Method and system for employment placement

• US 20020072946A1
• Filed: 12/12/2000
• Published: 06/13/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mary L. Richardson
• Original Assignee: Mary L. Richardson
• Inventors: Richardson, Mary L.
• Granted Patent: US 7,505,919 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1053 Employment or hiring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment

Abstract

A method and system for providing an employment placement service that provides incentives to encourage use of the employment placement service by both employers and job applicants. In a representative embodiment, the invention broadcasts job openings, presents detailed information about the employers advertising the openings, provides means for employers and applicants to exchange information (e.g., résumés), and provides incentives for both employers and job applicants to use the employment placement service. The primary components include a job listing database, an employer information database, a résumé database, and a series of graphical user interfaces that integrate the databases and give the employers and applicants access to view and manipulate the information. The system can also save user queries for various purposes.

Claims

1. A method for providing an employment placement service comprising the steps of:

(a) broadcasting job listings of employers;

(b) providing employer information about the employers;

(c) exchanging applicant information between applicants and the employers; and

(d) charging the employers only for job listings that produce hirings.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of charging comprises charging the employers only for job listings that produce hirings for critical hire positions.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of giving an applicant a signing bonus if the applicant uses the service to locate an employer and if the employer hires the applicant.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the applicant must be hired for a critical hire position.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising entering applicants in a drawing for a prize, wherein the applicants have been hired through the service during a specified period.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the applicants who have been hired through the service during a specified period are applicants for non-critical hire positions.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the employer information is uniform criteria for all of the employers.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the employers are health care providers.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing employer information further comprises providing employer information about employers that are not posting job listings on the service.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of searching the job listings, the employer information, and the applicant information.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing employer information comprises searching for an employer matching particular employer information desired by an applicant.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein if the searching does not return a matching employer, then the method further comprises the steps of:

(i) storing the particular employer information desired by the applicant;

(ii) periodically searching for the particular employer information desired by the applicant; and

(iii) notifying the applicant when the searching returns a matching employer.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of notifying the applicant comprises sending an email to the applicant.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising the steps of:

storing particular employer information desired by multiple applicants; and

analyzing the stored particular employer information to provide information as to demand for certain employer criteria.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of exchanging applicant information between applicants and employers comprises storing applicant qualifications in a database searchable by the employers.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising searching the database for an applicant matching particular applicant qualifications desired by an employer.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein if the searching does not return a matching applicant, then the method further comprises the steps of:

(i) storing the particular applicant qualifications desired by an employer;

(ii) periodically searching for the particular applicant qualifications desired by an employer; and

(iii) notifying the employer when the searching returns a matching applicant.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of notifying the employer comprises sending an email to the employer.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

storing particular applicant qualifications desired by multiple employers; and

analyzing the stored particular applicant qualifications to provide information as to demand for certain specialties.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the qualifications are stored in an applicant file and the applicant file is marked inactive such that the applicant file is not searched.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein exchanging applicant information between applicants and employers is accomplished by electronic mail.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of charging the employers a subscription fee separate from charges for the job listings that produce hirings.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of broadcasting comprises distributing a paper that contains the job listings, wherein the paper includes a response card,

wherein the step of providing employer information comprises providing uniform employer criteria in the job listings, and

wherein the step of exchanging applicant information comprises receiving response cards from the applicants.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of broadcasting comprises distributing a paper that contains the job listings,

wherein the step of providing employer information comprises providing uniform employer criteria in the job listings, and

wherein the step of exchanging applicant information comprises receiving telephone calls from the applicants to an interactive voice response system.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of exchanging applicant information comprises distributing a paper that contains the applicant information, and wherein the method further comprises distributing the paper to employers that are not posting job listings on the service.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the paper is distributed to human resource representatives of the employers and to human resource representatives of the employers that are not posting job listings on the service.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the signing bonus is awarded only if the employer hires the applicant for a critical hire position.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein awarding an applicant a signing bonus is also conditioned upon the applicant'"'"'s referencing the service to an employer when applying for a job listing.

30. The method of claim 27, further comprising the step of entering applicants in a drawing for a prize, wherein the applicants have been hired through the service and have started employment during a specified period.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the applicants who have been hired through the service and have started employment during a period are applicants for non-critical positions.

32. The method of claim 27, wherein the step of broadcasting comprises distributing a paper that contains the job listings, wherein the paper includes a response card,

wherein the step of providing employer information comprises providing uniform employer criteria in the job listings, and

wherein the step of exchanging applicant information comprises receiving response cards from the applicants.

33. The method of claim 27, wherein the step of broadcasting comprises distributing a paper that contains the job listings,

wherein the step of providing employer information comprises providing uniform employer criteria in the job listings, and

wherein the step of exchanging applicant information comprises receiving telephone calls from the applicants to an interactive voice response system.

34. The method of claim 27, wherein the step of exchanging applicant information comprises distributing a paper that contains the applicant information, and wherein the method further comprises distributing the paper to employers that are not posting job listings on the service.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the paper is distributed to human resource representatives of the employers and to human resource representatives of the employers that are not posting job listings on the service.

36. The method of claim 27, wherein the applicant is awarded no more than two signing bonuses per year.

37. The method of claim 27, further comprising the step of charging the employers only for job listings that produce hirings.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the uniform employer criteria is information critical to applicants of a specialized field.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the specialized field is healthcare, and the uniform employer criteria includes at least one of contact information of a facility, a number of beds in the facility, a number of operating rooms in the facility, whether the facility has a trauma center, whether the facility is a teaching hospital, a listing of department specialties, a number of employees, and a narrative description of the facility.

41. The system of claim 38, wherein the applicant information is contact information, qualifications, and job preferences.

27. A method for providing an employment placement service comprising the steps of:

(a) broadcasting job listings of employers;

(b) providing employer information about the employers;

(c) exchanging applicant information between applicants and the employers; and

(d) awarding an applicant a signing bonus if an applicant uses the service to locate an employer and if the employer hires the applicant.

38. A system for providing an employment placement service comprising:

(a) an employer information database containing uniform employer criteria of a group of employers;

(b) a job listing database containing job listings for a portion of the group of employers, wherein the job listings are linked to the uniform employer criteria;

(c) a ré

sumé

database containing applicant information;

(d) a graphical user interface that prompts applicants for the applicant information, receives the applicant information, displays the job listings, provides links from the job listings to the uniform employer criteria, and displays the uniform employer criteria.

42. A method for placing applicants into jobs comprising the steps of:

(a) broadcasting job listings of employers to the applicants, wherein an employment service provider broadcasts the job listings;

(b) identifying an applicant who is hired to fill a job listing of the broadcast job listings, wherein the job listing is for an employer; and

(c) awarding a signing bonus to the applicant, wherein the employment service provider pays the signing bonus.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the step of broadcasting the job listings comprises posting the job listings on a global computer network.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein the step of broadcasting the job listings comprises distributing a paper that contains the job listings.

45. The method of claim 42, wherein the step of identifying the applicant who is hired to fill the job listing comprises:

(i) requiring the applicant to reference the employment service provider when applying for the job listing; and

(ii) receiving, at the employment service provider, a notification that the applicant was hired for the job listing.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the applicant provides the notification.

47. The method of claim 45, wherein the employer provides the notification.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the employer provides the notification after the employment service provider determines that the job listing was deleted and after the employment service provider questions the employer.

49. The method of claim 42, wherein the job listing is for a critical hire position.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

(i) identifying a second applicant who is hired to fill a second job listing, wherein the second job listing is for a non-critical hire position; and

(ii) entering the second applicant in a pool of applicants for a prize drawing, wherein the pool of applicants includes applicants that have been hired for non-critical hire positions during a specified period.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the specified period is a week.

52. The method of claim 42, wherein the employer designates how much the signing bonus is.

53. The method of claim 42, further comprising the step of collecting an advertising fee from the employer,

wherein the employment service provider collects the advertising fee,

wherein the advertising fee includes a fee for the employment service provider and a fee for the signing bonus, and

wherein the employment service provider pays the signing bonus from the advertising fee.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein the fee for the employment service provider is a percentage of the fee for the signing bonus.

55. The method of claim 42, wherein the step of broadcasting comprises:

(i) notifying a group of employers that the applicant satisfies criteria of the group of employers;

(ii) accepting bids for the applicant from the group of employers; and

(iii) allowing the applicant to choose a desired bid.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein the step of broadcasting comprises posting the plurality of job listings on a global computer network.

58. The method of claim 56, wherein the step of broadcasting comprises distributing papers that contain the plurality of job listings.

59. The method of claim 56, wherein an employment service provider broadcasts the plurality of job listings, and

wherein the step of identifying the job listing comprises:

(i) requiring the applicant to reference the employment service provider when applying for the job listing; and

(ii) receiving, at the employment service provider, a notification that the applicant was hired for the job listing.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein the applicant provides the notification.

61. The method of claim 59, wherein the employer provides the notification.

62. The method of claim 61, wherein the employer provides the notification after the employment service provider determines that the job listing was deleted and after the employment service provider questions the employer.

63. The method of claim 56, wherein the job listing is for a critical hire position.

64. The method of claim 56, further comprising the steps of paying the applicant a signing bonus, wherein the employment service provider pays the signing bonus.

65. The method of claim 64, wherein the advertising fee includes a fee for the employment service provider and a fee for the signing bonus.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein the employer designates how much the signing bonus is.

67. The method of claim 66, wherein an employment service provider broadcasts the plurality of job listings, identifies the job listing for which an applicant of the plurality of applicants was hired, and charges the employer the advertising fee.

56. A method for filling job openings comprising the steps of:

(a) broadcasting a plurality of job listings of employers to a plurality of applicants without charging the employers an advertising fee;

(b) identifying a job listing of the plurality of job listings for which an applicant of the plurality of applicants was hired, wherein the job listing is for an employer; and

(c) charging the employer an advertising fee for the job listing for which the applicant was hired.