Uber for real work experience. Nicely done Jake Fox.

How has the uptake been so far?

Any interesting challenges the community could help with?

This looks really interesting - tend to agree you have a challenge versus other resourcing/freelancing platforms…

I can think of two angles that might be worth marketing on - time zone and language

I’ll be honest, I had a frustrating time trying to get relevant experience during university..

Blindly sending out my Cvs and hoping something stuck, attending careers fairs that were full of corporates (when I was interested in small business/startups), I did way too many bar shifts and offered my labour for free just to get something on my CV.

Then when I did finally manage to get involved in startups and small businesses, I spoke endlessly to busy business owners desperately trying to prioritise their time, and work on the stuff that really mattered to their businesses’ growth. They needed the extra pair of hands to jump on tasks like design work, BD outreach, data admin, social media content...

So I’ve built paperound to make it as easy as possible for a student and a business to work together on a project. Whether that’s an hour or a few days.

No application forms to fill in (for either party), a trusted transaction process, and the ability to come together just for the time required.

Oh and all the students are pre-vetted before joining. So founders can trust that the student they’re working with is the sort of person that completes the project first time.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

PS - we’re a team of three right now. We use Paperound taskers ourselves to get things done.

PPS - Some of our students have just landed graduate jobs using their Paperound experience. Mission accomplishing...

Looking forward to using this! Great work!

Will you be building the ability to post tasks and have students apply to take them on?

Just as an idea can employers and academics post briefs for 'practice' or challenge therefore increasing uptake on the platform by increasing member base and hopefully converting some of those students to paid work. As an academic we are always looking for ways to evidence engagement with employers might be a win for all and allow you a shot during induction events to engage a wider audience?

In no way am I saying get students to work for free - just a way for Uni's to compete on live employer generated briefs and help them filter to which Uni might be more aligned with their skill requirements etc.