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BROOKLINE--Students hoping to land jobs in a foreign country after their graduation parties die down have an ally in CampusCareerCenter.com.
Matt Casey and Gary Geraci, the 27-year-old co-founders of the Brookline-based company, are helping to link undergraduate and
graduate students both here and abroad with companies around the globe.
The Internet job posting and research company specializes in jobs and internships with large multinational companies for
international students and Americans who want to work abroad, or for foreign students who want to come work in the United States. The
company was founded last year, with the World Wide Web site -- CampusCareerCenter.com
-- making its official debut this March.<
Geraci said foreign students studying in the United States can have a tough time searching for jobs in their native countries, and
U.S. students often struggle to find a job overseas. "It became very clear to us very quickly that there was a pent-up demand," he
said.
The web site lists entry-level jobs in more than a dozen countries along with career search tips and profiles of member companies.
Currently, the business has about 250 companies testing out the job posting and corporate profile systems for free, and hopes to
convert many of those to paying customers as of Dec. 1. Beginning in December, the two-person company will debut its database of
student profiles and resumes so companies can search for potential hires. So far, 5,000 students have completed profiles, and the
company expects to have 50,000 students by the launch.
Companies that subscribe will pay between $3,000 and $6,000 annually. Fees for companies posting jobs on the site range from $150 to
a $2,000 annual subscription to post an unlimited number of jobs.
"We have everything from a typical financial services job to a company that teaches English in Japan," Casey said.
Casey and Geraci, fraternity brothers at the University of Rochester, started the company with $142,500 they raised from family,
friends and individual investors and are in the midst of a second round of financing now for around $500,000. The company's projected
revenue for 1999 is $300,000 from the database service. The founders don't expect to make a profit this year.
The business took root as Casey, who previously worked for a publishing company, looked for a way to combine his interest in
recruiting and the Internet. Geraci, who is finishing the MBA program at Bentley College in Waltham, had an interest in working with
international students after his experience studying in Copenhagen.
"The labor market right now is extremely tight," Geraci said. "There is just a tremendous need right now for skilled, highly educated
employees."
The company is working with more than 180 career centers at colleges and graduate schools here and overseas to publicize the service,
which is free to students.
Joy Johnson, personnel supervisor at the Knoxville, Tenn., division of Panasonic, which is owned by Matsushita Electronics Co. Ltd.
of Osaka, Japan, just posted a couple job listings on the web site and is eager to learn more about the database. She said more and
more students are using the Internet to find jobs.
"You can only physically go to so many colleges to recruit," Johnson said. "I thought (the web site) was a good way to get the job
openings throughout the country."
Casey said large international companies that are always on the prowl for new workers have expressed interest in the database.
"This is access to an entire academic community," Casey said. "It's a way for (companies) to keep a constant presence. They have
campus recruiting visits, but those invariably last a day and a half and then they're gone."
Job seekers put their information into the network beginning their sophomore year for undergraduate students and the first year of
graduate school. CampusCareerCenter.com pays scores of student representatives to help spread the word about the site in several
countries, including Russia, India and Germany.
Casey and Geraci don't really feel they are in direct competition with Maynard-based Monster.com and other job search "megasites"
because of their academic focus, but say they are exploring forming a partnership with a larger site.
Charlene Li, senior analyst with Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, said the number of web sites targeting college students is
taking off. People form many of their buying habits or brand loyalty in college, Li said, and companies are going after the
demographic. Li expects a blitz of new web sites geared toward the college crowd in August.
Li said Monster.com has had a campus area for years, but added that there is room for narrowly focused job search sites.
"I like the spin of it," Li said of CampusCareerCenter.com. "This is a great idea because a student in Singapore might want to come
to the U.S., and a student in the U.S. might want to go to Norway. The sort of general job sites are still very powerful, but the
real future in recruiting is the really specialized areas."
Jeffrey Shuman, director of entrepreneurial studies at Bentley College and a former professor of Geraci's, said he also thinks the
company can succeed by focusing strictly on one market. Shuman is on the company's advisory board and is considering becoming an
investor.
"There are other `dot-com' job placements, but these guys have that niche of international students," Shuman said. "I think as a
jumping off point that niche will be very helpful in the marketplace."
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