The Hood, a recruiting platform designed specifically for the maritime industry, has announced its efforts to modernize the recruitment process and create a supportive community for users, following its launch at Crew Connect Global in Manila.
Josephine Le, founder of The Hood, told Cruise Industry News in an interview that the platform will reshape how the maritime industry connects, recruits and supports its professionals.
“We are designed for the maritime industry, which means that there are lots of functions for the user that is not on any other platform,” said Le. “We are not one of the companies that are being governed by algorithms and by typical marketing standards.”
While like other platforms, the Hood sets itself apart by offering a whole ecosystem, offering a supporting community, a resource center and a job portal for maritime professionals, according to Le.
“We encourage the communication between the recruiter and the job seeker, so they will have real time updates. We have a template for applicants to apply with, and they can get all their documents in our documentation wallet so that everything already exists on the app. Everything can be done using just one button on the platform,” Le added.
The Next Generation
“We are not here to capture a short-term gain; we are here to build up for the next generations and for the wider industry,” she said. “The number one focus is diversity, and the second is sustainability in terms of providing long-term value for our users throughout their growth.”
Le emphasized that the platform does not charge its users, and it encourages family of those in the industry to use the platform too.
“We are aiming for this very wholesome ecosystem; we realize that you also need to be able to contact with your family,” Le said.
She added that bringing the family members, friends and the wider society provides much stronger support for maritime professionals.
“We want to build the mentorship model and want the people who are already in the industry, the generations before, to listen to what the new people have to say. So, this two-way communication is particularly important because you need the feedback from both sides,” Le said.
“This for us is something that has been missing for a very long time… this is where the Hood sees itself as bridging the gap,” she said.
Collaboration
“We are not in the business of competing with any companies in the maritime industry. We encourage collaborations and partnerships,” added Le.
According to the founder, the platform exists for the wellbeing of the whole industry, and that what the platform is aiming to achieve must be an industry-wide and society-wide effort.
“It cannot be only done from one person or one company. On the long-term future, the benefit of having an instant communication and the close-knit community would mean that any message, any training, and any information that needs to be out there will be quickly adopted and quickly understood by the whole industry. Having this huge support system for people would make the maritime career become a more attractive option,” Le said.
A Long-Term Vision
“Our goal is to remain extremely flexible and ever growing. These are the two aims that are most important for us, regardless of the timeline. We hope to bring as many positive changes, to as many of our seafarers and maritime professionals as possible,” added Le.
“The future is your professional life contained in one application, making it easy, transparent but also encouraging community building because everything is global.”
Le added: “Our vision is quite simple: Imagine where you no longer need to struggle to find your first job and to find information on how to do something because you know (where) to find everything that you want. This is what we envision for our people.”
