Walton’s Pickle to Solve Employment Problems

By Eve Matheson on August 25, 2018 in News

John Walton is as Eastern Suburbs as a latte. You may well have caught a wave with him at Bronte, had a beer with him at the Cloey, or been tossed around by him on the mats at his jiu-jitsu gym in Maroubra.

But that’s not all Mr Walton does. He is also an experienced business operator and has come up with a new angle on recruitment.

Mr Walton recently revealed to The Beast how he had turned a setback into an opportunity after finding himself redundant, looking for employment and struggling to get a foot in the door with new employers. Unsure of what he wanted to do next he began applying for jobs, sending his CV to a wide range of companies, but he felt he couldn’t represent himself effectively on paper.

At around the same time Mr Walton started to notice that his mates, owners of cafes and bars, were complaining about how frustrating it was to connect with quality staff and how quickly they turned over new employees.

The overwhelming consensus was that the traditional job application process makes it extremely difficult for candidates to connect with employers. Employers are unable to get a feel for the personality of their potential recruits, and candidates get limited insight into the culture of the workplace they’re applying to be part of.

Realising there was opportunity at hand, Mr Walton set out to find a better way to solve this two-sided problem, and thus, Pickle was born. As Mr Walton enthusiastically says, “Use pickle, get picked.”

Mr Walton noticed that everywhere he looked, video was dominating. Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat had become mostly video-based platforms, so why not employment?

Pickle is a platform that allows candidates and employers to connect and get to know each other through a brief introductory video.

“For applicants, Pickle is all about just being yourself when answering a simple question,” Mr Walton told The Beast.

“For employers, it’s an efficient way of hiring as you can see if a person is worth interviewing after watching their video for ten seconds.”

Pickle is focused on customer-facing businesses, such as hospitality and retail, and targets millennials as they’re posting video of themselves every day on their social media accounts. It’s in these industries that personality and people skills are most important, and Pickle provides a platform for candidates and employers alike to show off aspects of themselves that do not necessarily come across on paper.

Additionally, Pickle caters to the fast-paced needs of these two industries, which have high staff turnover, while giving millennials looking for jobs the opportunity to put their presentation skills to use outside of their personal social media accounts.

Pickle is simple to use. Candidates create a profile and have the option of uploading a traditional CV and video. The introductory video is the focus of the site and it can all be done with a few taps on your smartphone. The key to success, according to Mr Walton, is to just be yourself.

“It’s like FaceTime for jobs,” he said.

Applicants can then browse Pickle for available jobs and apply for multiple jobs with the click of a button. They can also create a public profile, allowing other potential employers to find them.

Pickle can assist employers who want to have their videos professionally produced, so they are able to sell their culture, show off their venue and attract the best candidates – and there is definitely competition between employers to get the best candidates.

Mr Walton also emphasised the advantage of putting a face to the business, allowing candidates to see who will actually be employing them.

Pickle has been over two years in the making and is set to finally roll out this month.

“When you start this process, it can be challenging and you do question yourself,” Mr Walton said.

“But when people start to believe in you, and when people start to follow through with chasing you up, you start to believe that what you’re doing has got merit.”

Pickle certainly does have merit, so if you’re looking for a job or you’re sick of paying through the nose to fill vacant positions in your business, jump on to www.pickle.jobs, or give Pickle a call on 0405 939 202.