By Josh Duboff

STAFF REPORTER

Those bogged down by the competitive job and internship search process may have a new tool to assist their efforts — joboozle.com.

Launched Monday, the Web site aims to provide students with a more personal approach to the job and internship recruiting process, co-founder and Harvard senior Kwame Osseo-Asare said. The site was founded by a group of six college seniors, four of whom attend Harvard, including thefacebook.com co-founder Eduardo Saverin. Conceived last April, the self-funded site connects companies with potential employees and allows them to exchange information and tips.

“This is really uncharted territory,” Osseo-Asare said. “Students can talk to recent interns at these companies, exchange resumes with each other and post messages. It’s just a great resource for students.”

The Web site, which is not affiliated with thefacebook.com despite a visual resemblance between the two sites, allows users to search for potential employers — over 2,600 companies are currently in the database — and select companies of interest to be posted on their personal profiles.

Once a user adds a company to his profile, that company will add the user’s name to its records. Each company has its own page to post information, including interview and application details. Students can easily message and communicate with representatives and recruiters for these companies, co-founder and Harvard senior Christopher Hill said.

“It’s basically about making recruiting fun and easy,” Hill said.

There are also forums for students to discuss such topics as interviewing, resumes, networking and etiquette. Yalies can see how their GPA and SAT scores compare with their peers in the applicant pool by anonymously entering their academic information into the site.

Osseo-Asare stressed the diversity of options presented by the companies on the Web site.

“If you go to Harvard, Yale or Princeton, there are really only two career fields presented: banking and consulting,” he said. “This Web site provides a great opportunity for students to expand to other areas. You don’t have to be holed up and do investment banking.”

Adrian Hopkins ’06, who logged onto the site on Wednesday, said he hopes his use of the site will increase his visibility in the job market.

“I want to try and put myself more out there,” he said. “I’m interested in media and publishing, and the general atmosphere on campus is geared more toward investment banking and consulting.”

Maya Kotas ’05 registered on joboozle.com Monday, hoping the site could help her find career options for next year.

“I really don’t know what I’m doing with my life, and I wanted to see if this site could help,” she said.

Kotas said she appreciated the easiness and accessibility of the site.

“I think it’s very user-friendly; it’s similar to thefacebook.com,” she said. “I think it should catch on at Yale.”

While the site’s creators said they aim to make the job search easier for prospective employees, Undergraduate Career Services director Philip Jones said he is wary of the electronic approach to job recruitment.

“These high-profile companies far prefer to do business face-to-face, which is why they come to campus,” he said. “While these organizations are interested in picking up resumes anywhere they can, they’re not going to be looking at this as their primary vehicle because one of the things we know about electronic recruiting is it’s notoriously inefficient,”

Though Jones said there is no substitute for face-to-face contact with companies, he said the site may be helpful for students interested in organizations that are far away or that do not recruit on campus.

Joboozle.com, whose name comes from a combination of the words “job” and “bamboozle,” currently is open to 14 schools: Boston University, the California Institute of Technology, Duke University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, Stanford University and the eight Ivies.

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