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Frequently Asked Questions (Job Seekers)
General Overview
Registration and Subscriptions
Job Matching & Personality Survey
The Matching System
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General Overview
Q: What is eBullpen?
A: eBullpen is a new and different way for job seekers to get themselves found by and connected to, employers. It is new, because the system presents you to employers based on a match, not only of job experience, but also of PERSONALITY traits in you which the employer defines as important for success in the job they have available. Employers create candidate lists from their searches and contact candidates for further qualification and direct discussion in an online interview room. It's like having the employers with the jobs which are best suited to you, find you and come and ask to talk to you.
Q: What's different about eBullpen?
A: It's the 'who' as much as the 'what'. People don't get jobs just because of their resume, or whom they know, otherwise there'd be no such thing as an interview. eBullpen says to employers: 'why not look for the right person for the job, using basic qualifications and personality, then spend more time talking to the right people, and less time trying to figure out who the right people are from a pile of resumes?' For the employers and for you, the job seeker, it is working smarter, not harder. eBullpen is NOT an online classified community of posted jobs. Nor is it banks of resumes. Our 'Bullpen' of registered job seekers are active or passive job seekers, who have invested in their job search by keeping their membership current.
Q: Can I post a resume on eBullpen?
A: No. On eBullpen, employers have a different way to find job seekers than the old resume search. Sifting through hundreds of resumes to find the best people to interview overlooks some of the best people for the job. Sometimes the best people for a job are not the best at writing keyword-rich resumes. If your profile is the best match for an employer candidate search, eBullpen's system makes sure you get searched, noticed and can be contacted. Each time an employer logs in, all his searches get re-run, automatically, so you could get found within seconds.
Q: Who should use eBullpen?
A: Any person who is looking for work; full-time, part-time, temporary, seasonal, or independent contractor. The system treats everybody the same way. Even if you've posted resumes on job sites, or applied to job postings, eBullpen is an excellent addition to your job search strategy.
Q: Why is it called 'eBullpen', anyway?
A: 'e' for electronic. Bullpen is a baseball term suggesting a pool of people to look to when help is wanted.
Q: What computer requirements do I need to use eBullpen?
A: You need a computer with an Internet connection and a browser. If you have a high-speed connection, you'll enjoy the experience more than on a dial-up, but that's true of most things on the Internet, these days.
Q: Is eBullpen's site secure?
A: All areas of eBullpen that keep personal information for you is kept secure and private. All sections of your 'My eBullpen' page, including the chatroom, and online interviews, are encrypted through SSL security and cannot be intercepted. eBullpen's policy is to NEVER share, rent, or sell your information to any third party for any reason. period.
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Registration and Subscriptions
Q: What does it cost to use eBullpen?
A: As a Job Seeker, it's Free for 3 month or 6 month subscriptions, thanks to Little City Foundation. It's only $12 for a year.
Q: Can I register now and come back later to take the survey?
A: You can. Click the 'skip test' button when the test shows up during registration (but don't forget to take it later, because you won't be searchable until you do).
Q: How can I update my profile?
A: 'My profile' will allow you to do all that - your work profile, subscription, all the personal stuff we don't give out, and your credit card information. Be aware, though, we cannot let you change your personality profile at will. We only let you do that once, at the time of your subscription, in case, when you see the feedback report, you feel that it is just not you.
Q: What types of payment do you accept?
A: Currently we accept Visa, American Express, Mastercard and the Discover Card.
Q: What happens when my membership ends? Will you charge my credit card again?
A: No. We send you a reminder ahead of time via email to the address you used at registration. If you don't renew, your subscription will end at the appointed time, and when you try to log in again, you'll only get as far as the 'renew now' screen. If it has been a while since your subscription lapsed, you may have to start over from "Create Account". We won't just automatically re-charge your credit card - it's your choice whether to renew or let your membership expire.
Q: Will my profile remain in the system if my membership ends?
A: It will, for a reasonable amount of time after your subscription lapses. This allows you to renew and not have to re-create your profile.
Q: What if my subscription ends in the middle of a discussion with an employer?
A: You will be able to complete the session, and after that you will get prompted to renew, on your return. As a safety measure, you might swap E-mail addresses with the employer during the interview, so you can continue a discussion outside of eBullpen.
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Job Matching & Personality Survey
Q: How does the system match job seekers with employers?
A: A job seeker is defined based on his or her selections of experience and the answers to the personality survey, and saved in a database as all of those variables. If the job seeker changes their selections, they are saved by those new criteria, which supersede the old. When an employer defines a position, they make the same experience selections, answer a similar, but not identical, survey, and then submit the profile for search. The search engine delivers the results of the search, with each entry showing as a percentage match to the position. The employer can then change weightings (importance) of various factors and re-run the search as many times as they like for the life of their subscription. They build up a pool of matching candidates and when they are ready, make contact with the relevant job seekers by inviting them to an online interview room.
Q: What does the personality survey look like?
A: It looks like a regular survey, with a list of statements down the left hand side, and you make a selection from 5 'buttons' to the right, on a scale of 'not like me' to very like me. To see what it actually looks like navigate to 'Job Seeker Profile', where there is a picture of it.
Q: Can I retake the personality survey?
A: You can, but only once, after your original registration. We allow this, in case, on reading the feedback report, you feel that this is not describing you, though it is based purely on your selections in the survey. The link to re-take the survey will stick around, so if you feel that you want to come back and take it another day, you can. Once the survey has been re-taken, the link disappears. Please understand, though, that you cannot be searched without completing the survey, so you won't see any results until you do.
Q: Are some answers better than others?
A: No. There are no wrong answers to this survey. You should answer what you think is right for you, or the feedback will be skewed, and any matches made may be wrong for you.
Q: Will employers be able to see my personality details?
A: Only if you choose to share them with the employer. The employer just sees your username, experience, and the overall percentage match with his desired profile. The employer may ask to see it, and you can choose to share or not. It is entirely your choice. If you do share it, please do so outside of the site, using E-mail or fax.
Q: Can I find Part-Time, Temporary, or Independent Contractor work?
A: You can. The system treats everybody equally. It is a simple pull down where you can select to be considered for only those specific types of work, or any type of work available.
Q: What if no employers contact me?
A: There could be reasons for that: first, check out your profile in your eBullpen. Are any of the settings there not quite right for you? Try changing your "industry" selection on your profile page from time to time (if you are willing to consider other industries). This will give you more visibility to employers looking in other industries. Second, you could be experiencing the start-up phase of this site, and employers are still creating jobs, or third, there may not be the kind of work you are looking for available in your area. Consider making occasional and reasonable changes to your profile and see if that yields better results. Remember to check the "willing to relocate" box if you would consider moving, as this will open up searches nationwide for you.
Q: What's your personality survey based on?
A: It is based on the Big 5 Model of Personality, which is probably the most researched model in existence today. The whole area of personality can be fascinating, and there are many other models available. Myers Briggs® is a very well-known example. Please visit the personality pages of our how it works section to learn more.
Q: How should I gauge my success with eBp?
A: Well, if you are getting online interviews with employers, we would say that is a good sign, especially if they are leading to you send off your resume to a real person whom you feel is going to read it, or they are leading to interviews of the face to face variety. However, if you are getting interviews that don't seem to go anywhere, think about why that might be. Maybe they are out of your area of expertise, and you might consider changing your experience profile a little to see if that gets you more success (but be realistic about it - don't make changes for the sake of it). Or maybe you are not doing yourself justice in the online interview. Maybe you made an employer wait a week till you responded to the notice that you had an interview opened for you, with no good reason provided when you got there. Maybe you said something dumb. We all do it, sometimes, and we have to learn from our mistakes .
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The Matching System
Q: How does the system match the correct experience level?
A: Experience level is a pull down selection for both Job Seekers and Employers, and is just one factor that is used in the matching process. If an employer selects 3-5 years, and a job seeker has made the same selection, then on that factor, the job seeker scores the maximum towards his or her overall match. If the job seeker has chosen the next lowest or the next highest selection, then that scores less than if the exact selection had been made, but the same score, whether higher or lower than the optimum. This measurement of the same distance from the optimum is called Euclidian distance. Remember, this is just one factor of a lot of factors used to match up job seekers and employers, and where appropriate, the principle of Euclidian distance is used. However, there are some fairly obvious safeguards built into the matching system that would stop an employer being introduced to a new worker when the employer is looking for a Chief Executive.
Q: Can I avoid contact with certain employers?
A: You can, and it is within your control (not ours) to do so. You may NOT avoid being SEARCHED by certain employers, but by choosing a username, during registration, that does not describe you in terms of gender or organization, or name (though the site will call you by your real name), the employer doing the search cannot identify you. If you are searched, selected and invited to an online interview, the employer is obliged to identify him or herself accurately and adequately. If they do, and this is not somebody you would wish to talk to, you may terminate the interview, and it will end there. If the employer does not give adequate information, you may ask for more, or terminate the interview. At a minimum, if you click on the Employer's username above the interview space, you should see the company name and the city. You may wish to contact us and advise us that the employer has not provided enough information to identify him or herself, and we will check it out and remind the employer of those obligations. We reserve the right to discontinue access to anybody who does not fulfill these reasonable expectations.
Q: How does an employer define the personality requirements for a candidate search?
A: With a similar, though not identical, survey to yours, where they are thinking of the right person for the position they have, instead of the position itself. We encourage them to think of current star employees, or somebody that left that they really liked, or even of themselves, if they previously did the job well.
Q: Will employers see any of my profile information?
A: They will see a percentage match with their desired profile; what you selected as your experience, and your username, but not the detail of your personality profile. They only see that if you choose to share it with them.
Q: How do employers contact me?
A: If you show up in their search and they are interested in talking to you, they are able to issue an invitation to an online interview room, which is like a private chat room for you and the employer only. (We do not monitor the area, but we keep records of everything that is said there, just in case). When you are invited, if you happen to be on the site, you can go straight to the interview room. If not, you'll get an E-mail telling you to come to the site.
Q: How do I use personality to really find the right job?
A: There are places, people and websites that can give you a personality test that can advise you what kind of work you would enjoy and be a predictor of what you would be good at. eBullpen is not one of those sites. We take a more direct approach. The job seeker defines his or her personality as part of their profile. The employer does the same. We put employer and job seeker together in a secure environment. If you do want to find out what a personality test can tell you about yourself in terms of what you would like to do and be good at, visit our Knowledge Base. there are good links there to sites that can help you.
Q: Should I throw away my resume?
A: Certainly not, if it is one that accurately tells the story of your recent working life, your achievements, skills, and aspirations. You will almost certainly need it in the process of getting work. eBullpen does not do away with, or try to replace resumes, but supplements them, and perhaps puts them in a place where they should be, slightly further along in the hiring process.
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