Who are you?

In short – batman. Kidding aside, I am a recent graduate (2009) from the University of Waterloo that finally finished the 5 year program for Electrical Engineering. Most of my co-op terms were doing entrepreneurial ventures. I think of myself as a very approachable guy who likes to help people with their careers and simply network. Careerify is my second venture which I founded in 2008 while in fourth year. I often skipped classes to network with the business community in my area (which was often Toronto), went off to places like London, Barcelona and Rome when I wasn’t supposed to (thank god I had a great lab partner!) and enjoys everything I do, because if you don’t, life tends to suck when you’re always complaining.

What do you do for fun?

Just ran a half-marathon last year, training for a full-marathon. Love to grill as the BBQ is my best-friend in the summer. Like to spend time with my friends, play hockey and golf occasionally, and will be getting back into martial arts to complete my blackbelt (currently two levels away). I also categorize my work as being fun, as I meet with great people, try to see how I can connect my network together, and writing a book with Thomson-Reuters on social networks and HR.

What is your favourite community and why?

If you mean community as a place – definitely Toronto, although I have my eyes set on the Big Apple. I love the fast paced environment of any big city as it motivates me to do my best. The Go-go-go environment speeds up my heart, and is one of the reasons I want to get out of bed.

What is your superpower?

“Unlike most superheroes, he does not possess any superpowers; he makes use of intellect, detective skills, science and technology, wealth, physical prowess, and intimidation in his war on crime.”

When I am myself my superpowers is connecting and helping people.

How do you use it to build community?

To build any community, you need to fight off evil and the villains that usually come with the territory. In this case, evil is deemed as unemployment, and procrastination. Unemployment can be defeated by connecting two people and allowing true networking to come into play as people know other people. This can go a long way for those looking for their first employment opportunity and are having a difficult time fighting off the evil unemployment villain with tools like job-boards and newspaper ads. Careerify is a new tool that zaps energy out of evil pretty quickly, as it speeds the process.

Tune in tomorrow — same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.

My three favourite things about Harpaul are…

1. The Power of Relationships. A former student of mine introduced Harpaul and I because “it’s always great to bring good people together.” We’re all connectors, methinks. It’s just a beautiful thing when people who can learn from each other get connected. And who doesn’t want to be connected to Batman?

2. Innovation and Future Trends. Many human resources professionals, career development practitioners, educators, and recruiters believe that the traditional “job board” – be it paper or online – will cease to exist by 2020. By then, the experts say, employers will find, hire and retain employees through social networking. Harpaul’s business, Careerify, combines the concepts of LinkedIn, e-Harmony and Visa Rewards to personalize the employer-employee matching in the world of work. And he’s ahead of his time.

3. He’s an Entrepreneur. As the Potentiality’s readers know, I’m a huge fan of entrepreneurship. I’m also a huge fan of people finding the most meaningful path into the world of work, where, believe it or not, we will spend most of our lives. Did you know that 80% of North Americans are dissatisfied with their jobs? Cures for such malaise are the entrepreneurial spirit and finding work that you really, really, really love doing; and mediums like Careerify are what bring such qualities together.