Oooh, employment – how yummy!
The only thing better than a free lunch is ordering your dream job for dessert. While this idea may sound too good to be true, there is a new company working to blend these two facets.
Lunchcruit is a brand new company that seeks to match currently recruiting companies with qualified individuals and set them up for conversation over a free-to-the-job-searcher lunch. The set-up provides face-to-face interaction without the pressure of a daunting interview.
The concept was developed by William Hsu and Dom Patrick and it launched a little over a month ago. Patrick had been working on HackerX which was a speed-dating style platform that introduced startups and developers. During this time, Hsu was working on career analytic sites CodeEval, which he co-founded, and HireVu.
However Hsu and Patrick felt that these types of sites, and others including LinkedIn, do not provide the benefits of face-to-face interaction. They explain that the leading way that companies hire, and that people obtain jobs, is through relationships and referrals.
Taking the pressure off
“It’s just lunch, not recruiting,” according to the Lunchcruit website. The goal is to connect people with organizations with no strings attached. The site writes, “Lunch is an organic opportunity to create meaningful relationships and we think that’s how hiring should be done.”
Currently, the system is available for people in Austin, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Boston, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The website operates by a user typing in their job title and selecting their city. You can filter results by items including: mobile developers, project managers, sales/business, etc.
The entire concept is a three-step process:
- Step one: Find a lunch. As previously stated, you search through the website using your title and city to find a company that sparks your interest.
- Step two: Request a lunch. After you find a company that catches your eye, you can fill out an application form to plan a lunch. This will then be sent to the company of interest and they will respond back to schedule a date and time.
- Step three: Go to lunch. Attend your scheduled, no-commitment lunch and hear what the company has to say. Generally, they will explain their organization and new projects they are working on. That way you can get a feel of where you could fit in.
On the site’s FAQ page, when asked if it’s really a free lunch, the creators state, “Yes! Companies love throwing free lunches at talented people. Most provide lunches in their office or will take you out!” True or not, the companies using the site appear to be in agreement that they’ll foot the food bill (or have you on site and provide a Happy Meal or whatever).
It is an interesting concept that could catch attention if it is well reviewed. Being that Lunchcruit is so new, it’s fate could go either way. Whether or not the idea pans out, you can’t beat a free lunch!
