Career Rewards Continues to Prosper after First-Round Funding, Evidenced by Strong Financial Results and Recent Business Developments

Business Wire, Sept 5, 2000

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

Capital Connection 2000

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 5, 2000

Career Rewards Emerges As The Leader In The Internet Compensated

Referral Recruiting Market

Career Rewards, Inc. (www.careerrewards.com), a peer-to-peer recruiting community that uses Internet referral programs to help companies find high-quality employees, today announced it has become the nation's most successful Internet Compensated Referral (ICR) recruiting service.

Since launching in February 2000, Career Rewards has successfully placed over 60 candidates in new jobs, has paid out more than $140,000 in referral bonuses, has grown from 6 to 40 employees, and has generated revenues of over $750,000 as of August 31, 2000.

"When Career Rewards launched in February, we were the only company focusing on Internet referral recruiting. Career Rewards created the new, and rapidly growing, Internet Compensated Referral (ICR) marketplace," said Douglas Layman, president and CEO of Career Rewards, Inc. "With our significant revenue growth and increasing track record of success, we are continuing as the leader in the ICR market."

As new Internet recruiting companies continue to emerge, Career Rewards has set the pace for what is proving to be the most effective way to match qualified candidates with job openings, Layman said.

"A recent Forrester research study acknowledged referrals as the number one technique for finding a new job, with over 40 percent of individuals saying they found their most recent position through a referral," he added. "The secret to Career Rewards' success is more than proprietary, Web-based technology. We've enabled the Web with a human face that combines personal referrals with high-touch, relationship-based services. By offering cash incentives of $1,500 to $10,000 to anyone who helps a friend get hired, we've identified the catalyst for building peer-to-peer referral communities that virally expand awareness of great career opportunities. This is a totally new channel for attracting talent to employers that benefits everyone. Career Rewards' peer-to-peer communities apply more resources to searching for candidates than any other technique, resulting in faster searches that find high-quality candidates not reachable through other techniques. The positive feedback we've been getting from candidates, individuals, and employers has been overwhelming. We are seeing outstanding revenue growth and are looking forward to continued expansion in the upcoming year."

Career Rewards has also seen great success with its CareerPartners(TM) program, and has created yet another way for people to expand their networks. "After individuals sign up for Career Rewards, they actually talk with a CareerPartner. People are amazed when a career-oriented Web site actually has a real person call them back. They want to tell their friends--and make money!" said Layman. "By encouraging referrals directly to one of our real people CareerPartners, we've created another venue for growing our peer-to-peer referral communities."

Additionally, the company has launched new programs to improve the quality and quantity of the overall service. Career Rewards has:

-- Built focused specialty peer-to-peer communities. These communities give
members an easy, effective way to network with their peers. Career Rewards'
interactive communities seamlessly meld networking opportunities with news,
commentary and analysis, tools, resources, trade shows, and more. Career
Rewards has created focused networking communities for Technology, eBusiness,
Sales & Marketing, Telecommunications, Professional Services and others.

-- Launched a new practice area based on our core competency in referral
recruiting programs. Career Rewards' expert consultants can help employers
improve the effectiveness of internal employee referral programs. Top
recruiting organizations can get 50% or more of their hires through employee
referral programs.

-- Seen significant growth in the private-label product, TeamRewards, for
managing internal employee referral programs

-- Started sharing referral bonuses between candidates and referral partner so
everyone wins.

-- Added flexibility in cashing in referral bonuses to meet everyone's needs.
Individuals can receive the bonus in cash, charitable donation or opt for a
non-monetary gift or trip. Career Rewards has formed partnerships with six
charities including Save the Children, So Others Might Eat, The Nature
Conservancy, Landmine Survivors Network, Habitat for Humanity, and Make-A-Wish
Foundation.

About Career Rewards

Career Rewards has developed proprietary software that compensates individuals $1,500 to $10,000 for successful referrals on the Internet, creating a peer-to-peer recruiting community. By offering compensated referral programs, Career Rewards has discovered a scalable source of high-quality, passive job candidates.

Replacing the traditional headhunter with a proven referral technique and harnessing the potential of everyone using the Internet, Career Rewards is a better, faster, and less expensive source of candidates for employers. Career Rewards was founded in November of 1999 and launched in February of 2000. The company is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.