Turns out, the construction industry is way behind the times. At least when it comes to recruiting practices, anyway. Most people find employment by word of mouth or Craigslist. But one local startup is trying to tech out how people hire for the trades.
Trade Hounds is a website with the same scope as LinkedIn, but is better catered to blue collar workers and the companies that want to hire them.
“Construction is old school," David Broomhead, Trade Hounds founder and Babson MBA, told me. "It’s globally one of the oldest industries and it’s globally one of the most old-fashioned in its ways."
Trade Hounds is trying to bring construction recruiting and job listings into the modern world. At the same time, its functionality still embodies the spirit of the industry.
I want to restore pride in blue collar work
Resumes aren't mandatory on Trade Hounds. “When would construction workers ever use a resume? They work with their hands. How would they go about trying to describe what they've done on each project they've completed?" Broomhead said.
Instead, through Trade Hounds, users create a profile onto which they can upload a quick video introducing themselves, as well as photos of projects they’ve completed.
Employers using the service to find workers don’t have to cull through hundreds of resumes. They can narrow down their pool of potential workers by using Trade Hounds’ search filters. Through the site, companies can search for people based on keywords, projects they’ve done, companies they’ve worked with, languages they’ve spoken and where they live. This way, they can find a list of workers qualified for whatever jobs companies may have going on.
Trade Hounds also provides a newsfeed featuring industry-relevant tips, articles and other content. It's meant to build a community, not just a job board.
All of the features Trade Hounds boasts call back to Broomhead's past. He was basically born into the construction business, with many of his family members working in that field. But he had managed to distance himself from the blue collar world until he was in his 30s.
He told me that years back, in his homeland of Australia, he was "a go-getter" climbing the corporate ladder when he had a “quarter-life crisis.” He hung up his suit and threw his hard hat into the family construction business.
After some serious soul-searching - and a literal Google search for an “entrepreneur MBA” - Broomhead ended up at Babson. When thinking about starting his own business, he zeroed in on what he knew - construction - and the pain points most commonly felt by companies in that space. From cold calling people in the construction business, sourcing labor was a recurring complaint he heard. And it became apparent companies would pay him to solve this problem.
For nine months, Broomhead attempted to build out Trade Hounds by himself. Ultimately, he came in contact with Jay Jungalwala, an Athenahealth vet who stepped up as Trade Hounds’ CTO advisor. Flash forward to today: The Trade Hounds website is live, and the venture has already signed on a number of vocational schools and veteran organizations as users.
Trade Hounds is free for construction companies and workers to make profiles. It does charge employers, starting from $69 per job posting. And Broomhead said another revenue route for the venture is advertising.
Broomhead was offered funding early on in Trade Hounds’ development, but he turned it down. He opted to bootstrap the company, only recently taking on a friends and family round, and plans to raise more the coming spring.
Looking ahead, Broomhead also hopes to expand its services to people and companies in trades beyond the construction industry. And he plans to extend Trade Hounds geographical reach to other hubs for this line of work.
“I want to restore pride in blue collar work,” Broomhead said. “These people are so proud of what they do, so I want to give them the tools to show what they’ve accomplished.”
