They’re heeeeeere. Again.

Remember itzbig (see pic)? Trovix? Climber v1.0? The original Jobfox? It’s sort of like remembering your first iPod and its navigation wheel. These were the original “eHarmony for jobs” players.

Itzbig Mascot at ERE, 2008

Similar to the popular dating service, these solutions hoped to magically pair candidates with employers based on sophisticated algorithms.

It didn’t go too well.

Trovix, the big winner, sold to Monster for like $70 million and became 6Sense. Climber pivoted. itzbig went to Jobtarget. Jobfox is on life support.

The problem? Typical chicken and egg stuff, which is common in online classifieds. Job seekers had to fill out complicated forms and employers did likewise.

I’m not sure either got much out the time invested. Trovix, in contrast, didn’t require the same commitment, which is likely the reason they saw a payday.

This trend started around 2006 and pretty much ended with The Great Recession.

Fast forward to today, and they’re back. Only the names have changed to protect the innocent.

Comment by Jason Alba on September 10, 2012 at 11:00am: I didn't think I'd ever see a post from Joel Cheesman again... ! I hope this isn't the last :)

So, what are the names? This post is too elusive... I want more details. And Joel, are you back in the industry?

Comment by Joel Cheesman on September 10, 2012 at 12:28pm: Ha! Thanks for the kind words, Jason. You can follow my commentary at http://blog.jobscore.com these days.