Profile: 'Tilr' Enhances The Job Search Experience

For many young adults, especially those who are recently graduated, finding that special job which someone is both passionate about and is in their field of study can be a difficult task. There are times where the prospective job applicant can find themselves lost in a web of job board websites as they navigate through countless resumé modifications and cover letter drafts trying to stand out and impress those potential employers. 

The job market in the U.S. today is totally different than what it was when nearly a decade ago when the global financial crisis of 2008 impacted millions of American livelihoods. Throughout 2008, a total of 2.6 million jobs were lost, the largest amount of lost jobs since 1945, the nationwide unemployment rate was 7.2%, and the total number of unemployed Americans at the end of 2008 was 11.1 million.

Although these difficult economic times from the last decade have long since passed, many job applicants are still trying to find jobs that fit with the skills that they possess, as well as employers trying to find the best candidates that align well with the requirements listed on the job openings. This is where Tilr comes in. This startup provides effective solutions based on a simple algorithm that help applicants find the jobs that suit their knowledge and skill sets and also helps employers to cut cost savings and decrease risks when employing individuals who are a perfect match for that special job opening.

Tilr is a Cincinnati-based startup that specializes in employment services and as stated on the startup's homepage, it “fully automates the recruitment process by matching worker skills to job requirements." Applicants will be recommended certain jobs based on skills they have and the employers will get the applicants that fit with the job requirements that are needed in the open position.

At every company, having benefits is necessary for the employee who wants to stay physically healthy and economically stable without spending a lot of their own money. Some of Tilr’s partners include Anthem Blue Cross, which provide qualified members with medical benefits, Cengage Learning is the provider of online training courses for members, and Honest Dollar helps members select which options work best in regards to saving money for retirement.

Established in 2015 by co-founders CEO Carisa Miklusak, COO Summer Crenshaw, and CTO Luke Vigeant, Tilr recently decided to expand its operations to twelve U.S. cities, which can greatly enhance the profile of Tilr and importantly, have more applicants find jobs though Tilr. Initially, Tilr’s services were only limited to three Ohio cities, Indianapolis, and Northern Kentucky and their expanded operations now cover cities such as New Orleans, Orlando, and Seattle.

In Tilr’s first year of operations, it had already filled 128,000 shifts for job applicants and raised $5 million in funding. One notable feature of the shifts offered by Tilr is that once the employees have completed their shifts, the employers and employees will rate each other’s experience and the feedback create better worker-company partnerships in the future.

Even though the work that Tilr is doing to help people find the shifts that they need is very valuable to the applicants’ careers, the percentage of gig-based jobs nationwide, unfortunately, seems to be declining. The percentage of gig-based jobs in the U.S. had fallen from 10.9 percent in 2005 to 10.1 percent in 2017 and the majority of individuals who hold these types of jobs are independent contractors and temp workers.

However, it is a different story when it comes to individuals participating in “alternative work” (i.e., temporary or contract) as between the years 2005 and 2015, the nationwide percentage of “alternative work” participants rose from 10.7 percent to 15.8 percent. In the research conducted by the respective Harvard and Yale economists Lawrence Katz and Alan Krueger, the types of alternative work employees between 2005 and 2015 that had the most changes were independent contract workers, which had grown from 6.8 percenr in 2005 to 8.4 percent in 2015 and workers provided by contract firms, which grew from 1.4 percent in 2005 to 3.1% in 2015.

The algorithms that Tilr use in order to match applicants and employers based on the skill sets of the former and the needs set by the latter are organized efficiently so that both parties can improve communication between one another and also save both parties from wasting valuable time and money. Co-founder and COO Summer Crenshaw stated that algorithms are the best recruiters because the algorithms judge the individuals based on the skills they possess, not the years of experience, and the work conducted by the algorithms is primarily done by automation. Crenshaw had also noted:

"Tilr wants to answer the challenges of the changing system we have today, which is about excluding individuals, and moving it into something where we value individuals in a hiring process on the basis of their skills. We’re also interested in figuring out how to eliminate that bias that exists in the hiring process."

Not only does Tilr assists millennials with finding that one important job so that they can further their career but the startup also helps older members who want to continue working in an age where most of their jobs are slowly disappearing. Tilr has helped their older members who weren't sure which jobs they’re qualified for, find jobs that relate to the skills they have gained over the many decades they have worked in their respective industries.

With a vast selection of jobs from full-time projects to part-time gigs, Tilr is a startup that continues to create new jobs for applicants possess the appropriate skills and expertise for some of the positions the employers have listed through Tilr. The key to maintaining a strong economy is to have a stronger job market and ensuring that everyone has a job, no matter how strict or relaxed the job requirements are.