From The Central New York Business Journal – Syracuse, NY, USA
June 12, 2009
By Eric Reinhardt
FAYETTEVILLE – Jeffrey Garber recently started a new job, and he’s hoping the unemployed will turn to his new company for help in landing their next job.
Garber is the co-founder and CEO of 360JobInterview.com, a Web site dedicated to connecting job seekers with human-resources (HR) professionals for coaching and resume review before an interview or while pursuing a new career.
With the unemployment rate rising during the last year, Garber and his longtime business partner, Daniel Fedrizzi, the Web-site’s co-founder and chief operating officer, saw a business opportunity in connecting job seekers with helpful HR professionals.
“In the last year, we were trying to find a niche in the economy that would generate revenue, be very unique, and also help people,” says Garber.
Garber and Fedrizzi came up with the idea for 360JobInterview.com in January. The company launched May 5 and is based from Garber’s home office in Fayetteville.
“We actually put everything in place in less than four months,” says Garber.
Besides Garber and Fedrizzi, the management team includes Brad Kaunitz, senior manager of recruitment, and Linda Egerton, director of marketing, according to the company’s Web site.
A third investor also helped Garber and Fedrizzi launch the company, but Garber declined to name the individual or say how much ownership stake each person has in the fledgling business.
The company has recruited more than 300 interview coaches from around the nation in 57 career categories, including sales, marketing, accounting, technology, and green business.
The company considers the interview coaches independent contractors, with 360JobInterview.com paying them a fee from the coaching revenue, he adds.
“What’s interesting is a lot of those people have lost their own jobs in HR in the last three or four months,” Garber says, noting the HR coaches previously worked for companies such as Time Warner Inc., General Motors Corp., Dell Inc., and Microsoft Corp.
The Web site also employs nine operations staffers who are located in cities including New York City; Washington, D.C.; St. Louis; and Louisville, Ky.
Garber hopes to double the number of coaches by year’s end.
As of May 26, about 4,500 clients had used the service, Garber adds.
Garber says 360JobInterview.com cost “a substantial amount of money” to start but declined to provide an exact figure. Garber used his own cash and funding from the third investor to launch the site.
He also declined to offer a revenue projection for 2009.
According to its Web site, 360Job Interview.com charges $129 for a one-hour coaching session on preparing for an interview or determining what might be the best path for a new career. In addition, a client can pay $195 for help in crafting a résumé, and $325 for a combination of resume building and a 45-minute career-counseling session.
The counseling sessions with an HR coach are conducted over an Internet connection using Skype, a software package that allows face-to-face video conferencing using a Web cam.
Garber believes the company’s prices are affordable.
“If you can engage a professional HR person to spend an hour with intense interviewing or career coaching, it’s worth the price range,” he says.
The term “360″ in the Web-site title refers to the company’s belief in providing a total evaluation of the job-search candidate and process, he adds. It takes a 360-degree view of a client’s situation.
Garber has spent much of his career in advertising, marketing, and public relations. He founded JSG Communications in the Nettleton Commons in Syracuse in 1985. The firm, which is no longer in operation, devised advertising and public relations campaigns for companies such as Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., Carrier Corp., Syracuse University, and Welch Allyn.
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