LIONESS WEEKENDER COVER STORY

Job Crystal, growing small to medium business by giving them the ability to hire in seconds, by using AI, while helping the cash flow!

Sasha Knott, the CEO of Job Crystal, started her career in IT and moved quickly in her career finding her passion for entrepreneurship and combining this with technology that works for the customer and often disrupts industries. Kelly Louw, the COO of Job Crystal, started her career in Recruitment and has become a well-known professional in the Recruitment space. Their current plan is to grow small to medium business by giving them the ability to hire in seconds, by using AI, while helping the cash flow! The vision is to make a dent in unemployment in Africa, while working on the SDG goal 8 of Decent work and Economic Growth worldwide. The business started in 2009, but Sasha and Kelly bought it in 2015, and today it has created jobs for 18 people.

Lioness Weekender spoke to Sasha Knott and Kelly Louw about their impact driven business and their ambitions for the future.

What does your company do?

You know companies that hire slow, from the same pool of talent using expensive models and frustration? While Job Crystal solves this using AI and saving hours of time and money in hiring better and faster! We help the small company, and the large company and the recruiter - while making a dent in unemployment! By showcasing the talent in Africa to the world!

What inspired you to start your company?

We knew we could change the Recruitment Industry for the better, by helping both candidates and clients hire faster, while being proudly African we knew we could solve the skills crisis in Europe with great African talent - and fast with AI!

Why should anyone use your service or product?

Sasha comes from a Technology background and Kelly from a Recruitment background, add the two and you get the best Recruitment Technology products out there - that think for the client and candidate ensuring the best fit is made fast.

Tell us a little about your team:

Wow the Job Crystal team is the best in the world! (This is what our team says, and we love it). We are 95% female, ranging from 26 years old to 67 years old, with experience in Recruitment, Technology, Customer Service and Operations excellence.

Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?

Both of us had our businesses before Job Crystal, Sasha a bit of a serial entrepreneur who has started a few and sold a few, and Kelly having successfully ran her own agency before. We both found that running our previous businesses alone, was quite lonely and love having each other to brainstorm together, discuss strategies to make our product even better and to cheer each other on. It’s much more fun when we can share the problem and solve it together.

What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?

We have a list of what, where and how! But first we want to take hiring from minutes to seconds (almost instantly) and to ensure you can find the ideal candidate from matching skills, experience and culture fit! We currently have the largest database of South Africans and would like to add many more African countries to this growing database, while we launch into more European countries and even the US.

What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?

Being able to change lives for the better and being able to do that fast! We love to hear customers and candidates feedback and then make those changes and see how much faster they can recruit and grow their careers and businesses.

What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?

Start! We bought Job Crystal and both worked in other businesses at the time (it was our side hustle). As it grew, we started to come on board, first half-time, then full time for one of us and then finally in 2019 we both joined full time! And now look at us!!! Just start - it will be the best way to find out if this is for you - else you will never know and you will always wonder!

To find out more about Job Crystal, contact send an email to: sasha@jobcrystal.com or visit the company’s website and social media platforms:

Website: http://www.jobcrystal.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JobCrystalRecruitment

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jobcrystal

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jobcrystal/