For my second post looking at a company’s technological inner workings, I chatted with Paul Hiatt, co-founder of Entasso, a Durham startup that does the reverse of what most job sites do. Instead of having people apply for positions, it matches entry-level job applicants to the companies, like an employer-employee Match.com service.
A spinout from 8 Rivers Capital, Entasso presented at Triangle Startup Factory‘s Pitch Day and is currently working through beta.
On Entasso, companies state what skills they prefer in applicants, such as extroversion, self-direction and Javascript. Applicants take multiple-choice tests on programming languages, AP Style, Adobe InDesign, geography, etc. Their scores are compiled into profiles that are displayed to the companies. Entasso is currently targeting tech and marketing positions.
So if Entasso were Match, it would be like all the ladies being able to say exactly what they want, and the men having to take cooking and gardening tests (Which might not be such a bad idea).
But, Paul said, Entasso’s employer-favoritism could change in the future.
“Where we’re going next is figuring out what the companies are really looking for, not just what they think they’re looking for,” he said. “The next step is to get the data about the companies themselves…really getting a company culture, because that’s what leads to effective hiring.”
Here’s how the technology further breaks down.
Entasso is built in three parts: A website with third-party apps that test specific skills. Currently, those are apps made by Boston-based Smarterer; Then, the matching engine, which has the ‘secret sauce’ algorithm; and another website where companies state their preferences for candidates.
The original idea for Entasso came out of 8 Rivers. Paul, a co-founder, led the conceptual development and built the technology. Fellow co-founders are Shaun Pack and Alison Dorsey.
More nuts and bolts: Entasso is built with Node.js, NoSQL database, jQuery.
