Is there really a way to reinvent the jobs site? Sure there are plenty of startups out there that think they have the next monster.com on their hands but do they?

People on the jobhunt have dealt with the shortcomings of jobs sites for years because they’re usually in a position where they have no choice. Right now for instance, monster.com has so many vague ads you don’t know what you’re applying for and in some cases you don’t know who you are applying to. There is no way to separate the head hunters and the employment services from bonafide job openings at real companies.

While many website strive to get better and better every year, searching for a job on Craigslist gets worse and worse year over year. Sure I can understand getting 50 fake emails when listing an iPad or iPhone for sale on Craigslist, but the amount of scammy junk mail that’s coming in off Craigslist job boards is overwhelming as well. It seems that one in three Craigslist job ads are legitimate. It could be less.

One of the other big pains in the current job site model is the amount of money that sites charge companies for posting jobs. Sure they have to make money but the fees that monster.com and other job boards charge employers, almost guarantees that startups can’t afford to post in front of the masses.

This year we’ve seen a few good job platforms come across the pages here at nibletz.com; DC based Barrel of Jobs is definitely one of those as is hiredmyway a Detroit startup that has since moved to Chicago.

San Diego job site Cream of The Crop, joins that list. They offer free listings for employers. They also require transparency in posting jobs, they want the applicants to know who they are applying to and what they are applying for. Novel ideas, right?

We got a chance to talk with Cream Of The Crop’s Oscar Urteaga in the interview below:

What is your startup, what does it do?

Cream of the Crop San Diego (COTCSD.com) is a new jobs listing website dedicated to helping young professionals find career oriented jobs in the major industries of San Diego County. It matches San Diego job seekers with employers based or headquartered in the city. It’s a very niche oriented site. Not a lot of people know that San Diego is home to thriving industries such as Telecommunications, Defense contractors, high-tech/ Clean-tech/ Bio-tech companies and non-profits. COTCSD.com lists the jobs that are available in those industries, which are actually growing and hiring.

There are major differences between COTCSD.com and other popular job sites, such as Craigslist, Monster, and JOBing. First, COTCSD.com doesn’t charge employers to post jobs and internships like these other sites do. We believe that we need to make it as simple and easy for employers to post their available positions. Secondly, COTCSD.com posts real jobs with real companies. Unfortunately, other large job sites keep their posts vague; do not mention the company name or salary information. Usually these jobs are posted by Head Hunter agencies.

COTCSD.com is clean, simple, and has all the necessary information for job seekers to have before they apply.

Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?

Oscar Nicholas Urteaga is the Founder of COTCSD.com. Working on his first political campaign in 2008 walking door-to-door passing out campaign flyers, COTCSD.com Founder Oscar Urteaga knew working the political field was his passion.  Oscar decided to help fellow young professionals who were interested in politics and government by sending job and internship openings to his friends. As time went on, the list started to grow. As a San Diego native and graduate of Patrick Henry High and San Diego State University, Oscar has established a wide network of connections with people in many industries in San Diego through his work in elected officials offices, various political and social campaigns, and non-profits.

After spending time on the east coast, Oscar became fond of successful jobs listing websites in cities such as New York, Washington DC, and Boston. Realizing the potential a similar website on the west coast could bring, Oscar started CREAM OF THE CROP SAN DIEGO in February 2012.

Where are you based?

Since the website is dedicated to job postings in San Diego, COTCSD.com is based in San Diego

What is the startup culture like where you are based?

San Diego consistently prides itself in being unique and locals like doing things our own way. San Diego is the 9^th largest city in the nation, but sometimes can come off as being a “sleepy town” because it’s very spread out and can have a small town feel to it depending on where you live.

I think the Startup culture is growing and becoming more respected in San Diego. There are a handful of new successful companies from a wide range of industries, such as Micro-breweries to Clean-technology companies, which are making names for themselves. In addition to having some world class universities in the region, I think San Diego is quickly becoming a new hotspot for startups.

What problem does your startup solve?

COTCSD.com is striving to solve of the problem of helping people find employment in the San Diego region. For recent graduates or mid level professionals who recently relocated to San Diego, this site helps direct them to see which companies are hiring and growing.

In addition, companies and employers have an alternative website to post jobs at no cost.

What is one challenge that you’ve overcome in the startup process?

Finding capital and investment funds are difficult for any startup.

But the other major challenge has been getting the word out about COTCSD.com to large employers and job seekers. Large job listing websites have been around for a while and have established a name. However, if you ask anyone who is currently searching for employment, they will say that those sites have lost their credibility and reputation over time. In addition, employers now are using more referrals and social media tools to find new job recruits.

COTCSD.com is clean, simple, and gets back to the roots of what jobs listing websites should be like.

Who are your mentors and role models?

We have been very lucky to have so many people offer advice and help on growing the company and making it successful. In general, we admire anyone who is an “idea generator” and has been successful in turning their idea into a reality.

What’s one thing the world doesn’t know about you or your startup?

On average, we currently have about 10-12 jobs posted every day. Obviously this number will grow much higher once more companies start learning about COTCSD.com.

Also, we take pride in our logo. The logo is of the iconic Coronado Bay Bridge, which is a very popular attraction in San Diego. But primarily we used it to represent helping people cross into a new stage in their life when they receive a new job.

What’s next for your Cream Of The Crop San Diego?

As a spoiler alert, we’re very excited to announce that soon COTCSD.com will soon allow video embedding to the website. This will be used for job seeking members to post “video resumes” and can send the link to their video along with their hard-copy resume. In turn, employers would be able to come to COTCSD.com and browse the videos potential hires based on the category of jobs.

Linkage:

Check out Cream Of The Crop San Diego at cotcsd.com

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