NotchUp? Not so much . . .
I just got an invitation to join NotchUp. Wary of the latest craze in data mining masked as social networking I did a quick Google search. TechCrunch had the best summary.
We’re basically looking at LinkedIn (they even import your LinkedIn profile) except that you can set a price at which you would be willing to interview with a prospective employer. The idea being, maybe you are happy where you are but you’d be happy to talk about being somewhere else, though your time is valuable. (Employers, of course, already know that recruiting is an expensive undertaking . . . it is not hard to see them pony up . . .)
Apparently this is from “Peerflix refugees” so I’d peg it as “an interesting innovation that rips off an existing proven idea that is probably ahead of their ability to execute.”
I accepted the invite, to check it out but mainly so I could invite a friend who is job hunting. I figured if Powerset and Yahoo giving it a go . . .
First Impressions:
- Very rough: when I declined to invite everyone I know on LinkedIn the site closed its own window.
- Lame: the “invite-only preview” site is protected by a shared HTTP authentication username and password . . . then you log in.
- Also Lame: you can’t view any of their web site (like “About Us”) without the HTTP authentication credentials. Amateurs!
- Steals your LinkedIn profile very nicely, but requires your password. Wonder how soon LinkedIn will block them.
- I don’t see why LinkedIn couldn’t just add the “set price to interview” as a feature within about two months.
- Feels very much like a LinkedIn rip-off.
- Snickering towards Doom: Their own “Jobs” page reads, in total: “VP of Business Development”
- Doomed: The site is very slow, even as a limited preview. Methinks their engineers aren’t so great.
Actually, now I feel dirty. I’m changing my LinkedIn password . . .
