Save you ever needed a free-lancer for a short-term or one-time project? Or are you apprehensive about using a self-employed person because the last guy was self-employed for a reason?
Now you can find the person you need in just about any area of expertise from a national pool of candidates.
Guru.com was launched last year to help match the more than 25 million independent professionals with the needs of corporate America.
The Guru marketplace has 170,000 free-lancers, or gurus, and 18,000 hiring companies.
“What this site means to hiring companies is that they have access to 170,000 talented professionals,” says Greg Terk, director of corporate communications for Guru. “Hiring companies can use the site to locate the people they need for short-term projects.”
Gurus are available in the fields of creative media, finance, management, advertising, training, Web development, IT, criminal law, family law, real estate law, business law, virtual CEOs and venture capitalists.
A business is charged less than $200 to sign up. You fill out a basic information form about your company, including a URL if you want to provide a link to your site.
“You list any information you want to provide so the person can make a fair assessment on whether to do the short-term project,” says Terk. “A hirer can also search the database for a guru to meet their needs.”
Businesses can also buy job listings in 1, 5, 10, 20 or 30 packs. On average, 15 to 19 gurus will respond to any job posting within 24 hours.
“We have become a guru nation,” says Terk. “Technology has enabled people to work from anywhere, giving them more balance and freedom in their lives. We have instant access to the Web, and cell phones allow us to operate from anywhere.”
There are registered gurus from 114 countries, including 4,000 in India and 2,000 in Malaysia.
Hiring companies have access to a screening agency to do a background check on the gurus.
“They can be assured the professionals are legitimate, which is important to hiring companies,” says Terk.
A recent survey showed that hiring companies ranked the gurus they found as either good or great.
The site also features content for hiring companies on how to manage professionals who might be located across the country and will never step foot in their offices. A newsletter is also available.
“Almost any company can benefit from using an independent professional,” says Terk. “There is such a huge database of professionals, a company with 10 people or a company with 200 to 500 people can find someone to write copy for a collateral piece, or an attorney for legal advice.” How to reach: www.guru.com
Todd Shryock ([email protected]) is SBN’s special reports editor.
