Hipo

Site's statement

Jobboard Finder’s opinion

Summary: Hipo is a national job boards in Romania and the current managing partner is Dragos Gheban. It is one of the five most visited job boards in the country, and attracts 654 940 views per month. On Linkedin, 639 people follow their activity; 69 677 on Facebook but only 89 on Twitter (with no updates since March). The logo has changed a fair bit since its launch in 2006 by Cataylst Solutions. As a large recruitment firm, there are some interesting articles worth reading on their blog too.

Design: The information is in small font and only takes up about half the screen. The search engine (keywords, sector and location) appears at the top of the page, with jobs by sector, by location and by industry just underneath (in panels). The rest of the homepage has blog articles and company logos on the right-hand side of the screen (which in turn leads to the company listing). You don’t need to open the company pages to see a description and the number of job offers and they appear in alphabetical order and in groups based on their field. Bosh and Harman are both featured in the toolbar and they have customised pages. The site seems rather old fashioned. Furthermore, as you run your mouse over the screen, windows pop up (to sign in), which can be annoying. The job listing allows for little branding: it appears as a table, with the title, description and required experience in the first column, the company in the second, the location in the third and finally the publication date.

The job board objective: Hipo (which stands for “high potential”) wants to find high potential candidates, with 1 to 5 years of experience, and match them with the right profession.

Recruiter observations: To recruit, you need to contact the website directly.

Jobseeker observations: To create an account, you need to fill out a long tedious form and the account malfunctions. However, it is possible to apply to job offers simply through Facebook or Linkedin.

The job offers: Most of the job offers appear to have been posted recently. There’s no information about the number of jobs per sector.

Reactivity: The team answers quickly.

Special features: The calendar (with all the public holidays); the many CV models; the very detailed Interview Question Guide (in Romanian); the blog (really focused on employers and current positions); the cover letter examples in French, English and German (mistakes in all three); the top employer page; the top talent page (an event you can take part in and the current participants are visible); the virtual graduate exhibition; job alerts; IT hackathon for girls.

Verdict: The website might be a popular choice in Romania, but it’s not that easy to use. The pop-ups and the account problems are a big deterrent.

Written by Ali Neill

As the job board tester and blog editor for the Jobboard Finder, Ali works on job boards from all around the world and keeps a close eye on the recruitment trends thanks to a number of sources, including the website's social media pages.