Ajay Kolla is a normal engineering graduate who hails from a small farming household. He completed his Bachelor of Technology in electronics and Electrical Engineering in Vijayawada. After completing his studies in 2007, he joined Infotech Enterprise as ABAP consultant. In 2009, he left the firm and joined TCS.
For the IT professionals, 2008 was a disastrous year. Thousands lost their jobs due to the global economic meltdown. It was around this time, Wisdom jobs was founded almost by accident. Ajay started a small Google group named TSNV jobs to spread information about jobs that are available in his network. There were around 40 members in the group, TSNV Jobs, to help his out-of-work friends get placed by posting vacancies on the platform. What started as a limited initiative for his friends, became a major success with the passage of time. Many others started adding their profiles on the group. Between 2008 and 2010, TSNV Jobs helped nearly 20,000 people get placed. He saw a bigger business opportunity in this. He realized that there was a need for a platform that connected job seekers with employers. He had around Rs 10 lakh in savings he raised a further Rs 20 lakh from friends and acquaintances and began building his idea. The company was named Wisdom Jobs.
Ajay has also created an e-university. It is an online learning hub, that helps job seekers hone their skills. They currently tutor students in 6,000 different skills. This allows them to prepare well for job interviews by testing them extensively. Candidates can take online exams on their portal, wisdomjobs.com to ascertain their level of proficiency in a particular skill.
With business booming, Wisdom Jobs shifted base to a larger office in Hyderabad. In 2013, branches opened up in Bengaluru and Chennai. This 6 year old job search engine that was built entirely in-house, currently has a presence in over 12 countries that includes the UK, US Italy, Canada and Australia. At present, wisdomjobs.com has a clientele base of over 3,500 recruiters. They charge anywhere between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh a year from each client. WisdomJobs garnered revenues of Rs 35 crore in the last financial year. While IT contributed 40 per cent to the revenues, banking, financial services gave it six per cent and pharma seven per cent. Other sectors, including manufacturing, accounted for the rest.
The Story Of How An Engineering Graduate Turned A Successful Entrepreneur!
