Site to Help Launch Careers

An Iran-based professional talent site launched in 2015 is making its mark in the professional environment by seeking more than just the next job for its clients.

The startup called Talentyab hopes to give a boost to job seekers’ professional development through high-tech software and personal coaching. Financial Tribune interviewed Elnaz Kashef, one of the founders of www.talentyab.com, who talked about her site.    

Kashef holds a PhD in the field of economics of education and specializing on career education and work-related learning. She completed her master’s degree in management and finance, which gave her a valuable perspective of the world of business”.

Talentyab, which has been registered as a knowledge-based firm in Iran, calls itself a “career consultancy and talent management website”. It aims to improve the quality of work life of current and prospective professionals, and deals with clients such as Saman Bank, Shatel and Huawei.

The site has also seen its views online skyrocket since May, according to SimilarWeb, which notes that the site has had an 18.82% growth since May with over 179,000 viewers in September.  

“We aim to revolutionize employers’ approach to talent acquisition and recruitment as well as the individuals’ perspective to personal development through an intelligent platform,” Kashef added.

 How the Site Works

Talentyab is a subscription-based business with two end-users: individual members and employers.

Kashef said it offers a range of services to both job seekers and companies, including a resume-making tool, personalized career development tools, personality tests, educational content in Persian, an online talent acquisition and resume management application for companies and finally employee developmental plans and solutions for companies.

According to Kashef, this is the most comprehensive platform designed in Iran so far to navigate members throughout the process of career planning, allowing them to know who they are, where they want to go and the actual recruitment based on their desirable image of the future.

Kashef and the website’s CEO, Milad Bakhti, started the site with the purpose of helping young people embark on a career through the right pathway and professionals who have long traversed their career journey.

“We are fully aware that there are other enterprises active in the same field but we believe the market is large enough to accommodate all of us,” she said.

Kashef also said that the human resources industry has not been changed much in recent years, but the emerging advancements will enforce a positive shift that could only benefit the labor market.

“We are tapping into a niche market that triggers many aspects of the professionals’ lives and not just finding or changing jobs,” she said.  

According to her, Talentyab is inspired by LinkedIn and their day-to-day upgrades and new products.

While it has heavily investigated the famous Mind Tools and their operation system, it is not a copy of LinkedIn in Persian.

She explained that when the core business model was designed, Talentyab immediately became attractive to a few investors. After several sessions of pitching and discussions, they managed to secure investment from the Tehran-based Sabin Group.

“We were very interested in working with them because of their extensive network of highly reputable companies in various industries, both nationally and internationally,” Kashef said.

When asked about the competitive edge of her business, Kashef said, “I can say with confidence that an integrated platform like Talentyab, which provides a comprehensive range of services to various stakeholders at different stages of their careers, is rare to find in the current market.”

 Future Plans

Kashef said her company hopes to work with multinational companies and international career consultancies to develop psychometric tests, learning opportunities and career options in the near future.

“We are going to target companies looking to expand in foreign markets or seeking entry into Iran,” she said.

Kashef emphasized the importance of emerging social enterprises and startups in the field of talent management.

“If we really dedicate ourselves to help better inform our workforce and create tools and applications to empower them through this tough journey, we may be able to tackle youth unemployment to some extent,” she concluded.