Shapr — App Review
We often hear that networking is important when it comes to searching for work or finding a client. LinkedIn is a great way to network with people, but it is also used to grow your business, share news and updates about organizations, and for job search. Instead of spending time searching for people who share our professional interests, wouldn’t it be great if we had a tailor-made list of people we can connect with? Which is why I am quite fascinated with Shapr.
The Shapr app works like Tinder, but for making professional connections. It shows you a list of users based on your industry and skills with whom you can connect with by swiping right. Like Tinder, you will be able to message a user only when you have mutually right-swiped each other.
Shapr can be used by job seekers, hiring managers, or even entrepreneurs who are seeking mentors for their startup.
Creating an account
Creating an account on Shapr is free and simple. Download the Shapr app from Google Play for Android or the App Store for iOS. Sign up using your email ID or your LinkedIn account.
Creating your profile
Dating apps send you profiles to swipe based on the interests you may share. Shapr works on a similar philosophy. Its algorithm finds you profiles based on your goals, interests, and the industry you are interested in.
When setting up your account, you must select interests that will help Shapr find you similar users. Your interests can be skills or industries related to your profession. You can enter a maximum of 12 interests by simply typing a keyword and selecting it from the drop-down menu.
Adding a goal to your profile lets a user know what you are using Shapr for. You can select a maximum of three goals from the choices.
Select your preferred way of meeting someone from a range of options.
Connecting social media to your profile
You can also connect your Twitter and LinkedIn profile to your account. If you have signed up using LinkedIn, your Shapr profile will be automatically connected to your LinkedIn account, which can be viewed by a user. If you have an online portfolio, you can also enter the link to your website for any user to check out.
How Shapr works
Unpaid users can browse a batch of 15 users every day. If you skip browsing through your batch, the app will show you people from the previous batch only if they are active on the app. So make sure you are active on the app so that you can be viewed by other users.
When browsing your daily batch of users, you can tap on a user to view their profile. Browse through their interests, goals, and other professional details such as previous organizations, industry, and education. You can also view a user’s LinkedIn profile.
What happens once you find a match?
Once you match with another user, Shapr sends you a notification on your phone. You can also enable email notifications to receive an email from Shapr when you have a match. You can then start a conversation with your matches in the My Matches section.
You can type your own message or select any of the customized messages for starting a conversation.
While Shapr is useful for connecting with people that have similar professional interests, conversations may eventually lead you nowhere, or in most of the cases, you may not even get a response to your message. This is a common problem among networking apps, how do they get their users to continue a conversation?
To get their users to be more active on their app, Shapr can try sending out notifications on messages that a user hasn’t replied to. With their busy lifestyle, users often tend to forget that they have messages on social media apps that are waiting for their response. Shapr can share success stories where a user has found a job or an investor. This might help users have some faith in Shapr — that it leads to positive results.
Shapr ‘s free version does not have the option of adjusting your distance to find users that are closer to you. With the paid version of Shapr, you can:
- rewind your last swipe and make a different choice,
- boost your profile,
- set a location manually,
- view 30 suggested profiles
- see who swiped you right
Shapr has a clean and simple interface with clear UI texts that make it easy for you to use the app. It sends you daily reminders on your phone to check out the fresh batch of users for networking.
Shapr is trying to convert virtual conversations into real-world meetups using their recently launched Connectors Club program where Shapr users can be a part of networking events. The Connectors Club has been initially rolled out in select North American cities.
Success stories happen when you meet the right person, Shapr’s data-driven approach can help you find that right person.
