AU761448B2 - Employment service - Google Patents

Description

ii -1- EMPLOYMENT SERVICE TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to the matching and subsequent introduction of various parties to each other, and in particular, to such activities in the employment/recruitment field.

BACKGROUND ART In traditional employment recruiting, employers place advertisements in the media calling for job seekers to apply to fill a vacant position. Such media can include newspapers, the Internet, industry journals, and the like.

Job seekers can respond to such advertisements by sending an application including a personal resume to the employer. The employer then reviews each of the applications and short lists a group of job seekers they desire to interview. After one (or 15 more) rounds of interviews, the employer usually makes an offer of employment to one of the job seekers.

A drawback of this arrangement is the tendency for inefficiencies to develop by **the potential wasting of time and effort on the part of both the job seeker and the employer. For instance, the job seeker must regularly search through the various media to 20 find advertisements to which they would like to respond and which appear to satisfy their needs. They must also forward a new application and resum6 each time they wish to *make enquiries of a job advertisement. Similarly, the employer needs to allocate resources firstly to place the advertisement, then to receive and process numerous applications, sort through the applicants and notify each of an initial outcome. The [R:\LIBE]02677AU. doc: avc -2interviewing process is also time consuming for both parties as each gauges the other's expectations and offerings.

With the introduction of computer media and the Internet, mailing lists using email have also been used for employment recruiting. Here, both employers and job seekers provide a central administrator with descriptions of their requirements. The central administrator performs manual checking of these records and notifies the job seeker whenever an acceptable compatibility match becomes apparent. The job seeker can then take his/her own steps to contact the employer.

A drawback of this arrangement is the haphazardness that appears to be inherent in the matching process. Also, employers that place the advertisements are not always sure that any respondents they hear from are actually "ready to move".

SUMMARY

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of facilitating employment, said method comprising the steps of: matching an employer's job profile with one or more job seeker profiles, on the basis of compatibility and job seeker preferences; S. notifying the employer of an availability of a number of said matched job seeker profiles; receiving selection preferences of matched job seeker profiles from the employer; S"notifying an expression of interest of the employer to each respective job seeker; .receiving acceptances relating to said expressions of interest, from respective job seekers within a predetermined time period; and 0. g .7.i I:\DayLib\LIBE\Buzzwig\02677AUre.doc -3notifying the employer of the availability of personal contact details of those job seekers associated with said acceptances.

Preferably, the method further includes the step of calculating a service performance cost on the basis of said notified availability of personal contact details of job seekers.

Preferably, the method further includes the step of receiving one or more new job seeker profiles and repeating the foregoing method steps.

Preferably, the method further includes the step of altering one or more of said profiles with updated information and repeating the foregoing method steps.

Preferably, the matching step in the method of facilitating employment includes the sub-steps of: determining common data fields relevant to said employer's job profile and said one or more job seeker profiles, selecting one or more of said common data fields as a relative weighting determinant; and comparing the job profile data fields with each of the one or more job seeker profile data fields to determine a compatibility value, -wherein said comparing step includes application of a value of said weighting C. S determinant in each of said common data fields.

Preferably, the common data fields include at least one related to prior experience, and which is used as said relative weighting determinant.

o Preferably, the comparing step includes compatibility weighting for some fields a il.

and business rules for others.

o oo e o oO o ee.

I:\DayLib\LJBE\Buzzwig\02677AUrcv.doc -4- In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of matching an employer's job profile and a job seeker's profile, said method comprising the steps of: determining common data fields relevant to the employer's job profile and the job seeker's profile, including at least one data field related to specific desires of the job seeker; selecting one or more of said common data fields as a relative weighting determinant; and comparing the job profile data fields with each of the job seeker profile data fields, by applying a value of said weighting determinant in each of said common data fields, to determine a compatibility value for each said job seeker profile.

Preferably, there is provided an apparatus for implementing any one of the above methods.

Preferably, there is provided a computer program product including a computer readable medium having recorded thereon a computer program for implementing any one of the above methods.

•go• In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for facilitating employment, said system comprising: a. S "matching means compatibility matching ajob profile provided an employer, with one or more job seeker profiles, said job seeker profiles including job seeker preferences related to said employer's job profile; a.o••0 S•first notifying means for notifying availability of a number of said matched job seeker profiles to the employer; first receiving means for receiving selection preferences of matched job seeker 25 profiles from the employer; I:\DayLib\LIBE\Buzwig\02677AU-rev.doc second notifying means for notifying an expression of the employer's interest to each job seeker associated with each of a selected one of said matched job seeker profiles; second receiving means for receiving acceptances from said job seekers within a predetermined time period after said notifying by said first notifying means and third notifying means for notifying an availability of job seeker personal contact details to the employer associated with said acceptances.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for matching an employer's job profile and a job seeker's profile, said system comprising: determining means for determining common data fields relevant to the employer's job profile and the job seeker's profile including at least one data field related to specific desires of the job seeker; comparing means for comparing the job profile data fields with each of the one or more job seeker profile data fields to determine a compatibility value, wherein said comparing means includes application of a weighting determinant related to said at least one data field.

a..

I:\DayLib\LBE\Buzzwig\02677AU v.doc -6- BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a flow chart of a basic employment matching procedure used as part of an employment matching service, Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing data flow and relationships within the basic employment matching procedure of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing data flow and relationships within an "employer selection" aspect of the employment matching service, Fig. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing data flow and relationships within an "expression of interest" aspect of the employment matching service, Fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram showing data flow and relationships within a "payment collection" aspect of the employment matching service, and Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a general purpose computer.connected to S- 15 a network with which the procedures of Figs. 1 5 can be implemented.

o• DETAILED DESCRIPTION INCLUDING BEST MODE By way of introduction, a basic employment matching procedure 10 is shown with reference to Fig. 1, which commences with a start step 11.

At step 11, an employer supplies a job profile to a central administrator (or of an employment matching service. Each job profile specifies the employer's :-.-*"future dream candidate" in a pre-determined format and is posted to a central job database by the central administrator. The functions of the central administrator (to be later described) can be performed using both automated and manual processes. Also, in the context of this specification a reference to "employer" can be a direct reference [R:\LIBE02677AU.doc:avc -7thereto or can refer to an employer's agent. Similarly a reference to "job seeker" can be a direct reference thereto or can refer to a job seeker's agent.

Next in step 13, a compatibility matching procedure is initiated by preparing a query based on a specific job profile. This query is used to retrieve available job seeker profiles that have been pre-prepared and stored on a central job seeker database that are above a predetermined compatibility threshold. Further, each of the retrieved job seeker profiles can be categorised into one of several compatibility bands.

A unique matching algorithm (to be later described) is used in this compatibility matching procedure 13. The compatibility matching procedure 13 incorporates both relative weightings and business rules to reflect empirically based formulae between jobs and job seekers in both a quantitative and qualitative sense.

Next in step 15, an employer selection procedure is executed. Here, the employer is presented with the results of the compatibility matching procedure 13. Each retrieved job seeker profile includes a compatibility rating, a summary of key information relevant to the actual job seeker, but no personal details of the job seeker. The employer •can then select one or more (if any) of the job seeker profiles to which they would be interested in sending an "expression of interest" (EOI).

S•In step 17, an employer notification procedure is executed. Here, a notification of the employer's EOI is electronically sent to each of the actual job seekers selected by the employer in step 15. Such electronic notification can be for example, by way of wireless transmission, including SMS (Short Messaging Service) and WAP (Wireless Application Protocol). Such an EOI informs the job seeker of the employer's interest in them with reference to a particular job profile that has been earlier posted by the employer. Upon receiving an EOI, the job seeker is provided with access to the employer's job profile and is given a predetermined period of time 72 hours) within [R:\LIBEJ02677AU.doc:avc -8which to reply with an acceptance. If no reply is made, then this is considered by the procedure 10 as a non-acceptance.

In step 19, a job seeker acceptance procedure is executed, which occurs upon a positive reply by a job seeker to an EOI. Once a positive reply is received by the central administrator from the job seeker, the EOI is known as an "accepted expression of interest" (AEOI). A job seeker's AEOI enables the employer to access personal details of the job seeker, including for example, contact numbers and the job seeker's detailed personal resum6. The employer can access these personal details using a secure facility provided by the central administrator and which requires a password to be entered by the io employer. Importantly, if an EOI is declined by the job seeker, or the job seeker does not respond within the predetermined time limit, then the job seeker's personal details cannot be released.

The employment matching service enables the employer to efficiently find suitable candidates for their employment positions, such being of particular importance when the labour market is in relatively short supply of skilled people. This is because the employment matching service as herein described provides each job seeker with the opportunity to specify, and be matched with potential employers, taking into account their own preferences and desires. Hence, the employer is provided with a better idea as to what it would take for the job seeker to move from their present employment position.

ee Hence, it can be seen that the focus is on the employer "chasing" the job seekers, rather than the reverse.

In one implementation of the employment matching service, employers pay to use the employment service, while job seekers do not. From the employer's point of view, each AEOI becomes the basis for the commercial transaction that takes place between the central administrator of the employment matching service and each of the [R:\LIBE]02677AU.doc:avc -9employers. Hence, an objective measure of service performance by the employment matching service and associated costing can be provided.

The employment matching service is also efficient for job seekers who only have to submit an application and resum6 once, for potentially many job applications.

However, the job seeker can also update and modify their own application and/or resum6 at any time, so long as they remain a "member" (to be later described) of the employment matching service.

The basic employment matching procedure described in relation to Fig. 1 and various other aspects of the employment matching service, will now be described in more detail with reference to Fig. 2.

Before any use of the employment matching service can occur and any compatibility matching contemplated, as seen on the right hand side of Fig. 2, an employer 200 must firstly become a member of the employment matching service. This is done by opening an account and by submitting an Employer Registration Form 201 with the central administrator 600 (seen in Fig. 6).

.*Details from each Employer Registration Form 201 are stored on an Employer Database 203.

A member of the employment matching service will be "passive" if their use is limited to receipt of an E-Zine 204 and/or taking advantage of a general resources facility offered by the central administrator. The E-Zine is an electronic newsletter or "magazine" that is provided as a supplementary service by the central administrator to all o of the employer and job seeker members. A passive member completes a partial registration.

A member of the employment matching service will be "active" if their use allows participation in the compatibility matching procedure.

[R:\LIBE]02677AU.doc: ave An active employer member completes a full registration, which allows them to submit ajob posting 205, which includes ajob profile, described earlier in relation to step 11 of Fig. 1. Job postings and job profiles are stored on ajob database 206.

Before the compatibility matching procedure is commenced (as discussed earlier in relation to step 13 of Fig. the employer also specifies a maximum number of AEOI's they would be willing to accept and for which a payment to the central administrator would be contractually required (to be later described).

Referring now to the left hand side of Fig. 2, a job seeker 250, like the employer 200, is required to submit a Job Seeker Registration Form 251 to the central administrator 600, to enable use of the employment matching service.

As with the employer 200, the job seeker 250 can register as a member with the employment matching service as either "active" or "passive".

Once registered as a passive member, the job seeker 250 can submit a job seeker profile 252 which specifies criteria for the job seeker's "future dream job" in a structured Is format.

However, as an "active" member, the job seeker 250 can also submit a personal resum6 253 which enables potential employers to contact them. The personal resum6 253 S* is not necessarily in such a predetermined structured format and includes personal particulars of the job seeker 250, including contact details. The profile 252 and resume 253 for each job seeker 250 are stored within a job seeker database 257.

The compatibility matching procedure of the preferred embodiment uses a 3- Solevel match system 255, as follows.

Firstly, a job profile 207 is extracted from the job database 206. Similarly, job seeker profiles 254 are extracted from the job seeker database 257.

[R:\LIBE]02677AU.doc:avc -11 The 3-level match system 255, which can be automatically executed by the central administrator on a daily basis, uses a unique matching algorithm to match job profiles 207 and job seeker profiles 254 together. This unique matching algorithm takes certain criteria into account on three distinct levels, including the following: Level 1 Quantitative criteria related to the actual job posted, for example: education skills/competency location/travel salary/remuneration Level 2 Quantitative criteria related to the type of employer organisation, for example: government small practice o* large multinational 00 15 start up Level 3 Qualitative criteria related to work environment, for example: psychological profile emotional outlook career ambitions Referring to Table 1, an example of various criteria that are subject to relative weighting is listed in each of columns 1 to 4.

[R:\LIBE0J2677AU.doc:avc -12- TABLE 1 CRITERIA SUBJECT TO RELATIVE WEIGHTING Education Skills/ Experience Psychological Competency (4) (2) General General Industry Personality (12.5%) Industry Industry Function Interaction with others or work Specific Specific environment (12.5%) Role Approach to work (12.5%) No. reporting Vocational preference (12.5%) Type of Cope when things go wrong Company (12.5%) Preferred management type (12.5%) Career aspiration (12.5%) Key motivating factors (12.5%) Each column of Table 1 represents a category which as a whole, is subject to a relative weighting priority. The relative weighting priority is based on an experience 5 classification required of the job profile and that of the actual job seeker, as shown for example in Table 2.

TABLE 2 RELATIVE WEIGHTING BASED ON EXPERIENCE 0.*0 00.

0 Graduate Up to 2 years 3 years or more Category 1 Category 2 Category 2 Category 4 Category 3 Category 3 Category 2 Category 4 Category 4 Category 3 Category 1 Category 1 Referring now to Table 3, various criteria are not subject to relative weighting.

Such categorised criteria are the subject of so called "business rules" which bind certain fields and determine certain outcomes residency of the job seeker. However, each time a 3-level match is executed, the job seeker profiles that are output are allocated a percentage compatibility rating.

[R:\LIBE]02677AU.doc:avc 13- TABLE 3- BUSINESS RULES (NON WEIGHTED) Category Business Rule Remuneration More than 2 percentile bands then do not put forward Travel More than 2 percentile bands then do not put forward Residency Match only according to employer's needs Employment Match accordingly status The 3-level matching procedure is summarised in Table 4. Not all questions (refer columns 2 and 5) in the database fields are matched against a corresponding field.

Table 4 provides an example summary of how the criteria in Tables 1 to 3 can be matched.

TABLE 4 SUMMARY OF 3-LEVEL MATCHING PROCEDURE Category Job Posting M-HD-O Max no. Applicant Max no. Comments Question Activated of Profile Of Answers Question Answers Business Rule Industry 1 Preferred 1 Type Industry Type Business Rule Job Role 1 Preferred 1 Job Role Business Rule Job 1 Preferred 1 Function Job Function Business Rule Job 1 Preferred 1 Status Job Status Business Rule (3.10) No. 1 Preferred 1 Reporting no. reporting Education (3.11) Level of Yes I to 4 Education 1 to 4 Combined with key Education discipline for match Education (3.12) Key 1 to 4 Key 1 to 4 Combines with Discipline Discipline education for match Education Industry 1 to 4 Industry 1 to 4 Combined with specific industry qualification for match Education (3.13) Specific Yes 1 to 4 Specific 1 to 4 Combined with Industry Industry specific industry Qualifications Qualifications qualification for match Skills (3.14) General Yes 1 to 4 General I to 4 /Competency Skills Skills Competencies Competencies Skills (3.15) Specific Yes 1 to 4 1 to 4 /Competency Industry Skills Industry and Industry skills combined Experience (3.16) Industry Yes 1 to 4 Industry of 1 to 4 Experience previous employment Experience (3.17) Yes 1 to 4 Function I to 4 Functional experience in Experience previous employment Experience (3.18) Role Yes I to 4 Previous 1 to 4 [R:\LIBE]02677AU.doc:avc -14- Experience (3.20) No. Yes 1 No. reporting 1 to 4 Reporting in previous role Experience Type of Yes 1 Previous types 1 to 4 Company of company worked for Each time the 3-level matching procedure 255 is executed, the resultant job seeker profiles 254 are sorted into resultant compatibility bands. Thus, it is possible to base a query of the job seeker database 257 to include a minimum compatibility band S match of job seeker profiles 254 that will be retrieved. An example of a results compatibility band grouping could be as follows: Compatibility band A B C 0to Still with reference to Fig. 2 and newly with Fig. 5, associated with each job posting 205 is a specification by the employer 200 as to a number of matched job seeker profiles 254 that are desired to be retrieved initially. If such an initial (or preliminary) match yields more job seeker profiles than the number specified by the employer 200, then the search can be narrowed 256 (to be later described).

ovooo 15 Once the desired number of job seeker profiles are retrieved 503, they are sent to the employer 200 at step 257, shown in both Figs 2, and 3 and With reference primarily to Fig. 3, the "employer selection" aspect of the employment matching service will be described in further detail.

Firstly, the employer is notified (by e-mail for example) that the retrieved job seeker profiles are available for viewing 257. The employer will then need to logon or make contact with the central administrator and confirm active membership status.

Upon viewing by the employer, each retrieved job seeker profile is identified with a percentage of actual compatibility 93%) within the compatibility band initially specified.

[R:\LIBE]02677AU.doc:avc 15 The employer 200 can then sort the profiles into either "acceptable" or "unacceptable" 258, (as earlier discussed in relation to step 15 of Fig. 1).

Each of the job seekers associated with the "acceptable" employer-selected job seeker profiles are then sent a notification by the central administrator 600, of the employer's EOI 259 (as earlier discussed in relation to step 17 of Fig. The remaining job seeker profiles those not employer-selected) are returned 260 to the job seeker database 257.

Referring now to Fig. 4, the "EOI expression of interest" aspect of the employment matching service will be described in further detail.

io Once a job seeker 250 receives an EOI from the central administrator, at step 400, they will either accept 404 or decline 401, such notification being made to the central administrator 600. If the job seeker 250 does not respond to the EOI within a predetermined time, then this will be regarded by the central administrator 600 as a decline.

Is If the EOI is declined 401, then the job seeker profile 254 is returned at step 260 to the job seeker database 257 for rematching with other job postings, as at step 415.

An acknowledgement 403 of the job seeker's rejection (or non response) is sent to the job seeker 250 (for example, by e-mail), via the central administrator 600. Further, the job seeker's rejection (or non-response) is subsequently indicated on the employer's account details when they next make contact with the central administrator 600.

S'However, if the EOI is accepted 404, then the central administrator 600 collects this information 405 together with other AEOI's, ready for notification to the employer at step 406.

After an employer has been notified of a number of AEOI's (usually by e-mail), then they are provided with access at 407 to personal particulars of each job seeker, (R:\LIBE]02677AU.doc:avc -16including profiles and resumes. Such personal particulars are made available in a secured section of the site and only accessible by password. Step 408 completes this primary service.

At this stage, charging can be performed. Referring to Fig. 5 the employer can be charged using credit card facilities 514.

Firstly, the employer is asked to provide a valid credit card number when they nominate a maximum number of EOI's they would be willing to pay for. This usually occurs upon posting ajob 205. The credit card is automatically charged for the number of AEOI's actually received whilst the job is still posted, or until the maximum number of AEOI's nominated by the employer has been reached. Other pricing policies can also be implemented.

Referring again to Fig. 4, the AEOI's from stage 405 that were not selected for issue to the employer are temporarily deposited in a Reserved Resume Bank (RRB) 409.

The number of profiles deposited in the RRB 409 is communicated to the S 15s employer 200 at step 410, together with details of the cost to the employer 200 to obtain each profile. The employer 200 has a predetermined period of time in which to buy additional profiles from the RRB 409, typically around 3 weeks.

If additional job seeker profiles are required by the employer as at 411 (eg. the original job seekers were unsuccessful), then the profiles and resumes are retrieved from S 20 the RRB 409 and sent to the employer 200, together with a price, as shown at step 412.

Step 413 completes this part of the service. If no additional job seeker profiles are required by the employer, as at 414 the original job seekers were successful), then this part of the service is completed at step 415.

[R:\LIBE]02677AU.doc:avc -17- Referring now to Fig. 5, a "payment collection" and other aspects of the employment matching service will be described.

Fig. 5 shows, on its left hand side, the preliminary matching step 256 of Fig. 2.

If the "preliminary" match yields more job seeker profiles than were originally specified, then additional information can be obtained from the employer 200 to "narrow" the search. Alternatively, the employer 200 can lower the minimum compatibility band specified. Hence, the desired quantity of profiles to be reached is both user and system controlled.

An example of a "preliminary" match could be as follows: TABLE Number of EOI's selected for Maximum number of Profiles purchase System displays Top 6-10 Top 11-20 Top 21-30 Top 100 31-40 Top 130 41-50 Top 160 51-60 Top 190 61+ Top 220 Referring to Table 5, if an employer selects six EOI's for purchase, being the maximum number he/she would be willing to pay for, then the maximum number of profiles that the system will display for selection will be the top 50 matched profiles.

This number is unaffected by the compatibility band selected by the employer as this is an automatic filter for the number of profiles to display.

Referring again to Fig. 5, once the desired quantity of job seeker profiles is reached 503, then the central administrator again notifies the employer of the newly matched profiles ready for selection 257 as earlier described.

[R:\LIBE]02677AU.doc:avc -18- As earlier described with reference to Figs. 3 and 4, the employer is then provided with access to a secure area to view each of the job seeker profiles 505.

The employer can select acceptable profiles at 506, in which case step 507 is proceeded to. Alternatively, step 508 is proceed to, where the central administrator returns the job seeker profiles to the job seeker database 257.

Step 507 involves the central administrator issuing the employer's selected profiles to the job seekers. Responses from the job seekers 508 are thereafter received at step 509.

At 510, the central administrator assigns the AEOI's to the relevant employers.

1o If the target number of AEOI's is not reached, then step 511 is proceeded to.

Step 511 places the search and matching procedure on a continuing mode for a predetermined amount of time. Once further job seekerprofiles are retrieved as a result of step 511, then the central administrator receives these at step 512. The process then o returns to step 510.

Is Following step 510, step 513 is proceeded to, where the employer is provided with authorisation to view the job seeker profiles.

At step 514, the central administrator charges the employer's credit card for the final number of AEOI's actually received by the employer (as earlier described).

Thereafter, either the transaction is approved, as at step 515, after which this part of the process is completed at step 516, or the transaction is declined 517. In the case of a declined transaction, the employer is contacted to verify credit card details 518, and/or to cancel the service.

Referring to Fig. 6, the method described in relation to Figs 1 to 5 is preferably practiced on a central computer 601 located with a central computer system 602 forming the central administration 600 of the employment matching service. Hence, the processes [R:\LIBEJ02677AU.doc:avc -19of Figs. 1 to 5 may be implemented as software, such as an application program residing in memory 606 executing within the computer 601 and for executing e-mail communications with the employers 200 and job seekers 250. In particular, the steps of method of Figs 1 to 5 are effected by instructions in the software that are carried out by the computer 601.

The software stored in memory 606 may be divided into two separate parts; one part for carrying out the matching methods; and another part for managing the interface between each of the employer and job seekers, including e-mail communications.

The software can also be stored in a computer readable medium, including the storage devices such as CD ROM. The software is loaded into the computer 601 from the computer readable medium, and then executed by the computer 601. A computer readable medium having such software or computer program recorded on it is a computer program product. The use of the computer program product in the computer preferably effects an advantageous apparatus for employment matching in accordance with the S 15 embodiments of the invention.

Each of the job seeker 250 and the employer 200 can access the central computer system 602 with the use of a conventional general purpose computer 610 which comprises a computer module 611, input devices such as a keyboard 612 and mouse 613, output devices including a printer 615 and a display device 616. A Modulator- Demodulator (Modem) transceiver device 617 is used by the computer module 611 for communicating to and from a communications network 620, for example connectable via a telephone line 621 or other functional medium. The modem 617 can be used to obtain access to the Internet, and other network systems, such as a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN).

[R:\LIBE]02677AU.doc: ave The foregoing describes only one embodiment/some embodiments of the present invention, and modifications and/or changes can be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, the embodiment(s) being illustrative and not restrictive.

For example, a recruitment agency could post a job instead of an employer and take the part of the "employer" as above described. In this case, the recruitment agency is "the employer" in the above described context and the actual employer is a third party.

The aforementioned preferred method(s) comprise a particular control flow.

There are many other variants of the preferred method(s) which use different control flows without departing the spirit or scope of the invention. Furthermore one or more of the steps of the preferred method(s) may be performed in parallel rather sequential.

0 0 [R:\LIBE]02677AU.doc:avc

Claims (22)

1. A method of facilitating employment, said method comprising the steps of: matching an employer's job profile with one or more job seeker profiles, on the basis of compatibility and job seeker preferences; notifying the employer of an availability of a number of said matched job seeker profiles; receiving selection preferences of matched job seeker profiles from the employer; notifying an expression of interest of the employer to each respective job seeker; receiving acceptances relating to said expressions of interest, from respective job seekers within a predetermined time period; and notifying the employer of the availability of personal contact details of those job Is seekers associated with said acceptances.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said matching step returns a S- maximum number of said matched job seeker profiles as specified by the employer.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said step of notifying the employer of the availability of a number of job seeker profiles includes the sub-step of reporting compatibility data related to each of said matched job seeker profiles. oo 4. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein said compatibility data is in S 25 the form of inclusion within one of a plurality of pre-defined compatibility bands. I:\DayLib\LIBE\Bzwig\02677AUrev.doc

22- A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said matching step returns matched job seeker profiles associated with a minimum compatibility rating as specified by the employer. 6. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further including the step of calculating a service performance cost, on the basis of said notified availability of personal contact details of job seekers. 7. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said employer's job profile includes data fields related to employer preferences. 8. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said step of notifying an expression of interest of the employer to each respective job seeker is electronically performed using a wireless protocol. 9. A method as claimed any one of the preceding claims, further S.comprising the step of receiving one or more new job seeker profiles and repeating the foregoing method steps. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising the V step of altering one or more of said job seeker profiles with updated information and repeating the foregoing method steps. ooo• o• I:\DayLib\LIBE\Buwig\02677AU-revdoc 23 11. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said matching step includes the sub-steps of: determining common data fields relevant to said employer's job profile and said one or more job seeker profiles; selecting one or more of said common data fields as a relative weighting determinant; and comparing said job profile data fields with each of the one or more job seeker profile data fields to determine a compatibility value, wherein said comparing step includes application of a value of said weighting determinant in each of said selected common data fields. 12. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein said common data fields include at least one related to prior experience, and which is used as said relative weighting determinant. 13. A method as claimed in claim 11 or 12, wherein said common data fields include any one or more related to education, skills and psychological measures. 14. A method as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein said comparing step includes a compatibility weighting for some fields and business rules for others. 15. A method of matching an employer's job profile and a job seeker's profile, said method comprising the steps of: •oo•* 1:\DayLib\LIBE\Buzwig\02677AUrev.doc -24- determining common data fields relevant to the employer's job profile and the job seeker's profile, including at least one data field related to specific desires of the job seeker; selecting one or more of said common data fields as a relative weighting determinant; and comparing the job profile data fields with the job seeker profile data fields, by applying a value of said weighting determinant in each of said common data fields, to determine a compatibility value for said job seeker profile. 16. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein said common data fields include at least one related to prior experience, and which is used as said relative weighting determinant. 17. A method as claimed in claim 15 or 16, wherein said common data fields include any one or more related to education, skills and psychological measures. o o 0 18. A method as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein said comparing step includes a compatibility weighting for some fields and business rules for 0 o others. 19. An apparatus for implementing any one of the methods as claimed in 0 claims 1 to 18. 00* 0 0 I:\DayLib\LIBE\Buzwig\02677AUrcv.doc 25 A computer program product including a computer readable medium having recorded thereon a computer program for implementing any one of the methods as claimed in claim 1 to 18. 21. A system for facilitating employment, said system comprising: matching means for compatibility matching a job profile provided by an employer, with one or more job seeker profiles, said job seeker profiles including job seeker preferences related to said employer's job profile; first notifying means for notifying availability of a number of said matched job 1o seeker profiles to the employer; first receiving means for receiving selection preferences of matched job seeker profiles from the employer; second notifying means for notifying an expression of the employer's interest to each job seeker associated with each of a selected one of said matched job seeker profiles; second receiving means for receiving acceptances from said job seekers within a •predetermined time period after said notifying by said first notifying means, and third notifying means for notifying an availability of job seeker personal contact details to the employer associated with said acceptances. 22. A system as claimed in claim 21, wherein said matched job seeker profiles are quantitatively limited according to an employer specified desired number. •oo•

23. A system as claimed in claim 21 or 22, wherein said first notifying means further notifies compatibility data related to each of said matched job seeker 25 profiles. I:\DayLib\LIBE\nzzig\02677AUev.doc -26-

24. A system as claimed in claim 23, wherein said compatibility data is in the form of inclusion within one of a plurality of pre-defined compatibility bands.

25. A system as claimed-in any one of claims 21 to 23, wherein said matching means returns matched job seeker profiles associated with a minimum compatibility rating as specified by the employer.

26. A system as claimed in any one of claims 21 to 24, further comprising calculating means for calculating a service performance cost, on the basis of acceptances received by said second receiving means.

27. A system as claimed in any one of claims 21 to 25, wherein said employer's job profile includes data fields related to employer preferences.

28. A system as claimed in any one of claims 21 to 26, wherein said second oooo notifying means is performed electronically performed using a wireless protocol. 0• S

29. A system as claimed in any one of claims 21 to 27, further comprising and altering means for altering one or more of said profiles with updated information before each act of compatibility matching.

30. A system as claimed in any one of claims 21 to 29, wherein said matching means includes: o S I:\DayLib\LIBE\Bzwig\02677AUrcv.doc -27- determining means for determining common data fields relevant to said employer's job profile and the one or more job seeker profiles; and comparing means for comparing the job profile data fields with each of the one or more job seeker profile data fields to determine a compatibility value; wherein said comparing means includes application of a weighting determinant to enhance the accuracy of said matching means.

31. A system as claimed in claim 30, wherein said common data fields include at least one related to prior experience, and which is used as said relative lo weighting determinant.

32. A system as claimed in claim 30 or 31, wherein said common data fields include any one or more related to education, skills and psychological measures.

33. A system as claimed in any one of claims 30 to 32, wherein said comparing means applies a compatibility weighting for some fields and business rules for others. ess.

34. A system for matching an employer's job profile and a job seeker's profile, said system comprising: determining means for determining common data fields relevant to the CS CS employer's job profile and the job seeker's profile, including at least one data field related Sto specific desires of the job seeker; and comparing means for comparing the job profile data fields with the job seeker 25 profile data fields to determine a compatibility value, 25 profile data fields to determine a compatibility value, I;\DayLib\LIBE\Buzwig\02677AUrcv.doc -28- wherein said comparing means includes application of a value of said weighting determinant in each of said common data fields. A system as claimed in claim 34, wherein said common data fields include at least one related to prior experience, and which is used as said relative weighting determinant.

36. A system as claimed in claim 34 or 35, wherein said common data fields include any one or more related to education, skills and psychological measures.

37. A method as claimed in any one of claims 34 to 36, wherein said comparing step includes a compatibility weighting for some fields and business rules for others.

38. A method of facilitating employment, said method being substantially as described herein in relation to any one embodiment with reference to Figs 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings. 0O••

39. A method of matching an employer's job profile and a job seeker's 20 profile, said method being substantially as described herein in relation to any one embodiment with reference to Figs 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings. *°oO* OS 0 0• •e

40. A system for facilitating employment, said system being substantially as too* °2 described herein in relation to any one embodiment with reference to Figs 1 to 5 of the •Oo 2 embodimen w5 accompanying drawings. I:\DayLib\LIBE\Buig\02677AU revdoc -29-

41. A system for matching an employer's job profile and a job seeker's profile, said system being substantially as described herein in relation to any one embodiment with reference to Figs 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings. DATED this twenty-fifth Day of March, 2003 Buzzwig Inc Patent Attorneys for the Applicant SPRUSON FERGUSON o* *o* I\DayLib\LIBE\Buzzwig\02677AUrcv.doc