Apparatus and methods for providing career and employment services

• US 7,424,438 B2
• Filed: 03/19/2002
• Issued: 09/09/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Career Destination Development LLC
• Original Assignee: Marc Vianello
• Inventors: Vianello, Marc
• Primary Examiner(s): Jeanty; Romain
• Application Number:
  US10/101,644
• Publication Number:
  US 20030182171A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,366 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/7, 705/9, 705/11, 705/8, 707/104.1, 707/102
• US Class Current: 705/7.14
• 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 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising

Abstract

Systems, methods, distributed networks, and computer-readable media are provided that relate to recruiting and employment services. Background information associated with talent-capability attributes is received from talent. Job description information is received from employers. Prospective matches are identified between employers and talent, and employers and talent are given an opportunity to consent to exchange of talent contact information.

Claims

1. A method executed by a computer processor for authorizing information exchange between at least one of a plurality of candidates and at least one of a plurality of employers prior to any direct contact between said candidate and said employer, said candidate having one or more candidate attributes including candidate minimum requirements, said employer having one or more employer attributes including employer minimum requirements, said one or more candidate attributes and minimum requirements including a searchable profile being stored in a candidate database, and said one or more employer attributes and minimum requirements including a searchable profile being stored in an employer database, said method comprising:

receiving a search request from either said candidate or said employer to search the searchable profile of one of the candidate and employer databases for a possible employment opportunity based upon certain search parameters;

processing the search request and providing the results to the requesting one of said candidate and said employer;

receiving a at least one request for release of contact information from the requesting one of said candidate and said employer based upon the search results;

determining that the attributes of the requesting one of said candidate and said employer satisfy the minimum requirements of a non-requesting candidate or employer stored in the candidate and employer databases;

receiving a response from said non-requesting candidate or employer consenting to the release of the contact information of said candidate or said employer to said requesting party;

obligating a payment due in real time based on the response to said request for release of contact information wherein said payment due is a fee to a career site operator; and

providing exchange of contact information in real time prior to any direct contact between said candidate and said employer.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein said information exchange is the release of contact information, prior to any direct contact between the parties.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein an amount of said obligation is chosen from a general equivalency diploma amount, a high school amount, a vocational educational training amount, an associate degree amount, a bachelor degree amount, a master degree amount, and a doctorate amount, wherein said doctorate amount is greater than or equal to said master degree amount, which is greater than or equal to said bachelor degree amount, which is greater than or equal to said associate degree amount, which is greater than or equal to said vocational educational training amount, which is greater than or equal to said high school amount, which is greater than or equal to said general equivalency diploma amount.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said employer agrees in advance, to real time billing and/or payment of a fee to a career site operator upon said candidate'"'"'s consent to the release of candidate'"'"'s contact information.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the amount of said obligation is computed in real time.

6. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein before processing the search request:

determining whether the requesting one of said candidate and said employer was previously requested to provide a response to a request for release of contact information; and

if it is determined that either said employer or said candidate was previously requested to provide a response to a request for release of contact information and no response was received, then such non-responding employer or candidate is precluded from further interaction with the system until said response is provided.

7. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein:

if the attributes of the requesting one of said candidate and said employer do not satisfy the minimum requirements of the non-requesting candidate or employer, then communicating to said requesting one of said candidate and said employer that at least one attribute of said requesting party does not satisfy the minimum requirements of the non-requesting party;

offering the opportunity to the requesting one of said candidate and said employer to change its at least one non-satisfying attribute to satisfy the minimum requirements of the non-requesting party; and

if the requesting one of said candidate and said employer changes its at least one non-satisfying attribute to satisfy the minimum requirements of the non-requesting party, then receiving a response from said non-requesting candidate or employer consenting to the release of the contact information of said candidate to said employer.

8. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein before processing the search request:

determining whether the non-requesting one of said candidate and said employer was previously requested to provide a response to a request for release of contact information; and

if it is determined that either said non-requesting employer or candidate was previously requested to provide a response to a request for release of contact information and no response was received, then such non-responding non-requesting employer or candidate is precluded from further interaction with the system until said response is provided.

9. A distributed network for facilitating the exchange of contact information between at least one of a plurality of candidates and at least one of a plurality of employers, said candidate having one or more candidate attributes including candidate minimum requirements, and said employer having one or more employer attributes including employer minimum requirements, said distributed network comprising:

means for managing enterprise database resources;

means for storing the candidate attributes and requirements in a candidate database and providing at least a portion of the candidate database to be searched by said candidate and said employer;

means for storing the employer attributes and requirements in an employer database and providing at least a portion of the employer database to be searched by said candidate and said employer;

means for receiving a search request from either said candidate or said employer to search the searchable portion of one of the candidate and employer databases for a possible employment opportunity based upon certain search parameters;

means for processing the search request and providing the results thereof to the requesting one of said candidate and said employer;

means for receiving a request for release of contact information from the requesting one of said candidate and said employer based upon the search results;

means for determining that the attributes of the requesting one of said candidate and said employer satisfy the minimum requirements of a non-requesting candidate or employer;

means for determining that there is mutual consent for release of contact information regarding the candidate;

means for computing a payment fee to the career site operator in real time based on the mutual consent for the release of contact information;

means for obligating the payment fee in real time to the career site operator;

means for collecting said payment fee in real time; and

means for providing the exchange of contact information in real time prior to any direct contact between said candidate and said employer.

10. The distributed network as recited in claim 9 wherein said means for determining that there is mutual consent further comprises means for receiving a response to said request for release of contact information from the non requesting one of said candidate and said employer.

11. The distributed network as set forth in claim 9 further including:

means for, if the attributes of the requesting one of said candidate and said employer do not satisfy the minimum requirements of the non-requesting candidate or employer, then communicating to the requesting one of said candidate and said employer that at least one attribute of said requesting party does not satisfy the minimum requirements of the non-requesting party;

means for offering the opportunity to the requesting one of said candidate and said employer to change its at least one non-satisfying attribute in order to satisfy the minimum requirements of said candidate and said employer; and

means for, if the requesting one of said candidate and said employer changes its at least one non-satisfying attribute in order to satisfy the minimum requirements of said non-requesting party, determining that there is mutual consent for the release of contact information regarding said candidate to said employer.

12. A method for operating a computer system for authorizing information exchange between at least one of a plurality of candidates and at least one of a plurality of employers prior to any direct contact between said candidate and said employer, said candidate having one or more attributes, including candidate minimum requirements, and said employer having one or more attributes, including employer minimum requirements, said method comprising:

storing the candidate attributes and requirements in a candidate database;

storing the employer attributes and requirements in an employer database;

establishing a portion of the employer database to be searchable by said candidate;

receiving a search request from said candidate to search the searchable portion of the employer database for a possible employment opportunity based upon certain search parameters;

processing the search request and providing the results to the requesting candidate;

receiving a request from said candidate to submit said candidate'"'"'s contact information to at least one employer based upon the search results;

determining that the attributes of the candidate satisfy the minimum requirements of the at least one employer;

receiving a response from said at least one employer that it desires to receive the contact information of said candidate;

for each specific response, obligating a payment due in real time based on said employer'"'"'s consent to receive the contact information of said candidate wherein said payment due is a fee to a career site operator; and

providing the exchange of contact information in real time between said candidate and said at least one employer.

13. The method as set forth in claim 12 wherein:

if the attributes of the candidate do not satisfy the minimum requirements of the at least one employer, then communicating to said candidate that at least one of the candidate'"'"'s attributes does not satisfy the minimum requirements of the at least one employer;

offering the opportunity to said candidate to change its at least one non-satisfying attribute in order to satisfy the minimum requirements of the said at least one employer; and

if said candidate changes its at least one non-satisfying attribute to satisfy the minimum requirements of the said at least one employer, then receiving a response from said at least one employer that it desires to receive the contact information of said candidate.

14. The method as set forth in claim 12 wherein before processing the search request of said candidate:

determining whether said candidate was previously requested to provide a response to a request for release of contact information; and

if it is determined that said candidate was previously requested to provide a response to a request for release of contact information by an employer and no response was received from said candidate, then precluding said candidate from further interaction with the computer system until a response to the previous request for release of contact information is received from said candidate.

15. The method as set forth in claim 14 wherein:

if no response to a previous request for release of contact information is received from said candidate within a predetermined time period, then communicating to said employer that no response for release of contact information was received from said candidate.

16. The method as set forth in claim 15 further including:

after communicating to said employer that no response for release of contact information was received from said candidate, then allowing said candidate to again interact with the computer system.

17. A method for operating a computer system for authorizing information exchange between at least one of a plurality of candidates and at least one of a plurality of employers prior to any direct contact between said candidate and said employer, said candidate having one or more attributes, including candidate minimum requirements, and said employer having one or more attributes, including employer minimum requirements, said method comprising:

storing the candidate attributes and requirements in a candidate database;

storing the employer attributes and requirements in an employer database;

establishing a portion of the candidate database to be searchable by said employer;

receiving a search request from said employer to search the searchable portion of the candidate database for a possible employment opportunity based upon certain search parameters;

processing the search request and providing the results to the requesting employer;

receiving a request from said employer for release of contact information of at least one candidate based upon the search results;

determining that the attributes of the employer satisfy the minimum requirements of the at least one candidate;

receiving a response from said at least one candidate that it desires to release the contact information of said candidate to said employer;

for each specific response, obligating a payment due from said employer in real time based on said at least one candidate'"'"'s consent for release of contact information wherein said payment due is a fee to a career site operator; and

providing the exchange of contact information in real time between said at least one candidate and said employer.

18. The method as set forth in claim 17 wherein:

if the attributes of the employer do not satisfy the minimum requirements of the at least one candidate, then communicating to said employer that at least one of the employer'"'"'s attributes does not satisfy the minimum requirements of the at least one candidate;

offering the opportunity to said employer to change its at least one non-satisfying attribute in order to satisfy the minimum requirements of said at least one candidate; and

if said employer changes its at least one non-satisfying attribute in order to satisfy the minimum requirements of said at least one candidate, then receiving a response from said at least one candidate consenting to the release of the contact information of said at least one candidate to said employer.

19. The method as set forth in claim 17 wherein before processing the search request of said employer:

determining whether said employer was previously requested to provide a response to a request for release of contact information; and

if it is determined that said employer was previously requested to provide a response to a request for release of contact information by a candidate and no response was received from said employer, then precluding said employer from further interaction with the computer system until a response to the previous request for release of contact information is received from said employer.

20. The method as set forth in claim 19 wherein:

if no response to a previous request for release of contact information is received from said employer within a predetermined time period, then communicating to said candidate that no response for release of contact information was received from said employer.

21. The method as set forth in claim 20 further including:

after communicating to said candidate that no response for release of contact information was received from said employer, then allowing said employer to again interact with the computer system.

22. A method executed by a computer system for authorizing the exchange of contact information between at least one of a plurality of candidates and at least one of a plurality of employers prior to any direct contact between said candidate and said employer, said method comprising:

determining if either said employer or said candidate has not yet responded to a request for release of contact information;

if it is determined that either said employer or said candidate has not yet responded to a request for release for contact information, then precluding said employer or candidate from further interaction with the computer system until said response is provided;

communicating to said employer or candidate that a response to a request for release of contact information is required;

offering the opportunity to said employer or said candidate to respond to the request for release of contact information;

if said employer or candidate responds to the request for release of contact information, then determining that there is mutual consent for the release of contact information regarding such response;

obligating a payment due in real time based on the mutual consent for release of contact information wherein said payment due is a fee to a career site operator; and

providing the exchange of contact information in real time between said candidate and said employer.

23. A computer system for coordinating information exchange between at least one of a plurality of candidates and at least one of a plurality of employers prior to any direct contact between said candidate and said employer, said candidate having one or more candidate attributes, including candidate minimum requirements, said employer having one or more employer attributes, including employer minimum requirements, said computer system comprising:

a processor;

memory connected to said processor;

at least one program for controlling the operation of said processor; and

an interface operable to communicate with said candidate and said employer;

said processor being operative with said memory and with said at least one program to;

store the candidate attributes and requirements in a candidate database;

store the employer attributes and requirements in an employer database;

establish a searchable portion of the candidate database;

establish a searchable portion of the employer database;

receive a search request from either said candidate or said employer to search the searchable portion of one of the candidate and employer databases for a possible employment opportunity;

process the search request and provide the results thereof to the requesting one of said candidate and said employer;

receive a request for release of contact information from the requesting one of said candidate and said employer based upon the search results;

determine that the attributes of the requesting one of said candidate and said employer satisfy the minimum requirements of the non-requesting candidate or employer stored in the candidate and employer databases;

determine that there is mutual consent for the release of contact information regarding the candidate;

obligate a payment due from said employer in real time based on the mutual consent for release of contact information wherein said payment fee is due to a career site operator; and

provide the exchange of contact information in real time prior to any direct contact between said candidate and said employer.

24. The computer system as set forth in claim 23 wherein said system further includes a payment interface operable to receive payment in real time from said employer, said processor being further operable to receive payment in real time from said employer through said payment interface based upon the occurrence of said mutual consent.

25. The computer system as set forth in claim 23 wherein if the attributes of the requesting one of said candidate and said employer do not satisfy the minimum requirements of the non-requesting candidate or employer, said processor being further operable to:

communicate to said requesting one of said candidate and said employer that at least one attribute of said requesting party does not satisfy the minimum requirements of the non-requesting party;

offer the opportunity to the requesting one of said candidate and said employer to change its at least one non-satisfying attribute in order to satisfy the minimum requirements of said non-requesting party; and

if the requesting one of said candidate and said employer changes its at least one non-satisfying attribute in order to satisfy the minimum requirements of said non-requesting party, then determine that there is mutual consent for the release of contact information regarding the candidate for each specific response.