Looking for a part time gig? Well there's an app for that.
It's called HipHire and you could call it the Match.com of job hunting. The new app links up your desires and qualifications with area part time jobs.
HipHire owner and KC local Brian Kearns developed the concept after talking with thousands of companies and hundreds of job seekers to uncover the challenges of finding and hiring part-time workers. One of the big hurdles creating transparency on job location, hourly pay and the number of hours you'll work each week.
Through Kearns' app, these issues will be obsolete for some area workers.
41 Action News: How did you come up with the HipHire concept?
Brian Kearns: I thought of it several years ago when I was working at a partner with another company. From the inside looking out I could see some of the challenges finding and hiring part-time people. I knew when I left that company that I wanted to start something else that really solved a big problem. What HipHire does is it matches businesses looking to hire quality part-time people.41: How does the app do that?BK: I spent a year doing research and I spoke to thousands of companies and hundreds of job Seekers and I try to understand what causes part-time job turnover. What I learned is that there's about seven to 10 different factors - the driving distance, the working hours, the shift, and then it comes down to the salary.41: Right now, the app only feature KC-area jobs. Do you plan to expand?BK: Once we get the right level of traction momentum here and Kansas City we will pick this process up and move it to the next city.41: You've had the website for a while. Why did you also want to incorporate the app?BK: A lot of times people sit will say there's an app for that, but in this case we invested $2,000 just to develop a mobile platform designed exclusively for the job seekers. There is no business functionality in it. It was important to me to make sure that the job Seekers had a crazy great experience using the mobile platform. Most of the things we've done is all related to their experience as it relates to the platform.41: You say HipHire are the Match.com of part-time work. What does that mean?BK: We match the needs and wants between the job Seekers and businesses. Those needs and wants are the driving distance, the wages, the hours, the types of Industries because what somebody might learn is what they actually want or what they need fit their needs.41: Unlike Match.com, employers don't see the name or picture of the applicant until they meet for an interview. Why was that important?BK: There is so there is so much bias in the job market and it really impacts the part-time job Seekers. So we implemented a few things to eliminate that biased. It allows businesses and job Seekers to make decisions based off data. That way we eliminate the bias factor. So there are no photographs and names of the people that way the businesses are making data-driven decisions.
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Terra Hall can be reached at terra.hall@kshb.com.
