Assisting in career building

Hindustan Times recently launched their job portal Shine.com. Talking to the Retailer, Amit Garg, Business Head - Firefly E-Ventures, talks about the portal and its role in providing jobs to job seekers and employers

Retailer: How do you briefly describe Shine.com?

Amit Garg (AG): Shine.com is a career portal by Firefly e-Ventures, a 100 per cent subsidiary of HT Media Ltd. RedMatch, the best job-matching engine in the world with more than 50 installations worldwide, powers it. Shine is not just about jobs; it is rather about helping people build careers. It supports career conscious individuals and provides tools to meet their career ambitions. It is being recognised as an optimistic brand that cares about candidates’ careers and treats them more than just a number. Shine also provides to candidates total anonymity in their job search efforts, thereby enabling quality candidates and even senior level working professionals to register at shine.com - people who have so far avoided portals due to their profiles being visible to all. For recruiters, the portal offers a comprehensive matching engine, which instantly provides matching profiles of candidates in sorted order, without having to wade through thousands of resumes. Shine also provides a powerful tool designed to track applicants through various stages of the entire recruitment process. All this is done to save the recruiter’s precious time, cost and effort in hiring.

Retailer: What all job profiles (categories) do you have for retail industry?

AG: At Shine, we have openings in retail store management, customer service, merchandise planning and sales with positions ranging from consultants, customer care executives, sales executives etc. to managerial roles like assistant general managers, deputy general managers and chief operations officers. There are many job specific requirements like section supervisors and promotion managers.

Retailer: How many job offers do you have at present for retail sector?

AG: More than 10 per cent of jobs on our website are from the retail industry.

Retailer: How many job seekers apply for retail jobs in present days?

AG: On our website, over 10 per cent job seekers look for jobs in the retail industry.

Retailer: Which retail companies are your clients?

AG: Despite the fact that Shine.com is nascent, we have already secured relationships with many key players in the industry and are expecting many more names to be added in the list. Some of our recent clients include Crossword Books Store Ltd, Tata Tele Services Ltd, Bose Corporation Pvt. Ltd, SKC Retail Ltd, Vibggor Gold Ltd, Barista Coffee Co. Ltd, Universal Media, Clien & Bosch and Ansal.

Retailer: How do you see multiplication of job opportunities against in the changing and burgeoning retail industry?

AG: With many big players entering retail sector, retailers have been hiring personnel aggressively from similar and smaller organisations by offering better packages. Be it technology, supply chain, distribution, logistics, marketing, product development, opportunities have multiplied and will continue to grow exponentially. Also, there is an increase in the number of retail management programmes and institutes churning out more qualified personnel for the industry. The core issue of difficulty in finding right candidates for a particular job still remains and, therefore, huge demand for good candidates in the industry is not met. This is where Shine comes in with its matching technology and, of course, a great quality and quantity of qualified career-conscious candidates is in its database.

Retailer: Does Shine.com provide any training for retail industry?

AG: Currently, Shine provides information, career advice and counseling on a broad range of topics and industries and its content section has been appreciated as a highly rich and differentiating area. While we do not provide any ‘training’ for specific industries as yet, this space is an evolving one and, certainly, training cannot be ruled out in future.

Retailer: In your opinion, how big is the job potential of Indian retail industry?

AG: With over 50,000 people being added to hypermarket and lifestyle formats only every year, retail has come up as a career opportunity for graduates and post-graduates looking for a challenging profile with quick career growth opportunities. At present, only around four to five per cent of retail in India is organised. The industry is going through a transition with experience of more dynamic growth gained in recent years. In times to come, growth rates of about 40 - 50 per cent are expected in the industry. Since retail is manpower-intensive industry and growth is tremendous, potential and, hence, requirement in the industry shall be huge.

Retailer: How do you assess quantum of increase in jobs in the coming years?

AG: Indian retail market is being looked upon as the most attractive market for retail investment. Hailed as a sunrise sector, retail in India is estimated to grow from $ 330 billion (approximately Rs 13,200 billion) in 2007 to $ 637 billion (approximately Rs 19,410 billion) by 2015. With so much action in the sector, it is natural that there is a growing scope for employment opportunities. According to an analysis by Ma Foi Management Consultants Ltd, retail will generate employment for more than 25 lakh people by 2010. And, Shine.com plans to be a key player in getting right people to right jobs in this exciting industry.