SWC x Wildfire 2024 Spotlight: PasaJob

PasaJob is an online platform that connects employers and job seekers in the Philippines through referrals. It serves as a job portal where companies can post job openings, and individuals can search for employment and opportunities in various industries. The platform aims to make job hunting easier and more efficient by allowing users to browse through a wide range of job listings, apply for positions directly, and access various tools to enhance their career search. PasaJob is designed to streamline the hiring process, benefiting both job seekers and employers by offering a convenient and user-friendly interface for recruitment and job applications. With that, why don’t you join me in learning more about PasaJob with its Chief Marketing Officer, Melissa Balmaceda.   

How has your career led you to work at PasaJob? 

My course was in COM. I got into a lot of different advertising and marketing roles. I also ended up teaching, it was in teaching that I learned about PasaJob since I was an adjunct faculty and mentor in AIM. PasaJob happens to be part of one of the cohorts that we taught at. A couple of years after that program, they invited me to join.

The reason why I ended up joining PasaJob was because it aligns with my personal mission. I want to be able to be part of work that's meaningful. One of the key things that I really wanted to push, which also aligns with PasaJob's mission, is to be able to provide more opportunities. I wanted to merge that business vision into my social vision mission. That's what PasaJob wants to do: to accelerate employment so that more people can have jobs, livelihood, and earning opportunities for all.

What are the key features or functionalities that set PasaJob apart from other job platforms?

What we learned is that actually 8 out of 10 job openings don't get posted or don't reach job seekers. With being unemployed or underemployed, there's still a lot of information gap that occurs. All the different features we have at PasaJob contribute to us being able to connect hiring companies or employers to job seekers. One key thing that we found is that the best way to connect them is through social networks, because every single person has their own network of friends and family. We can leverage on that so that jobs or job openings can reach people faster and easier. That’s why we built our technology around that. The technology essentially supercharges what we already have, which is social capital. That’s the unique thing about PasaJob: we utilize the technology of long-chains to be able to hasten the passing on of information of job openings to different networks of people.

What are the potential challenges and opportunities for PasaJob in the current job market?

I think one of the key challenges that we have is, of course, the Philippines is still emerging in terms of utilizing technology. So while referrals already happen in various companies, it's still not as common as we want it to be that companies use technology. Or even more basic as processing candidates online and systems or platforms. A lot of companies still resort to manual processing. That's one challenge of tech adoption. However, I would say that's also an opportunity because then we know who these industries are. There are certain industries that say, for example, BPOs or logistics and transportation that are already utilizing technology for referrals. The opportunity lies in being able to replicate the kind of behavior or the kind of already existing practices in these industries and transferring them to other industries.

The second challenge is that we have to recognize that there are already established competitors. As a new player in the game, there's always that hurdle to be able to build your credibility to onboard different employers and also for users to utilize your platform. It’s a common challenge with any kind of new innovation. But the opportunity there is that if competitors already exist, then there is really an urgent problem to solve. There's still some room to improve the current status quo. That's what we really want to get into. That's why we're here. That's why we exist. We want to still make lives better for all these employers who continue to experience these pain points. We've been really aggressive about being able to let the word out about this new innovation. We're really adamant and really pushing for PasaJob or GJobs to make itself known because that allows us to also reach more employers to utilize an innovation that will really help them with their processes.

So right now, we have about over 700 employers and over 17,000 vacancies on the platform. This is already a good start. There's a lot of opportunity to grow that exponentially because of our partnership also with GCash. We hope to continue this momentum as we move forward and build on our traction.

Would you be able to share any success stories that PasaJob has been able to achieve?

Our first year was spent building our employer and user bases to hundreds and millions respectively. But entering into our second year being on GCash as GJobs, we are primed to improve successful hires and overall, enhance user experience. 

We have one referrer actually who has been really successful and has so far earned as much as Php40,000 in being able to refer jobs to friends and family and get them hired. So, you see, even in your spare time, you can just go on the platform and earn. There’s an opportunity for people to utilize their downtime and their social capital into something that's productive and something that's income-generating. We hope to be able to see a lot more successful hires, especially now that we want to be able to support employers in processing more or finding job matching, candidate matching to the requirements of employers. 

How does PasaJob plan to expand its reach and user base in the Philippines?

Expanding our user base is something we do hand-in-hand with our partner, GCash. There are already over 90 million users on GCash. Another great thing about it is that every single user is verified. This makes it reliable and trustworthy for people to get on and employers to hire new talent from. 

The second is being able to utilize a lot of our partnerships. We've been participating in various programs, joining different networks of employers and hiring companies because we want to get the word out there and we want to be able to make this available for so many other employers. For example, we participated recently in the Startup QC program. We are partnering with the QC local government to be able to onboard more QC businesses to hire on GJobs.

The third thing is that we want to be able to expand geographically. We're also reaching out to a lot of different partners so that we can make GJobs available in other countries and to be able to facilitate recruitment overseas. Another key thing that we want is to be able to do AI matching, AI interviewing, and AI searching for talent on the platform.

Then, last but not the least, is expanding the definition of jobs. We want to open the definition of jobs to individuals looking for other services. So what if you need a plumber, you need a nanny, you need a caregiver? We want to be able to have that on a platform that's safer, more trustworthy for everyone. More jobs on the platform means more opportunities for all. 

How was your experience with IGNITE? How does it feel to be part of the top 3 startups of Startup World Cup x Wildfire 2024 Pitch Competition?

When you get into all these competitions, it's literally and figuratively about being able to set up a stage for startups. The reason why organizations like Techshake and IGNITE exist is because there's still a lot of room for growth in being able to put a spotlight on the startups in the Philippines.  Whenever we get to participate in these kinds of competitions, it's always an honor because not a lot of startups get that kind of exposure. Being part of IGNITE also opened up a lot of opportunities and doors for collaboration since we were able to interact with other startups in the process. Being exposed to other startups makes you learn a lot in how they frame their startup: how they grow and how they also stay resilient in the process.

We were fortunate enough to be one of the top three. We ended up going to Jeju as an incentive from Techshake, IGNITE, and its Korean partner, Y&Archer. For me, that was really an insightful experience. I learned a lot only because it's a different space and a different stage when you're faced with international investors and other startups from other countries. At the same time, we were given the opportunity to also have some one-on-one business matching. It was a really good experience because it makes the experience of meeting investors and fundraising more human. When you keep doing all these fundraises and pitches, it’s a challenge to get past being transactional. But when it becomes an experience that really allows you to have meaningful conversations and to immerse in the experience of others, it makes for a better learning altogether for you and also for the people you are with.

After I pitched to IGNITE, a couple of people reached out to me on LinkedIn to schedule a meeting for potential investments and collaborations. I think it was effective in that way because we really were able to meet certain people who we wouldn't have met otherwise. We’re grateful the experience opened our eyes and many doors to move forward.

Melissa Balmaceda is the Chief Marketing Officer of PasaJob. She is responsible for overseeing the marketing and fundraising initiatives of the entire company, including the development of digital marketing campaigns, social media engagement, and SEO among others. Her presence is incredibly important for the company to achieve branding, reach, sales, and networking. As witnessed, Melissa is passionate about making job hunting easier for both job seekers and companies alike.

Visit www.techshake.asia if you would like to know and connect more with PasaJob.