would not wish to let anyone else know that they intend to move. We invite job seekers to visit our website and create a profile. It could result in the next career move.”

Pick & Link is offering recruiters the facility of publishing job advertisements free-of-charge. Both recruiters and job-seekers can access the Pick & Link recruitment platform at https://pickandlink.com/.