Like so many aspects of our lives, searching and applying for jobs is virtually unrecognisable from what it was twenty years ago.

Those of you who frequent the world of online dating will no doubt be familiar with a simple little location-based app called tinder which burst on to the scene a few years ago. Its premise is a simple one – you are presented with images of a prospective partner and by either swiping your screen left or right indicate whether or not you are interested in them…clinical, unromantic but mighty effective.

Well, now an app has emerged which hopes to bring this same sledgehammer effectiveness to online job applications. The appropriately titled ‘Jobr’ connects to your LinkedIn account and uses the information there to create your own unique Jobr profile. It takes into consideration your job history, career trajectory, skills, competencies and interests and tries to present you with jobs that it reckons you will be interested in. Each vacancy has its own profile page which will feature some of the basic and most important details about the role and the company you would be working with. You will also be able to see how many of your connections work for them currently and which of the skills that you possess match those requested by the job specification.

Taking the information into consideration you then indicate whether or not you would like to pursue the role further by swiping right for ‘yes’ or left for ‘no’. You can also refer a job profile to a friend who you think would be interested in applying for it, and if they go on to be employed in the role, you not only get one very appreciative friend, but Jobr will give you a cash reward for helping to facilitate the match.

What happens next?

Those recruiting for the position are able to review applicants in a similar way by viewing their profiles and assessing their suitability based on the information they have provided. Thereafter the application process follows the company’s standard procedures.

Whether or not Jobr will become the runaway success that its inspiration Tinder did remains to be seen…but it does raise a rather interesting question ‘is finding the right job really that different from finding the right person?’