Digital resumes and CVs would not even be considered for jobs a decade back but that has changed significantly today with the rise of professional social networks like LinkedIn.
What started off as an aspiring project has now become arguably the most important springboard for professionals—both new and experienced—to network with other individuals and acquire business opportunities.
As more and more professionals and businesses embrace digital technology, the level of importance of social networks like LinkedIn in today’s world has never been higher.
With that being said, there are issues in the industry that are affecting both users and the companies developing these platforms themselves.
First off, the users of a social network are the ones responsible for actually making these platforms valuable but what are they getting in return? Of course, users get to enjoy a free platform but they receive anything back for their contributions especially monetary-wise.
Some may argue that providing a free service is already a good enough return to users but you have to understand that these users are giving away their valuable personal data which are used by the platforms for their own gains—and all of these is given by users for nothing in return!
Aside from the platforms, the large number of false information in digital resumes and CVs is also a problem, especially for companies.
Some platforms require proof (e.g certificates, letters) to verify a user’s information but even that can be falsified with such accuracy that you cannot tell the difference between a fake and real certificate.
To combat this disadvantage, companies often use reference checks with attestations being the most common application of it. Reference checks may work well but what about the massive amounts of time and money sunk into it?
All of these calls for a solution to overcome these problems and with new technologies such as the blockchain, more and more solutions are being developed and proposed every day as a response to this situation.
Out of all the approaches to this problem in the industry today, the one that stands out the most among the crowd is Springrole, a blockchain-based startup ready to disrupt the industry and drastically change how attestations and digital resumes are done.
These user profiles are made up of three parts: the user’s educational qualifications, work experience, and skillset.
Educational and working qualifications are verified in Springrole by collaborating with the respective organizations but what makes the platform unique is its approach to verifying a user’s skillset.
Instead of using the outdated exam-based model (usually found in freelancing sites like Upwork), Springrole uses a community-based approach by allowing users of the individual’s network to verify his or her ability in a particular skillset.
The platform then uses this data to calculate a score that gauges the user’s proficiency in their skills hence leading to better approximations of a user’s skill level compared to examinations which are often flawed and too basic to measure an individual’s skill level effectively.
With Springrole, companies will finally be able to overcome fraud and fake information in resumes while professionals benefit from better job opportunities as companies are more willing to work or negotiate with individuals who they trust.
The person responsible for building Springrole is Kartik Mandaville, the platform’s experienced founder who will be guiding the Springrole team to deliver on its roadmap and establish itself as revolutionaries in the industry.
The platform’s unique attestation system is the core function of Springrole but it’s important to understand who attestors are on the platform and what their roles are in it.
Attestors in Springrole are made up of 5 different categories: individuals, companies, universities, course providers, and examination providers.
Individuals are the most straightforward to explain as they can attest the skillset of other users on the platform which can also be further divided based on the status of the individual. For instance, professors have the ability to attest the skillset of their professors which is one example of the platform’s flexibility in attestations.
Companies can then provide attestations of their previous employees while universities can verify their alumni in various areas such as their completed courses or transcripts.
Course providers like Coursera can also use the platform to provide attestations of students which is important in today’s professional landscape where more and more courses and certifications offered to working individuals are offered online e.g Google’s various digital marketing certifications.
Finally, examination providers are third-party services that add an extra layer of verification to the platform by providing exams to attest a user’s skill level although exams are not a must in Springrole thanks to the platform’s integrated scoring system.
These users are the ones involved in the platform’s attestation system which works based on the SPRING token, the platform’s official cryptocurrency.
To overcome weaknesses in today’s attestation system, Springrole ties the SPRING token to each endorsement made on the platform; for each attestation made on Springrole, a small fee is attached to it to make the endorsement more relevant and meaningful hence preventing spammy or low-quality endorsements.
The user receiving the endorsement has the ability to accept or decline the endorsement and the score of the skill that’s being endorsed will also take into account the weight of the endorser.
For instance, a new user to the platform may not contribute too much to another user’s score in his or her endorsements which helps prevent the system from being abused.
The cost of giving an endorsement will be calculated based on several factors, ensuring that users pay fairly and equally according to their profile so while new users may give less important endorsements, they’ll also pay less compared to other users when giving one.
Of course, there are other verification processes in the platform to ensure that users who register on Springrole are real people with verified identities including a two-level verification process during the sign-up process to protect the platform from fraudulent activity.
Springrole will also allow universities to attest its alumni and students, all of which will be recorded on the blockchain for companies to access and verify the information of job candidates.
This allows companies to avoid seeking attestations for each candidate one by one hence reducing costs and improving efficiency; the same attestation workflow for universities will also be provided by the platform to course providers and companies using Springrole.
As mentioned earlier, the SPRING token plays an important part in the system and there are different ways in how users can use or obtain tokens in Springrole.
Aside from being used as a fee for attestations, companies will also use SPRING to access to fully attested and verified resumes on the platform.
In terms of earning SPRING tokens, there are multiple ways to do so which opens up channels for users to earn SPRING instead of participating in the ICO or buying it off the market.
First, users are rewarded for both giving and receiving endorsements provided that their profiles are completed. The received amount will depend on the weight of the endorsement which makes it fair as not all endorsements are equal.
Users can also earn SPRING tokens by inviting other users or companies to the platform but they will only receive their tokens if the invited users successfully complete their profile and meet specific criteria.
SPRING tokens can also be earned passively as each user will be paid a percentage of it whenever anyone else in a user’s network earns in Springrole.
Here are the details of the upcoming token sale:
Token name: SPRING
Token base: Ethereum
Token supply: 10,000,000,000 (total supply)
Token sale duration: Q2, 2018
Token sale target: TBA
Token exchange rate: TBA