Two job board heavyweights have kicked off a US online recruitment venture that will provide a free service to employers while charging agencies subscription fees.

Unveiled in the US in late September, Candidatexchange.com will allow employers to anonymously post specific vacancies for free. Agencies subscribing to the service can then submit qualified candidates’ CVs, along with their company business terms, for employers to consider.

If a particular candidate interests an employer, the employer would then contact the agency to arrange an interview.

The site is not intended to be used by job seekers, says Keith Robinson, one of Candidatexchange.com’s founders. “Jobseekers can’t find anything on our site,” Robinson told Recruiter.

Previously of Totaljobs.com, Robinson co-founded the site with Simon Goddard (pictured), formerly of Hotjobs.com. The site developer is Adam Margulies, an American and former head of development at Hotjobs.com.

Until early 2006, when the site is formally launched, agencies will also be able to use the service for free during the site’s “beta test”, Robinson told Recruiter.

“We’ll test the site’s robustness, and they can figure out which bits they like, which bits they don’t like, and it won’t cost a penny for a few months,” he said.

The site could ultimately be adapted to other employment needs such as outplacement, Goddard said. Employers could post CVs and profiles of employees being made redundant on the site. Interested employers could then contact those companies to arrange interviews with the departing employees. “This wasn’t a core concept, but it came out of the design,” Goddard said.

The site’s official US launch will be in January 2006. The founders say they opted to launch in the US first because of the US market’s maturity and the country’s “high levels of adoption” of new technology generally.

A UK version is likely, but not before next year. “We’ll be there when we’re ready,” Robinson promised.