Putting the WOW back in work

Work, work, work

It is 2022 and labour scarcity is at an all time high. Every company is aiming for growth, but this requires people that are nowhere to be found. And even if they are, with ‘productivity’ as the highest standard of success, the word ‘burnout’ seems to be flying around our ears.

At the same time, several lockdowns have shown people that there is a way to build work around life, instead of the other way around. We have come to value our time differently — and it is showing in endless unfilled positions.

On top of that it seems as though new job titles are popping up like mushrooms. From ‘senior impact maker’ to ‘chief playground officer’ — how will people know what to search for?

The new normal

Co-founder Jesse realised that for him, going back to the office full-time was out of the question. So if someone like him were to look for a new job, why should they still need to read through entire descriptions before knowing if a job matches their way of life?

Entrepreneur Johan van den Haak had already been looking at this issue from a different angle for a couple of years. Why were we still looking at CV’s, when we should be looking at whole people?

A little bit of WOW, please

When we got started, our first question was: Are we the only ones feeling like this? The answer was, quite unanimously: no. We read articles, asked job-seekers, and organised a meet-up, all validating what we already thought: It was time to rethink job-hunting entirely.

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We decided to start with each individual and go from there. That we would start with putting their ideal Way Of Working, first. And just like that, WOW first was born.

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Different people, different priorities

This WOW-factor could mean remote for one, a diversity and inclusion policy for the other, or the flexibility of a freelance contract for a third. Our biggest challenge was to be as comprehensive as possible, while at the same time keeping the design clear and development concise enough for an MVP.

– Screens of the various ‘filters’ / categories –

Colour-coded navigation

But still, we would end up with different environments: one for job-seekers (or talent, as we like to call them), and one for companies. To maintain a clear visual identity, while still making a distinction between the two. Yellow, the colour of enthusiasm and energy for talent. Purple, innovative and progressive, for companies.

– Switch between dashboards –

The Match Maker

Finally, we built a Match Maker to onboard talent to the platform. By asking the right questions, our hope was to take all the noise away. We wanted to make sure that mental energy would only be used for jobs that were actually relevant.

Ready, Match, Job

The result: You’ll never have to read through a job description that doesn’t match your preferences ever again. But we’re even more excited about the unexpected matches that WOW-first may facilitate. Who knows how many ‘chief star makers’ are out there, unaware of their perfect job?

Are we there yet?

In short: no. Primarily there is no ‘there’ — a product like this will need to grow and develop along with its users and context. 

The webapp will launch as soon as possible, you can pre-register your interest here. If you’re an investor, feel free to reach out to us here.