[Pangyo Startup] Hidden Scout, a headhunting platform for silent job change, will help with job search difficulties in the IT industry

Everyone dreams of changing jobs at least once during their working life. However, many people hesitate to change jobs for fear that rumors about the job change will spread within their current workplace.

Through its own survey, Hidden Scout received the result that about 80% of respondents to the question ‘Are you worried about job change rumors?’ were worried about job change rumors. By reflecting these results and developing AI technology to pseudonymize online resumes, we have been providing a differentiated recruitment service that protects personal information since September 2020.

We met Bang Hyun-bae, CEO of Hidden Scout, at the Pangyo Techno Valley Startup Campus and heard an explanation about Hidden Scout, a headhunting platform without worrying about job change rumors.

Q1. About Us

Hidden Scout is a headhunting platform that allows you to change jobs with peace of mind through AI pseudonym processing service.

Q2. Who is this platform for?

Representative Bang Hyun-bae: The economically active population of the Republic of Korea is approximately 28 million. Among them, the economically active population of college graduates and above, the so-called high-qualified talent who are worried about job change rumors, is approximately 13 million. If we factor in 80% of those 130 million people, which is the percentage of people worried about job change rumors surveyed by Hidden Scout, we get a business target of about 10 million people. Talented individuals can receive job change offers without rumors through Hidden Scout, and they can also directly check and apply for headhunting job information at the company.

Q3. The opportunity to start a business

CEO Bang Hyeon-bae: I previously worked as a headhunter. Most office workers who wish to change jobs have asked me to prevent rumors from spreading, and many have expressed the hope that when I change jobs myself, I do not want my resume to be seen by the HR manager at my current job. Through this, we thought that the problem was that job seekers’ personal information was exposed and rumors of job changes occurred due to the form of resumes that job seekers registered in the online job market, so we planned this platform.

Q4. Features of the Hidden Scout platform  

CEO Bang Hyeon-bae: Hidden Scout’s AI pseudonyms personal information on resumes and highlights career information. For example, the name/age is indicated as early 30s (male), and the company name is indicated as 4 major corporations, 10 major corporations, foreign companies (USA), etc. In addition, because the career description section is displayed as is, you can prepare for a job change solely through experience. In addition, when you receive a job change offer, you can prepare for a job change with greater peace of mind because the information will not be disclosed without the permission of the resume owner.

Q5. Which country do you want to enter?

CEO Bang Hyeon-bae: The market suitable for the Hidden Scout service appears to be the Japanese or Taiwanese market. Although job transfers are active in Japan and Taiwan, they are culturally sensitive and cautious about job transfer rumors. I think this culture fits well with Hidden Scout’s characteristic of being able to change jobs without rumors. I think we need an investment partner to enter those countries. Or, I think you can find a partner to carry out business with you outside of investment.

Currently, Hidden Scout is in the process of signing contracts with about 100 companies in just a month since opening its corporate-targeted service, and each company is in the process of recruiting through Hidden Scout. In addition, Hidden Scout is preparing to attract investment to expand its business.

Q6. Achievements and plans so far

CEO Bang Hyeon-bae: It’s been about six months since we started the business. Thanks to the strength of our platform, we were able to attract a large number of users. Additionally, over 1,000 headhunters are active on our platform. Hidden Scout currently only maintains a service that sends job change offers when job seekers register their resumes. However, we are soon developing a service that will allow job seekers to apply for headhunting job information rather than existing job information. These services create job change opportunities for job seekers and provide companies with the opportunity to conduct recruitment advertisements and headhunting at a low price. Through these services, you can advance into various fields of HR.

Q7. Reasons for settling in Pangyo

CEO Bang Hyun-bae: Recently, the IT industry is experiencing a hiring crisis. Many of these IT companies are located in Pangyo, and the Gyeonggi Creation and Innovation Center, to which Hidden Scout currently belongs, is located in Pangyo, making it geographically advantageous. Additionally, since Hidden Scout also operates platform services, Pangyo is an advantageous location for recruiting IT talent. I believe Hidden Scout can play an important role in Pangyo, the center of IT in Korea. Hidden Scout can provide recruitment-related consulting and direct recruitment assistance to other companies. Therefore, we plan to actively help companies in Pangyo Techno Valley, and are currently seeking specific measures.

Source:  Pangyo Techno Valley Official Newsroom

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