Monjin is attempting to build a marketplace where candidates and interviewers come together to participate in video interviews and curate a database of potential hires. Eventually, it aims to build a database as large as LinkedIn’s.

If one were to trace the historical evolution of technology-based recruiting, it would begin with something like email recruiting (meaning sharing resumes directly with the employer), recruiting through a marketplace model (such as Naukri or Monster), adopting a marketplace plus social networking model (such as LinkedIn), and as an icing to the cake, video resumes. But, what if there was a company that combined all these tools, to give an employer a chance to recruit an ideal candidate in half the time, at a lesser cost?

Enter, Monjin.

You can’t just call Monjin an online video-based recruiting platform. Rather, the startup was founded with the vision of creating global interview as a network. For example, the platform currently has four recruiting models for candidates and interviewers; the OCOI (Our Candidate, Our Intervewer) model, wherein Monjin sends bulk invites to potential candidates, and they interview with interviewers who have registered on the Monjin platform, the YCYI (Your Candidate, Your Interviewer) model, wherein a client can use Monjin’s platform as merely a tool to conduct interviews for its roles, and lastly, the YCOI (Your Candidate, Our Interviewer) model, wherein a client’s potential candidates can be interviewed by interviewers on the Monjin platform. “Typically, in the first model, candidates who interview on the platform are tagged, indexed and rated based on their performance, and clients can access these profiles based on a subscription fee,” explains Abhijit Kashyape, the CEO at Monjin. Of course, the two other models come at a price too, with Kashyape confident that the company will achieve its break-even through this approach in the next 18 months.

The Turnaround Period
A database of video-based interviews and a marketplace where candidates and interviewers come together in one frame is a hardly familiar concept in India. As a result, the team found it a daunting task to convince both parties to try the platform, at the early stage. “Recruiters used to ask us, why should we conduct interviews on your platform, outside of our company? Or, candidates used to ask us how it would benefit them,” cites Kashyape. It was when people started noticing the amount of time and cost they saved in pre-conducted interviews, and candidates started witnessing the traction the platform received, that it started picking up.

In fact, Monjin has developed quite an interesting model for interviewers on its platform. Typically, interviewers come with an industry experience of seven to 30 years, and undergo a string of screening processes and background checks. “They also have to conduct a minimum number of interviews, which are reviewed by clients and other reviewers. They secure a Monjin membership only if their calibration is above 85 per cent,” explains Kashyape. Of course, the interviewers are rewarded in the form of pro bono or a reward system, and some also create a brand of their own, by creating a proven track record of finding candidates good roles or helping clients increase productivity with better resources.

As Kashyape adds, challenges turned to opportunities and the process became more constructive and qualitative. “Eventually, there reached a point when recruiters used to tell us, we have many resumes lying on our table but not enough interviewers. Why don’t you do the interviews?” he recalls.

Of course, while the challenges served as learning tools for the team, they also took their client feedback seriously and acted on it. For example, the team conducted a series of behavioural and personality assessment tests to find out the calibration of interviewers and candidates in different regions, how the platform could be tweaked to suit multiple geographic, and region-wise requirements and so on.

We benchmark our platform with new and old recruitment tools available in the market today. And, our differentiation lies in not just listing candidates on the platform, but carrying a unique database of candidates who have been interviewed, tagged, indexed and rated based on their performance

Cracking The Sale
Until now, Monjin has primarily relied on word-of-mouth and referrals to build a network on its platform. However, going forward, as it actively prepares to enter the US markets; it aims to begin investing in creating awareness about Monjin among clients in those regions. In fact, to fuel this, the company is on the lookout for strategic investments worth US $3 million to US $5 million. “A lot of our clients have been asking us to setup operations in the U.S. Hence, the funds from the upcoming round will be channelised towards enabling that growth, and of course, in marketing,” indicates Kashyape.

Currently, Monjin works with over 15 global MNCs, and has more than two lakh interviewers on its platform. “In fact, we conduct over 100 outsourced interviews every day, and there was a time when a client selected over 100 candidates that we had interviewed, in a span of two days,” claims Kashyape.

Today, with 44 employees in India and a couple more in the U.S. and Europe, Monjin still keeps a close watch on recruiting platforms such as Naukri and LinkedIn, to remain ahead of the curve. As Kashyape points out, the ambition for the team is to build a database as large as LinkedIn’s, and revolutionise how B2B recruiting happens world over.

MONJIN’S RECRUITMENT STRATEGY 

OCOI Model

Monjin sends bulk invites to potential candidates, and they interview with interviewers who have registered on the Monjin platform.

YCYI Model

A client can use Monjin’s platform as merely a tool to conduct interviews for its roles.

YCOI Model

A client’s potential candidates can be interviewed by interviewers on the Monjin platform.