Skip to the bottom for tl;dr if so inclined.

A New Project

Running ZATech has been an almost 10 year journey. It's grown to be an awesome space where tech professionals can connect, share knowledge, and support each other without the intrusion of professional recruiting.

The job board at jobs.zatech.co.za has served us well, and remains a great resource. The number of users constantly joining the group simply to lurk the #jobpostings channel has been an opportunity I've been avoiding for long enough. Enter Sboj, a new reverse job board.

The Unique Charm of ZATech

ZATech has always been a no professional recruiting and no advertising in general zone. This policy has kept our community focused on meaningful interactions, skill-sharing, and generally harassment free.

It’s been essential in maintaining the integrity and purpose of ZATech. In general, avoiding any real push to monetise and the inevitable enshittification that would follow has been in my opinion net positive.

I feel as though this is still important, and the correct approach. Which is why I'm spinning this project up as a separate thing and not under the ZATech banner.

What is Sboj?

Sboj is a reverse job board that turns the traditional job search model upside down. Instead of companies posting jobs, job seekers create profiles highlighting their skills, experiences, and career aspirations. Employers then browse these profiles and reach out to candidates who fit their needs. This approach empowers job seekers and makes the job search more personalised and efficient.

This isn't an earth shattering idea, well established with organisations like OfferZen, RailsDev, MyPerfectJob etc.

How ZATech and Sboj Work Together

A.K.A. the "no special treatment" barrier.

Something important to get right, is to not abuse my position as the owner of ZATech to simply inject Sboj everywhere while other advertising isn't allowed. As it has always been, I am bound just as anyone else to the code of conduct.

ZATech will remain a professional recruiter free zone. Our existing job board for company postings will continue to operate separately. Anything that Sboj gets to do, should be do-able by any other organisation. For example having a channel, paying for sponsorship etc.

I do think that the sheer number of people who simply join to lurk the jobpostings channel when the jobs.zatech.co.za site exists is a signal that the main site at zatech.co.za should discuss and link to the site directly. To that end I'll be adding a link to both Sboj and OfferZen as well.

The project has been on my radar for many years, and while discussing it with a wise soul a few months ago they said:

It’s really hard to find someone who will take the responsibility as seriously as they should

This maps well to how I feel about ZATech in general, so I'm hoping that I can carry that energy forward and do a great job of this new endeavour.

tl;dr

I created ZATech almost 10 years ago, since then people have told me all sorts of ideas for shitty monetisation and how to sell out. I've avoided any expansion from simply just being chat. I'm launching a reverse job board separate from ZAT, because it's something I feel I can do a good job at and add real value.

@n1c