Sitting across from Chris Nguyen at the CYBF press conference, it’s hard not to notice how young he looks. But don’t let the youthful appearance fool you. Nguyen and his partners Andy Lai, Lee Liu and Sundeep Mokha may only be a year out of university, but they are the business savvy entrepreneurs behind one of the fastest growing Internet job sites in the country.

Despite my hesitations regarding the show, I really want to congratulate the entire team at Jobloft on their great pitch and your new investors. You guys did a great job and have my best wishes for your success.

Make the best of your deal, by enjoying your ride. So congratulations JobLoft - you got a much better deal - with stronger angels than I ever did at your ages. I can't wait to see what you'll be doing in 5 years.

Julie Bristow, who is one of the CBC executives who made the program happen, had good things to say about their [JobLoft's] performance. "They were very well prepared and enthusiastic," she said in a phone interview. "I thought it was great. You could tell very early on that two of the Dragons were interested."

Sean Wise, a consultant who helped screen the 1,700 applications the program received, had similar words of praise. "They came into our very last audition, and in fact were some of the last people to apply to be on the show. From the very beginning of their pitch however, I knew that they were worth the wait."

JobLoft.com recently raised another $200,000 - doing it in high-profile fashion on the CBC's Dragon's Den show.

A new website is helping job seekers get to work sooner than they think. Nguyen said the site is a hit with employers because employees tend to stay longer since they don't have to commute far to work in industries where there is typically high turnover.

They [The Dragons] all liked an idea presented by four young men from Toronto. They loved the fact potential recruits get information about job openings by text messages on their cellphones. They also liked the quartet's youthful zeal and professionalism. They all wore white shirts and bright orange ties.

The site has got all the Web 2.0 lovin’ you can handle with bold colors, simple design, and all the AJAX you can handle.

One of the interesting and very useful features of the site is to not only find a job close to you using a Google maps mash-up, but to also inform and highlight public transportation options for you in the area. Although not restricted to just younger jobseekers and college students, the combination of features, transportation and distance assistance, and high-turnover employers is a perfect match.

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After seeing the inefficiency of the traditional job search process, founder Chris Nguyen teamed up with classmates Andy Lai, Lee Liu and Sundeep Mokha to make his vision a reality.

"We’re glad that our comprehensive curriculum enabled them to achieve success in going from concept to execution," said Professor Neil Wolff, director of Entrepreneurship and Strategy.

Met the folks that built JobLoft.com last night. A group of smart kids, just out of Ryerson that have built a fantastic service to help people find retail jobs. So while Monster's out to help you figure out your next career move...what does the teenager who wants the part-time job in the mall do? Well, they jump on JobLoft.com, enter their postal code, and find a bunch of jobs that might match what they're looking for, all in a few minutes.

Even more impressive? These guys've built relationships with a tonne of fantastic employers, from Best Buy to Harry Rosen...

A few weeks ago Statistics Canada reported the average daily commute into Toronto is 79 minutes by car and just under two hours by public transit. Personally, I spend three hours of my day commuting. When all is said and done, time on the subway or in the car in rush hour is simply time wasted. Ideally we would all work closer to home, right?

Knowing all the stats, four graduates from Ryerson University decided to do something different and take into account the distance between work and home with a new website called www.jobloft.com. Using the latest technology, they created a distance sensitive jobsite that helps you find jobs closer to home or school by plugging in your postal code.

Aside from building the website itself, building a great team was also important to the group, who admit to butting heads from time to time. However, staying focused on the goal keeps it all in perspective. The group goes by the HOT philosophy — honesty, openness and trust.

For those who value where they work more than who they work for, this site can be an invaluable tool. It's still on beta and it's looking pretty darn good. Have a look for yourself.

I once read a study that said that in order maximize happiness, you should live no further than a ten minute commute from your place of employment. As someone who has had to sit through a 1.5 hour commute to school every day, I can definitely see the merit of being close to home. The problem with most job hunting web sites out there is that they don't prioritize location and instead use general regional indicators.

JobLoft.com is changing all that. Built on an application that uses Google Maps to help job seekers find the right job in exactly the right place, JobLoft.com meshes new technology with an excellent user interface which isn't just pretty-looking, but also pretty darn good at finding what you're looking for.

The company, started by four students at Ryerson University, is pretty innovative because it aggregates available jobs provided by companies such as Blockbuster and HMV with Google’s Map service. This means you can search by region, which is ideal for younger people looking for part-time work close to where they live or go to school.

It's never been easier to get a job. For different reasons, it's also never been easier to find one. We're all quite familiar with online job sites such as Workopolis.com or Monster.ca, which allow employers to post positions and job hunters to search for those jobs...

This portal concept works well, but a new generation of online work-search tools is emerging to complement — if not directly challenge — that approach. They're more user-friendly, fast and rich with features. They also place much greater emphasis on the value of location. That is, they appreciate that those looking for work — whether a dream career or a part-time burger-flipping gig — prefer to stay as close to home as possible or want to narrow their search to a specific city.

One example is JobLoft.com, a site created by four graduates from Ryerson University. With these kinds of jobs, the company you work for isn't necessarily as important as its location, since many of the positions are ideal for students who often rely on public transit.

If you're looking for a retail/food service job the crafty programmers over at JobLoft.com might be able to help you out. The Mississauga based tech-heads have mashed want ads from the hospitality, tourism and retail sector to our favourite searchable map application. Happy hunting.

4 Toronto grads that are trying to change the HR industry using Google Maps and other Web 2.0 technologies. The list of employers pretty impressive. This small startup has the interest of Hiring Managers at Best Buy, Blockbuster, Harry Rosen, Hooters, and the Cara Group (Swiss Chalet, Harvey's, Second Cup etc..) and more!

Google Maps based jobs sites have not been all that common (even in the US job market) so the vision Chris and their team have for their new web 2.0 startup is commendable. Everyone, regardless of being in Canada, should check out this great jobs-mashup!

I love listing sites that are designed with slick interfaces using Google Maps. So, even though I'm not currently in the job market, I was really impressed with JobLoft.com, a new Toronto-based site that helps people find jobs in the retail, food services and hospitality industries.

Working with JobLoft.com has had a measurable impact on the quality and quantity of prospective employees for Sobeys in the Toronto area. The site itself is easy to use from the job seeker’s point of view as the site’s technology allows potential candidates to find opportunities close to their home and highlights the exact location of our stores. Equally as important, from the employer’s end, it is a quick and easy resource to use. A few quick clicks and you’re ready to go! The team at JobLoft.com is responsive and provides great customer service, two things all great businesses should focus on.

Wow! A creative and innovative way to connect employers with applicants.

As an employer, I was impressed with the quality of candidates who applied to our posting though Jobloft. Most impressive though, was the exemplary level of customer service.

Congratulations!

JobLoft is an outstanding new job board! It allows employer and/or the job seeker to easily access the various functions with ease.

I especially like the fact that my jobs postings are readily available in template form. No more searching through archives of job postings to find the suitable job profile. It's every recruiters dream to place a job posting with a click of a button.

From a job seeker's prospective, every job postings has a map/directions. No guess work involved! One can easily see where the position of choice is located.

Lastly, THE CUSTOMER SERVICE...EXCEPTIONAL.

Chris and his team provide on-going service and feedback.

(This board should be called PEOPLE-LOFT, because 'PEOPLE' are at the centre of everything they do.)

Continued Success!

Unlike some other job sites, JobLoft.com provides candidates the opportunity to find careers within their communities. As the inevitable employee shortage is on the horizon in the retail, food services and hospitality/tourism industries, JobLoft.com's concept of concentrating in these 3 sectors will help employers like Enterprise Rent A Car be connected to candidates who are specifically looking to get into these industries.

This will help our recruiting process to be more efficient and effective, because as we all know finding the right people can be time-consuming and costly! By the way, we hired our first Management Trainee from JobLoft.com after only 12 days of posting!

Thank you JobLoft for putting together a very thorough and exciting new way to recruiting. The JobLoft team was extremely responsive to putting a program together that addresses the issues in the perpetually evolving GTA job market and supporting the new ways employers are recruiting.

The application is extremely user friendly and the staff has been extremely supportive. Thanks JobLoft for helping us put more people in the GTA in our Best Buy Blue Shirts.

From inception to results, we have been beyond impressed with JobLoft. JobLoft offers features for both the employee and the employer. A new venture for us required four new, full time positions. In addition to two major job sites, we posted the job on JobLoft.

Over 75% of the applicants came from JobLoft. We’ve so far filled two of the four positions available and both applicants came from JobLoft.

Without question, JobLoft will be a part of our selection and hiring practices!

JobLoft.com has to be the most easy to use and comprehensive job posting site on the market. The Google maps concept makes finding jobs in your area easier then ever, and is perfect for those who have transportation issues.

The customer service they provide is definitely one of a kind. Since we posted positions up on JobLoft.com, our website traffic has almost doubled, not to mention that we get job applications on a daily basis. JobLoft.com has revolutionized the job searching industry.

Keep up the good work!