Two Eastern Michigan University (EMU) students have launched what they hope will become the newest competitor to online job searching websites, like LinkedIn and Indeed.
Collin Clem, 21, and Anthony Levesque, 19, creators of the job searching website Employee RoundUp, are aiming to become the newest leaders in the field of talent acquisition.
Clem and Levesque met through competing at the international level for collegiate Distributive Education Clubs of America, commonly known as DECA. Michigan DECA is headquartered in EMU’s King Hall.
Clem, an EMU Presidential Scholar, currently pursuing a Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree in international business with a concentration in marketing, and Levesque, a Winter 2020 graduate in mathematics, created Employee RoundUp in response to what they saw as inefficiencies in websites like LinkedIn.
Clem and Levesque thought up the idea of Employee RoundUp while away from campus due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. “We wanted a more efficient method [to find new employees] where you didn’t have to literally hunt people down,” Clem said, regarding how he and Levesque initially brainstormed the idea of Employee RoundUp.
Clem also cited false job postings, job posting scams, and multi-level marketing schemes as inefficiencies he and Levesque saw while using other job searching websites which they seek to address.
Employee RoundUp works by reducing the time spent looking for job postings a job seeker is qualified for. In fact, job seekers only fill out one application. Employee RoundUp then forwards the applicant responses to verified hiring businesses that go to the site looking to fill positions. Employers will then be the ones to reach out to applicants to move forward in the hiring process.
“Most of those [competing websites] require the [applicant] to do the applying. They do offer the ‘one-click apply’ but you still have to regularly get on [and] search through dozens and dozens of jobs,” Clem said.
Employee RoundUp is geared towards small businesses looking to fill unskilled high turnover, and entry-level positions, especially those on campus and in the Ypsilanti and Downriver areas.
“We’re just calling up small businesses, especially those that we see with hiring signs or have posted online that they are hiring,” Clem said.
Employee RoundUp is very similar to the model provided by Hire.com, however, Hire.com aims to fill highly skilled positions in technology-related fields, what Clem calls the “opposite side of the spectrum” in terms of jobs and applicants.
Employee RoundUp is still in its early stages. Clem and Levesque see Employee RoundUp being run primarily through a mobile app. “It will be the superior way to hire, especially for small businesses,” Clem believes, once an app is created.
Clem initially advertised Employee RoundUp through the EMU app, EMU Engage. However, he has noticed that the website has gained the interest of a number of EMU instructors. Clem sees the next big move for Employee RoundUp is to be utilized by the University in order to fill entry-level campus positions.
To visit the website, follow this link: Employee RoundUp.
