Twitter tool could expedite hiring process for restaurants

Gozaik is aimed at younger job seekers already adept at using Twitter.

A new free social web application for job seekers could be a boon to the restaurant industry. Gozaik allows job seekers to create multimedia resumes for Twitter that they can use to apply for jobs they’ve found on the social media site.

Think about how streamlined and quick the hiring process could be for restaurants if done via Twitter, a site predicated on being fast and easy to use? For an industry perpetually stuck in the hiring mode thanks to annual yearly turnover around 80 percent, any time saved on job posting, resume sorting and interview scheduling is time that could be better spent managing the rest of the business.

The Gozaik platform, which launched in Beta last week, makes all jobs tweeted searchable and enables users to apply for jobs via an aggregated Twitter algorithm. Once registered, employers can use the site to search for candidates, too.

“Tens of thousands of jobs are tweeted every day and there is no product that allows an easy ‘apply to’ option with a multimedia resume,” says Gozaik cofounder Joe Budzienski. “Twitter facilitates the quickest response possible.”

The platform is aimed at younger job seekers already adept at using Twitter, which mirrors the likely hiring demographic for most restaurant’s hourly positions. Gozaik has a patent pending for its mosaic-style resume, which can include a video introduction, education, skills, recommendations, photographs, art, awards, volunteer experiences and social media handles.

The traditional resume doesn’t work for the current generation of recent graduates and young professionals, says Budzienski. Gozaik’s resume provides employees with one “that really tells their unique story, and what value they’ll bring to a company,” he says.

The expanded resume could also make it easier to quickly find the right person for the job, which could help solve another of the industry’s staffing problems: According to the NRA, a staggering 30 percent to 50 percent of new hires don’t last past two weeks.

The timing of the new app couldn’t be better. Snagajob, an hourly employment network, recently said the summer hiring season would be busier than ever because of the improving economy. According to its survey, 19 percent of managers plan to hire more summer staff this year, up 10 percent from a year ago, and the highest since the survey began six years ago.

Another survey from the employment firm showed 47 percent of job seekers are using social networking sites in their job search, but only 16 percent are visiting employers’ social media pages. Gozaik aims to bridge that gap.

“Every job seeker should be on Twitter, and every employer should tweet their jobs with us,” Budzienski says. “Every Gozaik user will be able to see companies’ jobs for free, and instantly apply to them. If companies don’t have someone managing their Twitter feed, or paying attention to candidates applying through this method, now is a good time to start.”