TalentEgg in 2010 (and two new features launching today)

How much do I love writing “2010”? I’ve been obsessed with it since we wrote our first ever TalentEgg Holiday Cards in December.

Other than just being a really fun ‘word’ to say, 2010 is also significant because it’s geared up to be a HUGE year for TalentEgg and for all the parties that use our site – students, recent grads, employers, and career centres.

To properly kick off the year, Daniel, Cassandra, Antonio, and Allison (our new Business Intern!!) sat down yesterday morning and mapped out our top priorities and goals for the year. I won’t give everything away, but here’s a taste of what you can expect:

More of the good stuff:

Over the past several months, we’ve been working really hard to get you more resources – from high quality employers to browse, to high quality entry level and internship jobs to apply to, to high quality articles to help you launch a career. All that work is coming together now and over the next several months you’ll begin to notice a real change in the quantity of resources available to you.

Lots of new stuff:

We’ve never been the type of team to rest on our laurels, and 2010 will be not be an exception. We’re beginning to operate like a well-oiled machine, and this is allowing us to not only continue to come up with great ideas on how we might improve our service to both students and employers, but it is also allowing us to execute – quickly and to a high standard.

New navigation

For example, the other day we decided that the navigation on TalentEgg.ca just wasn’t cutting the mustard – it wasn’t as easy as possible for students and grads to find exactly what they wanted. So we got to work and by the end of the afternoon, had a new concept for a design. I’m happy to say that today – 2 weeks later – that new design is launching. What do you think?

TalentEgg Answers: A career community for students and recent grads

We also decided a little while ago that TalentEgg was missing a crucial feature for students. Essentially, we receive a handful of emails each week from students with really specific questions about launching their careers. And it occurred to us, that with a community of students hanging out on the site at all times, and a community of employers and career experts visiting the site on a regular basis that, well, we’re not necessarily the best people to answer those questions. So we developed TalentEgg Answers, also launching today. (Would also love to know what you think of Answers!)

Let’s be honest

2009 was a roller coaster. Starting up always comes with its ups and downs, and we sure had our share of them. Not to mention, the macro economic environment did not exactly make what we do easy.

But it did give us discipline. And, now that I’ve reviewed the hard numbers – Sales, Unique Visitors, Growth in everything – I can confidently say that we not only surivived, but came out with many small victories. Not only that, but we ended the year very strongly, with a fantastic team and fantastic feedback from employers, students and career centres.

With realistic plans in place to kick some major bum,

Here’s to a fantastic 2010.