beWanted, the job search website that revolutionizes the way apply for jobs

  • The idea came about when the founders, who were experts in HR and headhunting, realized that the traditional recruitment method was obsolete.

Founded in 2014 by Juan Torroba, Ignacio García-Drake and Ignacio Lucea, beWanted (formerly Alumni Global Search) is the largest job search website for students and recent graduates looking to land their first job or internship. The idea came about when the founders, who were experts in HR and headhunting realized that the traditional recruitment method was obsolete. beWanted currently has more than 500,000 profiles in its database.

Companies carry out a search on the platform and invite students that fit their requirements to participate in the selection process, turning the traditional talent search on its head. This method allows companies to start with a handful of interesting candidates rather than hundreds that may not even fit the job description and means that a company can have their new employee in less than a week.

This innovative take on the selection process is achieved thanks to the technology behind the platform, a match-making Sentinel algorithm that establishes links between companies and candidates. Since the company is aimed at only one type of job seeker (students and recent graduates), it is much easier to classify candidates since professional experience is not a factor and the only possible variants are academic grades, university degree, languages, etc.

Candidates are given a rating depending on the information they provide, and they are ranked based on this rating when a company carries out a search. The company was a finalist in II Talent Summit and South Summit CDMX.

The system is free for candidates while companies are charged for every selection process they launch. From mid-2016 to mid-2017 there was a total of 280,000 launched processes. Candidates land jobs and companies find the candidates they’re looking for, but there is no need to convince you because the results of the platform speak for themselves: 90% of companies are repeat users.

The company launched the idea with a €20k round raised with business angels. Since then there have been two more rounds, one in 2016 amounting to €600k which was also backed by business angels and the most recent one in 2018 of €1.5 M, led by the VC specializing in SaaS and corporate software, Join Venture.

beWanted has offices in Spain and Mexico but also operates in Portugal, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Guatemala, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, and its ever-growing portfolio and latest investment round will help it delve even further into the international market. Its success stories include 15 candidates being hired by BMW in Germany and the companies putting their trust in beWanted in South America so far include Coca-Cola Femsa, Danone, P&P, and Pepsico.

AIMS FOR THE COMING MONTHS

First and foremost, the company wants to consolidate the beWanted recruitment model at an international level. The company has also just undertaken the challenge of including Vocational Training profiles among its candidates. And the last objective is to establish beWanted in Spanish universities so that employment can be created directly at education centers.