Never fear! JobNob’s here.

So I profiled a start-up company, JobNob, which was co-founded by a Stanford Business School grad, Julie Greenberg, and Alan Shusterman. It was printed in The Daily, where I hope the company will get the publicity it deserves.

Their whole concept is incredible. They post very specific salaries from very specific companies. The greatest weapon we have in this day and age is information, and JobNob supplies us with the arsenal.

Through their website, they also bring together two parties that desperately need each other to be successful: start-up companies that need cheap volunteer labor and individuals looking for jobs/need work experience. The start-ups get the help they need and these job hunters can get more work experience, network, and possible even a little pay while concurrently searching for other jobs.

For your reading pleasure (and for utilization purposes): “Start ‘Em Up: JobNob”

Visit JobNob.com to find more out about their company. The un-cut version is pasted below too.

“START ‘EM UP: JOBNOB”

With the current state of the economy resulting in a paucity of jobs, it’s no wonder many of the recent ’09 grads can be heard fretting about their future. But that’s where Julie Greenberg, ’01, steps in with her start-up, JobNob, to quell some of the graduating seniors’ anxieties about job searching.

This similar post-college angst in 1993 was the impetus for the company, Greenberg says. The GSB grad co-founded “JobNob” to provide job seekers with explicit salary information for specific jobs all over the U.S. Anyone can browse the site to find the exact salary they’re looking for within a certain company as well as other useful information.

“I remember as a college student feeling a little lost, like, ‘what are we supposed to do now?’” Greenberg said. “Colleges didn’t talk about career options and you’re just thrust out there. It’s really traumatic for us to figure out what’s available.”

Though job searching these days may resemble a wild goose chase, Greenberg promises JobNob provides a little more direction, with completely accurate figures acquired directly from HR Departments and employers.

“We are not disclosing our precise methodology because it’s a bit of a ‘secret sauce,’” said co-founder Alan Shusterman. “But what I will say is it’s legal and it’s accurate from various sources.”

Beyond serving as a database for salary numbers, JobNob is a liaison between job seekers and start-ups that fosters connections from which both parties benefit.

“I know [the economy] now is really depressing for a lot of college graduates. Some are even calling it a ‘Black Hole.’ But with JobNob, you’re gonna be able to post your skills, employers can look for you, and start-ups can find you.”

The launching of online profiles in early August, for both jobseekers and companies, will allow a unique, online exchange between parties. Though Greenberg concedes that many start-ups can only offer equity, minimum wage, or maybe even a part-time internship at the moment, these employees can acquire valuable experience at a start-up while simultaneously job hunting.

“If you can continue to network work for a cool start-up, that’s so much better than being unemployed for 6 months and nothing to show for it,” offered Greenberg.

With this firm philosophy, Greenberg and Shusterman have organized several “Happy Hours” to bring together start-ups and job seekers. On July 16, Greenberg and JobNob teamed up with the Stanford Club of San Francisco to host a Happy Hour that catered specifically to Stanford students. For once, drinks were relegated to the background and instead, dialogue between job seekers and start-ups stole the spotlight.

Over 150 Stanford alumni attended and even more companies were present, providing a virtual one-to-one ratio that opened the door to networking and connecting, said Janice Lee, ’98, the Head of the Career Advancement Committee for the Stanford Club

“Just having the initiative to put on this event is impressive,” said Lee. “Sure there are plenty of job companies out there, but they were the only ones to step up and put on.”

Ethan Zhang, ’00 M.S. and attendee, says that the event exceeded his expectations. After looking at the list of companies that would be attending the Happy Hour, he zeroed in on five to six that caught his eye. While at the Stanford Happy Hour, however, he was pleasantly surprised when companies approached him after reviewing his qualifications.

Though Zhang has a full-time job at Yahoo, he attended the event in hopes of lending his time, without pay, to start-ups “in the excitement of building something interesting, to have a bigger impact on a company,” he said, exactly the impact JobNob hoped for.

Greenberg’s zeal for start-ups dates back to her days at Stanford’s Business School, which, she says, prepared her for the roller coaster of beginning her own start-up.

“The business school is well-known for having entrepreneurial spirit,” said Greenberg. “It’s imbued in their curriculum. Several of my classmates have start-ups and it was just a really idyllic, cooperative environment, not like some other really competitive schools.”

Though Greenberg worked at several other well established companies, like NBC Universal and Napster.com, and was well aware of the difficulties of starting a company from the ground up, she embraced the good as well as the bad.

“I never wanted to throw in the towel. I had always dreamed of having my own start-up, and attending the B-school helped me understand and be prepared for the ups and downs.”

After meeting through Shusterman’s wife, Greenberg and Shusterman were ready to battle these ups and downs and go public with JobNob.

“With a start-up, there are millions of challenges,” admitted Shusterman. “There are always five issues that can sink us, and you have to overcome them, but Julie’s just tenacious about facing them.”

With another Happy Hour planned with already 400 RSVPs, the launching of the “online” Happy Hour, and a possible event with Stanford’s BASES, Greenberg’s tenacity will undoubtedly be a driving force behind these events.

“Her life is her work,” George Wang, JobNob’s Marketing Intern, said. “It encapsulates everything she does, but it makes her very enthusiastic. She really loves the company.”

Her love for the company has forced her to venture into sectors of the company she had never before been professionally trained in.

“She can sort of move between worlds,” said Shusterman. “Creative thinking, analytical, business, pitching, thinking, to sweeping the floors, really she does it all.”

The willingness to wear hats of all shapes and sizes stems from her belief in JobNob to do something other sites like Payscale.com and Salary.com just don’t quite achieve. JobNob, she says, improves the job search with transparency and the establishment of deeper connections. Another cloudy area Greenberg hopes to clarify is the disparity between men’s and women’s salaries.

“Men are four times more likely to negotiate and ask for promotions,” explained Greenberg. “It’s not a conspiracy, but women don’t negotiate as often. Maybe if they have tangible proof of what people are getting paid, they’ll be more apt to negotiate.”

This encouragement for more pronounced negotiation in the job search process must stem from Greenberg’s own no-holds-bar personality.

“She’s very articulate, very strong, and she has a lot of presence,” said Shusterman. “She’s definitely what you’d call a strong woman, not a withering flower. She’s assertive and takes no prisoners.”

And with the delicate state of the economy, it’s reassuring to know that someone like Greenberg is fighting to help all the current job seekers.

“This is the time for a website to offer useful, different info to really network with a good community and alternative projects,” Greenberg said. “I really hope that JobNob faces the online way of dealing with careers and brings more information to workers and more transparency around salaries.”