Eggsprout - How Hot a Prospect Are You?

Bellevue-based startup Eggsprout just launched a social-networking job-hunting service, combining elements of Twitter, LinkedIn and Monster.com. What's interesting about Eggsprout is their service strategy - job seekers and recruiters all remain anonymous. Job seekers get compared to other people in their field by a "hotness rating," which looks at education, past employment, skills, and profile views. Eggsprout also recommends jobs based on interests and past searches, and shares the information about which profile is actually contacted for specific positions.

CEO Brian Ma was formerly employed at Zillow doing Program Management (Zillow is still number 1 on the January 2009 Seattle Startup Index), as was CTO Hsu Han Ooi and VP of System Development Agustin Cargol.

Brian Ma believes Eggsprout has gotten it right: "We thought it was just the right mix of usefulness and provocativeness to expose to benefit both career seekers and employers.  Does that MBA really matter?  Do employers really want to see that internship experience?  What skills are most in demand in the job market?  What steps should I take now to better prepare for my career and future?  Those are all questions we try to answer."

TechFlash's John Cook accurately points out that Eggsprout will need a huge and varied mass of job seekers and recruiters before it will have any measure of success.

Seattle recruiters can still take advantage of the launch special: Every recruiter that signs up gets $30 of free contacts (the company takes in revenue by charging recruiters to contact candidates).