Since getting acquired by Randstad, things at Monster have been really quiet. While a big part of that probably has to do with the logistics of bringing two big companies together, it also has a lot to do with the fact that Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Indeed have sucked all the air out of the room for the past year.
“Joining Randstad provides a unique opportunity to accelerate our ability to connect more people to more jobs,” said Tim Yates, CEO of Monster, when the deal went down. “Together with Randstad, Monster will be better positioned to fulfill our core mission, and our employees will benefit from becoming part of a larger, more diversified company.
“Equally important, this transaction offers immediate value to our shareholders. We are excited to join and be supported by Randstad, as we continue to build the best recruiting media, technologies, and platforms. We look forward to working with the Randstad team to ensure a smooth transition.”
I have no clue how smooth the transition actually was, but I can certainly say nothing about it was very newsworthy. Checking out Monster’s press page is a real bummer. Instead of touting new products, features, businesses, and partnerships, it’s full of snoozers like “As Four Generations Collide in the Workplace, Employers Must Rethink When and How People Work” and “Monster and Job Corps Testify Before Congress on Importance of Bridging ‘Skills Gap.'”
Good God! Just shoot me.
Fortunately for Monster, however, the worm may finally be turning. The company announced a partnership with TextRecruit earlier this month that will integrate text messaging and live chat into Monster’s hiring solutions.
“With unemployment at record low levels, employers are struggling to fill job openings, and it’s hurting their bottom line,” said Ryan Bush, vice president of business development at TextRecruit. “Our partnership with Monster will allow companies to reach and connect with candidates in a matter of minutes, make hires in days, not weeks, and turn talent acquisition into a competitive advantage.”
For a company that’s better known historically for building things itself (BeKnown) or just acquiring companies (Trovix, TalentBin) to get things done, partnering in this way is pretty telling, and a sign that things are getting leaner and maybe even a bit more efficient at the ol’ job board. Dare I say, humility may have taken ahold.
“We are excited to enter into an agreement with TextRecruit that enables Monster to provide enhanced candidate engagement for our customers as they look for new and faster ways to communicate with candidates and reduce the time to hire,” said Chris Cho, chief product officer at Monster.
In addition to customers getting access to TextRecruit’s text messaging communications technology, they’ll also be able to leverage TextRecruit’s JobChat, a live chat agent for job postings, and ARI, a chatbot that can answer questions, screen candidates, and schedule interviews any hour of the day. Here’s their blog post on specific updates.
Partnerships like this are nothing new to TextRecruit, who markets a robust API that has been integrated into more than 20 applicant tracking system solutions such as Jobvite and iCIMS. They also serve as the backbone to Nexxt‘s Text2Hire solution. (Full disclosure: Nexxt sponsors a podcast I do.)
TextRecruit landed $3 million in Series A funding in March 2017. Pricing and rollout dates were not announced, and nothing is currently on Monster’s product page that highlights TextRecruit’s solutions.
