By now, many prospective college students have received responses from all the colleges to which they've applied. But now comes the hard part: deciding where to go.
Luckily, there are some sites that help them in that endeavor and provide them with valid insight before they make their final decisions. Even better, these sites can also help those who haven't applied yet and are starting their initial research.
For the high school junior who is considering applying to different colleges or the high school senior who needs to make a decision, these sites are outstanding resources.
BeRecruited: BeRecruited is designed specifically for the high school athlete. Instead of waiting for a team to find the student, BeRecruited gives them an opportunity to find colleges across the United States that have the kind of athletic program for which they're looking. They can then upload information about themselves and their high school athletic performance to attract the attention of team recruiters.
CampusExplorer has a lot of great information.
(Credit: Don Reisinger/CNET)CampusExplorer: CampusExplorer allows students to search more than 6,000 colleges in the United States to find which campus is right for them. They can search by area, curriculum, or type of school. The site provides information on the size of the school, what it offers to students, and the attendance cost. It even has advice on getting into the school from students who have asked questions about the college on Yahoo Answers.
Cappex: Cappex requires students to sign up and create a personal profile that includes grades, extracurricular activities, and SAT/ACT scores. Once that profile is completed, they can search for colleges, learn about the schools in which they're interested, and use a handy tool called "What are my chances?" to help them determine if they really have a chance at being admitted to a particular school.
CollegeAnswer: Owned by college financial-aid company SallieMae, CollegeAnswer provides students with information about all facets of college admittance. From basic research on schools to information on paying for a college education, the site has it all. It provides in-depth information about colleges, including their demographics and attendance costs. But where it really shines is in its information about college life in general. It's an outstanding resource for prospective and current students.
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JobScore is a newish company that can run the recruiting page for your business' Web site. It's free, and it looks like a very strong service, especially compared to the existing, paid software apps from companies like Taleo. But what I really like is that, in the future, JobScore will let you take the applicants to your jobs that you don't hire, and throw them back into the job pool so other JobScore clients can see them. More on that in a minute.
I've covered other outsourced jobs pages before, in particular JobCoin (review), which lets you put up a jobs board on your site. It helps you make money by accepting classifieds for open jobs. JobScore is different: You use it to list the jobs you have open at your company. And then JobScore goes to town on the whole recruitment thing for you.
The service will build your business' Jobs page for you.
(Credit: JobScore)First, JobScore will manage the workflow of handling job applications. The service offers applicants a full system for submitting resumes and cover letters. If you tell the service what's important to you, JobScore scans incoming resumes (using technology from Sovren) and ranks them. It collects notes and to-dos on each applicant and lets you flag where they are in your process, and who else in your company needs to look at the applications.
JobScore also helps you get more applicants: It will syndicate your job listings to job sites like Craigslist and CareerBuilder. And it helps you tap your own network for candidates and offer a bounty if people help you out. Import some email addresses and the service will blast them a note saying you're looking for such-and-such to hire. If you do attach a financial reward to the note, JobScore tracks the applicants that come to you via those referrals, so you know who to pay later.
JobScore is free as I just described it, but CEO Dan Arkind does have a plan to make money. It's based on all the people who apply for jobs via the system that you don't hire. Eventually, the rule for JobScore will be: Everyone you don't hire gets kicked into the JobScore pool. Their resumes then get matched with other JobScore clients' openings, and if there's a good on-paper match, the clients can get the contact info on these candidates--for a fee. That's the revenue stream. It's very clever, and Arkind is aware it will likely require some tweaking after it goes live in February. Prices for referrals are not yet set.
JobScore also organizes the influx of job applicants.
(Credit: JobScore)Candidates will be able to opt out of the automatic referral, and their names are not given out to hiring managers initially; they have to approve the request to get connected. Hiring managers will also be able to keep resumes from going into the pool if, for example, they expect an existing candidate might be a good match for a future position.
I am impressed with JobScore. It fills a real need for small and medium businesses, and its revenue model is original.
See also: The very weird NotchUp, which pays candidates for going on job interviews. If the recession takes hold, that model's dead.
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