Now, startup Mixtent is launching an alternative reference system that asks professionals to play a game of skill set “hot or not” with their LinkedIn networks, instead of writing recommendations.
After one connects his or her profile to Mixtent, the application asks the user to choose two people who share a particular skill. It then asks the user to decide which person is better at it. The algorithm is built to generate comparisons that are fair (so an intern doesn’t get matched against an SVP, for instance), and relevant to the user’s own skillset. If it fails in either respect, there is an option to skip that comparison. In return for their participation, users discover how others have rated them.
Aside from being easier to complete than a written recomendation, co-founder Jonathan Gheller says the hot-or-not format provides more valuable information for both job seekers and recruiters.
“When you start the system, you don’t start by telling me ‘this is who I am, this is what I’m good at, and these are the people who rock and these are the people who stink,’” Gheller says. “The system is completely intermediated to actually capture good data, and even though it looks like a game, it’s not gameable.”
By compiling data about how people are rated against each other, the company will be able to give fairly objective recommendations for job openings — an ability Gheller hopes will one day serve as the company’s bread and butter.
Mixtent isn’t the first company to recognize the niche for online professional recommendations as an opportunity. Honestly.com, formerly called Unvarnished, has provided a platform...
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