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Hear how a group of local tennis friends (and entrepreneurs) are changing the game to serve up an ‘app’-etizing solution that gives those working in the food, beverage and hospitality industry the best ‘advantage’. A podcast chat with vice president Vic Fletcher of mPloy.ca
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PODCAST TIMELINE
0:00 – Intro
3:00 – How the idea started. An after ‘tennis’ discussion that took off.
5:00 – Employers can use it to hire. Job seekers can use it to look for jobs.
6:05 – ‘The mPloy app takes the employer 70% down the recruiting process’
8:00 – You can set up your profile in the best possible way when applying for a job.
8:25 – ‘We do a qualification process.’ This helps create a shortlist for employers looking to hire.
9:40 – What is the biggest problem facing the restaurant industry in terms of hiring.
11:50 – “We want to be one of their key strategies to find the best staff in an efficient, fast and low cost manner.”
12:35 – How does the mPloy app work if you are a user, or someone looking for a job?
13:35 – Giving details that match the job. Securing the confidentiality of the data. ‘Our information is incredibly secure and safe.’
14:50 – Introduce yourself and make your video. The app allows you to reveal your personality.
15:40 – How to make your video ‘sizzle’? Can you have fun making your intro video.
16:10 – ‘We review the applications, and then we put together a list that is delivered to the mobile phone of the hiring manager, and in the space of 15 minutes, review 4-5 applications.’ The managers then reach out and contact the individual.
17:20 – Who is the app designed for? Can small restaurant owners use this app as well as big corporate groups?
18:00 – ‘Our platform is open to all types, casual and up restaurants.’
19:15 – What is in store for mPloy? What does the future look like?
Your new app is called ‘mPloy’ – how did the idea get started?
It really started on the tennis court at Hollyburn Country Club. We’re a group of tennis friends with experience in the industry – and we basically tried to figure out how to bring a solution that’s implemented in some of the major European cities to provide staffing on a shift basis to the local restaurant industry. And what we discovered, after about probably three or four months (and a significant amount of software development work), is that the wedge between hiring and contracting services just isn’t that great here as it is, for example, in Paris or Germany.
The mPloy app has two sides really – one for employers looking to hire people – and one for users or someone looking for a job. How does it work?
About 80 to 90% of our business will be in providing clients with really qualified staff and have basically a full ‘menu’ of information that gives our clients the ability to understand who they’re interviewing before they make a decision to bring somebody in.
What we’re trying to do is really short circuit the process so that the first 70% of the recruiting process, which involves perhaps going and picking up an application or bringing back a completed resume having it sitting on a desk for two weeks. And for the employer – bringing in candidates that they know very little about. So what employers view is they see a person on video so they can analyze what they are like. There’s a lot of information provided. Are they legal in Canada to work? Are they of age to serve alcohol? What are their certifications? We do a screening (and provide a video), and we deliver a shortlist of applicants. And what we’re finding now is we’re getting a hiring rate of about 35 to 40% of people on our shortlist.
So how do you get started using the mPloy app if you’re looking for a job? What do you have to do?
You can download the app on either iOS or Android. And we will have a full parallel web-based interface soon, so you can also work through the web. You sign on, and you fill out your profile – which is just basically where I live, what my interests are, how I get around town, what my work experience is, etc. Our data is incredibly secure. It is only provided to the hiring managers and only the hiring managers of the companies to which workers apply.
After you fill out your profile, you have the option of recording a 30-40 second video (or video showcase as we call it ) which is just an opportunity to introduce yourself. Tell us what you would like to do in the industry, what your interests are and just to reveal your personality.
What if you’re trying to hire people? Can small restaurant owners use this app as well as big corporate groups?
Yes. Today we placed somebody at a little local Italian restaurant – an awesome place in North Vancouver. But we also have one restaurant that hires 400 people a year. We concentrate primarily on what we call a casual to upper casual space. But our platform is really open to almost every type of what I would say is casual and up.
