Kenyan startup Myhrs will formally launch early next month after a period of beta testing, connecting employers with jobseekers via SMS.
Myhrs, which will launch on December 5, integrates the web and SMS to swiftly, simply and precisely connect jobseekers and employers.
Companies and organisations sign up to the platform and post jobs, with Myhrs shortlisting the most suitable candidates and sending them SMS and email notifications. Potential employees can then apply for the job via email or SMS.
Uptake has been positive during the beta test, with over 10,000 jobseekers and 12 employers. It has already seen 21 jobs posted, with over 19,000 applications made.
Founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Moses Mirera said he came up with the idea for Myhrs having seen fellow students struggle to secure internship programmes and part-time jobs.
“They used to go out every Friday of the academic year, from morning to evening, to look for opportunities. Unfortunately after all those trips and missing classes they ended up not securing any job, simply because they were looking in wrong places.”
Mirera said he saw an opportunity in leveraging mobile and SMS technology to connect jobseekers and the right employers, and put together a team earlier this year.
“The reality is there are a lot of jobs out there, and there are millions of fit candidates. But the existing system has a very ineffective employer-candidate connection. Most job advertisements are solely online. Candidates subscribe for an email job alert, but only 26 per cent of them have internet connections and only five per cent of them have 24/7 internet access.”
However, 70 per cent of Africans can be reached by SMS, with 90 per cent of SMS messages opened within three minutes of being received, which Mirera says makes it the fasted way to reach a large pool of diverse candidates.
“Our major competitors are job board sites that claim a substantial market share, but it is not going to be the same in the future,” he said. “The market is finding greener pastures on our side, and the tables are turning. You can call it a revolution in the industry.”
