Careerbridge

The early and mid 1990s were an exciting time to be in communications – and working with technology clients allowed me access to some pretty cool tools, too. In addition to embracing hardware innovations like Palm Pilots and cell phones, I couldn’t wait to take advantage of e-mail and the internet, which was absolutely revolutionizing the world for communicators.

I joined Careerbridge Corporation when my teaching career and my high-tech consulting business were competing for my attention. As the PR director for this new high-tech startup, I was charged with getting trade media excited about a new web-based recruiting software – a precursor to Monster.com. With free resume posting and job browsing available to a large and talented pool of high-tech workers, Careerbridge was able to attract employers like Nortel, Mitel, Newbridge and many others to subscribe to a dedicated, focused recruitment portal that even allowed for “virtual interviewing” via webconference. It was a very exciting story to tell.

As we were putting together our case study newsletter and media kit, I was looking for a catchy headline. I was doodling (as I often do)…. “e-mail”, “e-commerce”, hmmmm, how about “e-cruiting”? Well, let’s just say that the slogan – while it was embraced – ended up lasting longer than the company. Shortly after I was laid off to save budget, they sold the company and, like many tech startups, the principals made their bang and moved on. My legacy? A great coffee cup, a nice denim shirt, about $200,000 worth of media coverage (including the front page of the Globe’s financial section), a cool slogan you’re just going to have to take my word that I created, and a very useful education in the world of high tech.