Not long after I’d started building connections on a certain networking website, I received a request from, what seemed, a well-respected reporter. I accepted and had a nose through his profile, impressed at the work he’d produced and companies he’d previously worked with. Up popped a notification from said reporter, asking me to follow him on social media as his ‘profile on here is a bit of a mess’. Naturally, I told him not to worry as I had hardly got to grips with the website either. His reply ‘oh yeah but your profile picture definitely makes up for it’ was followed by several unwanted emoji’s that left me wondering what I had said to give off the wrong impression. I only used a professional headshot, I was polite and not in any way suggestive. I came to realise that it wasn’t me in the wrong, but that networking websites are so easily abused. Bumble Bizz is, thankfully, here to change that.
The company that brought us ‘Tinder for feminists’ has struck gold once again. Bumble Bizz, the latest addition to the Bumble family, is an app that allows users to network and connect with other professionals, within a female-first platform. Bumble was developed as a dating app that only allows women to make the first move. From that, we had Bumble BFF which was designed to help us find new friends to socialise with. Now that our love life and friendships are covered, the Bumble team are ready to help us in the professional world.
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Bumble CEO, Whitney Wolfe, told *Time *‘I think a lot of women to this day struggle with feeling respected and feeling like an equal when it comes to business connection. They feel that sometimes when they’re approaching something in a purely platonic or business connection, they feel like the conversation goes in a different direction.’ Bumble Bizz will remain a female-first platform, much like the other 2 apps, and is the first app to bring ‘swiping’ to the professional world. According to the Bumble Bizz team, the emphasis is on opportunity over job hunting, with the ‘notion that one connection can lead to the opportunity of a lifetime’.
The latest app is currently only available in the U.K, U.S, Canada, France and Germany but there are plans to take it worldwide. Users are connected through geo-tagging and able to swipe through people looking to network, mentor, hire and connect. Bumble are confident that the app will be a success, so much so that they are using it to hire new employees.
Bumble Bizz is just an update from Bumble and Bumble BFF, meaning you don’t need to clog up your home screen with three separate programmes. The condensed app allows you to create three individual profiles, just please, don’t get your Bumble bio mixed up with your Bumble Bizz. The Bumble Bizz option allows you to upload a CV, showcase examples of your work and highlight specific skills. The app also has a photo verification feature that ensures the people you’re connecting with are who they claim to be.
As the Bumble team have put it- 'By empowering women to make the first move in Bizz, Bumble expects to see the same significant uptick in positive behaviour and dramatically reduced abuse rates that it has seen in its dating and friendship platforms.’ Bumble’s modern take on networking is set to change the professional world for the better by encouraging us to challenge sexism in the workplace.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.