Job hunters have a continually updated resource in
LinkUp, a Minneapolis-based company that's part of the national JobDig employment search site.
According to president and CEO Toby Dayton, LinkUp is unique in the way that it indexes company websites for job postings, rather than relying on companies to post jobs in a central site like JobDig or Monster.com. Current openings for about 22,000 companies are brought together at LinkUp, and the firm is careful to weed out duplications, so job seekers won't be trying to determine which listing is the most current.
"We've really reinvented what a job board is on the Web," says Dayton. "The site is updated daily, and companies can't post on here directly, so we've eliminated those garbage listings like 'work at home' types of jobs that expose people to identity theft and fraud."
Although LinkUp has some competitors in the online job-hunt realm, Dayton believes that the company is distinctive because of its technology. It lists about 800,000 jobs that are culled directly from employer sites, and the tech team is constantly refining how searches are done to make them more helpful and efficient.
Despite the advancements, the 28-person company has faced some challenges in the past few years, Dayton notes: "We've been bigger at times, but the recession impacted us. Our growth has been rapid in the past, but it's been muted by the current economic environment."
However, the executive team has experience in leading high-growth companies, he adds, and there's a great deal of optimism that LinkUp will be at the forefront of the job search industry. Dayton says, "We've been well received in the marketplace, and what we have is unique. We're excited to keep the momentum going."
Source: Toby Dayton, LinkUp
Writer: Elizabeth Millard