Hire.com and Benchmark Announce Partnership to Help Companies Attract, Hire and Retain Top-Talent

Business Wire, Sept 15, 1999

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 15, 1999--

Hire.com, the leading e-recruiting application service provider, announced today a partnership with Benchmark, a leading provider of progressive employment management and human resources consulting solutions for high growth technology companies, to help companies obtain maximum return from their recruiting efforts. Under the terms of the agreement, Benchmark will recommend Hire.com's e-Recruiter(TM) service as part of the solutions they deliver to help companies to do battle in the War for Talent.

"Start-ups and established companies looking to expand into new markets are often challenged by the demands of recruiting and hiring in today's highly competitive marketplace," said David Smoragiewicz, director of business development of Benchmark. "Through our partnership with Hire.com, we will now offer the industry's most effective e-recruiting solution, e-Recruiter(TM), as part of our on-site employment management and human resources consulting solutions, to help companies breakthrough their hiring and retention barriers and realize their maximum growth potential."

Benchmark has expertise in providing human resource consulting in the telecommunications, Internet, enterprise software and professional services industries. Benchmark works closely with clients to develop custom recruiting plans combining Internet advertising, job fairs, print recruitment advertising, employee referral programs, employment agency management, direct sourcing and other recruitment vehicles. In addition to recruiting, the company has full-service Employment Strategists to assist growing start-ups and small companies in all forms of employee retainment including: fine-tuning of employee relations practices, employee and market surveys, implementation of progressive employee retention programs, benefit negotiation, and employee handbook and corporate policy development. Now, Benchmark will include Hire.com's e-Recruiter as part of its service offering.

"In order to be effective in today's talent wars, organizations need to be able to 'speed hire' interested, qualified and available candidates (IQAs) as soon as a position becomes available. This can only be accomplished by establishing dynamic and interactive relationships with both active and passive candidates," said Hank Stringer, president and founder of Hire.com. "Organizations need to recruit their own people internally to enhance retention of employees. Because, if you're not recruiting your own employees, I can guarantee that somebody else will."

Hire.com's e-Recruiter service automates the entire recruiting process, including marketing job openings, capturing passive job seekers, responding immediately to active job seekers and connecting hiring managers with IQAs -- interested, qualified and available -- applicants, faster than ever. Hire.com customizes, integrates and hosts e-recruiting services for an organization, turning its Web site into a state-of-the-art, branded e-recruiting tool, requiring minimal time, in-house resources or IT investment. Hire.com's e-Recruiter is customized to match the look and feel of each organization's Web site. It has a unique profiling and matching system that is quick and easy for candidates, yet gathers enough information to pre-qualify talent for future and current openings.

About Benchmark

Benchmark provides progressive on-site employment management and human resources consulting solutions for high growth technology companies nationwide. For nearly four years, Benchmark's strategic, scaleable and cost-effective programs have proven successful for firms of all sizes. Benchmark's "best practices" approach provides clients with unique recruiting and human resources solutions that are well researched, competitive and creditable. Benchmark's present locations include New England, Metro Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. More information is available at www.benchmarkinc.com.

About Hire.com

Hire.com is the leading e-recruiting application service provider committed to helping organizations effectively automate the recruiting process to win the talent war-getting the right talent, in the right job, damn fast! By harnessing the power of the Internet to continuously source and develop personal and dynamic relationships with both active and passive candidates, Hire.com turns an organization's Web site into a state-of-the-art, branded, recruiting tool that enables it to build equity in its own private community of talent. Hire.com is the first recruiting approach to break through the growing "resu-mess," and enable organizations to speed hire interested, qualified and available applicants faster than ever.

Formerly called world.hire, Hire.com was named one of the "Hot 100 Private Companies" of 1999 by Upside magazine. Hire.com's customers include Corestaff, Electronic Arts, General Instrument, IBM, MCI WorldCom, Tellabs, U.S. Mint and US WEST. The company is funded by venture capital from Crosspoint Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and TL Ventures.