The job-search site that’s with you for life: Queby

Right now, Queby, a local startup running from the Prospect Heights apartments of its two cofounders, is working to solve a small problem in the life of a job seeker: How do you keep track of the jobs you’re interested in?
Wes Houghton, one of the cofounders, described the company’s beta release as something like a Pinterest for your job search. It isn’t that you pin job postings to a vision board or anything, but it is one place to store information about all the jobs you’ve perused.
Anyone who has ever conducted a job hunt can identify with some of these problems. When you’re early in your career and your experience is thin, many people apply for all kinds of stuff. So one day you get a call, “Hey, this Jenny from Whatever, Inc. I’m calling about your application.” What application? Suddenly, you can barely remember what the job was. Was that the photo editor assistant job or the editorial assistant job? Or was it the one in sales, because, you know, the bills have to get paid? You want to seem interested when you answer Jenny, but you aren’t really sure what you’re talking about. Or you miss the call, so you plan to call back with an intelligent answer, but when you go to look at the listing again online, it’s gone. The company has all the applications it needs, so the listing has been taken down. Now you can’t remember the finer points. What do you do?
That’s where Queby comes in.
Post a job to your Queby page and it will store all that information for you. No matter what Craigslist or your dream employer does with the listing, you’ll have it.
It would be nice to have that jobs scrapbook, but Houghton’s the first to admit that that’s not really enough to build a true business around. The team has a grander vision, he told us. Houghton has been working in technology online for more than two decades at a wide array of companies whose names you’d know. His cofounder, Taniya Gunasekara, is a veteran HR pro. Together, they see a company that would stay with both employers and job seekers over time.
“What we’re really looking for is less about monitoring. It’s more about following,” Houghton said.
We’ve come across a couple of other local teams looking to fix your job hunt. JobSuitors wants to incorporate matchmaking insights and RoleTroll wants to let robots do it for you. The larger idea behind Queby, however, is that by convincing employees and employers to stick with Queby over time, the site can deliver more value to both. That way, it can help each party manage their goals over time.
Houghton said he and his partner have put in about two years of work on the project. The site has been in beta since last summer. The next release will open up the employer and recruiter side of Queby.