The Korean platform Jobplanet, which lets its users review companies anonymously, is changing the way the job market works in the country. Traditionally, job seekers had to rely on scarce information and uncertainty while looking for employment. Jobplanet allows its visitors to review information on the company’s pros and cons, company ratings, salary data, and interview information. This has proven helpful for those seeking suitable positions, profile and work culture.
The ‘Glassdoor’ of South Korea
Much like the Glassdoor in the US, Jobplanet is considered Korea’s top user-generated company review and information website. It covers more than 50% of registered companies in South Korea. It provides lots of information to job seekers with crowd-sourced information about the welfare, culture, strengths, and weaknesses of potential employers, along with available job opportunities.
Jobplanet has added many new features to its platform over the years since its launch in 2014 to enhance user experience. In 2017, JobPlanet added a company analysis that provides diverse information under 40 different categories that include sensibility of corporate decision processes, realistic number of days on vacation, and satisfaction on personal assessments.
The platform’s unit called HR Labs introduced in 2018 regularly publishes reports highlighting four categories — corporate culture, brand competitiveness in the job market, salary and employee benefits, and business risks. The startup has also incorporated a rating-system-based analysis in its core framework, making it easier for users to share vital information.
Reputation Management for the Corporate World
In 2017, JobPlanet along with Korea’s leading English newspaper Joongang Ilbo, created BCW – Best Companies to Work with index. This has helped the companies manage their reputation in employee satisfaction. Many companies solicited consultation services from Jobplanet for reputation management that also included Samsung Electronics.
The growing interest from companies led Jobplanet to launch a service where companies can offer information like sales figures, pictures and videos, recruitment notice and manage their reputation. They can also communicate directly with job seekers by reacting to reviews
Jobplanet had raised about $10 million from venture capitalists within a year of its establishment. In 2015, the startup had received fund boosting of $8.3 million from venture capital firms including Qualcomm Ventures, Altos Ventures and Bonangels. In a short span of time, Jobplanet has succeeded to create a vast pool of “insider information” for job seekers and has also created a communication channel for companies to present their employer reputation for potential employees. The startup has a mission to expand to other countries in Asia and create a more enhanced user experience.
