Building a job app: from a prototype to an acquisition

In 2017, blue-collar workers in Russia had no dedicated place to find a job. The market leader focused on office roles, and on Avito job posts got lost among everything else. Products like JobToday were already proving a different model in Europe: mobile-first, location-based, built for cooks, cashiers and couriers.

Together with my co-founder I started Worki to close that gap. My first task was a working iOS prototype: employers could post a job, receive applications and chat with candidates. That prototype helped us raise a multi-million dollar round.

Worki grew from a prototype into the leading job product for blue-collar hiring in Russia. In 2019, Mail.ru Group (now VK) acquired a controlling stake, and the product later became VK Jobs.