Home From College, a career platform for young professionals and students looking for their first job or internship, announced Wednesday that it has raised $5.4 million in a seed round led by GV (formerly Google Ventures ).
The new capital will be used to expand the platform’s core offering, ‘Gig’, a marketplace for businesses to list jobs, ranging from internship and part-time opportunities to one-off projects and longer-term roles. Home From College has job postings from hundreds of top brands like Poppi, Aquaphor, Burt’s Bees, Nivea, Urban Decay, Thrive Market, Peacock, and Steve Madden, among others.
The Los Angeles-based startup was founded in 2021 by Julia Haber, who founded WAYV, a marketing company that created “branded experiences” like pop-up stores on college campuses; and Kaj Zandvliet, former financial analyst at Sony Music Entertainment.
Home From College emerged from events organized by WAYV, where students expressed their “fear of being unemployed after graduation” and “not seeing their (college) major match what they want.” what they really wanted to do in life,” Haber said. TechCrunch. Other problems include students failing to find an enjoyable way to earn extra income while in college or not qualifying for a job due to an empty resume.
Home From College aims to disrupt the traditional job search for Generation Z, who are looking toward more flexible opportunities outside of the 9-5. Some call Gen Z the “independent generation,” with 67% of Gen Zers embracing self-employment and 71% prioritizing jobs with flexible work hours, according to Fiverr. Generation Z is also exploring more creative roles, with many looking to build their careers in social media, entertainment, marketing, beauty and fashion.
Haber wants Home From College to be a place where students can find jobs that fit their busy lifestyles and provide valuable experience related to their career path and goals. So, rather than applying for unpaid internships, they can take on side hustles, such as social media ambassadors or logo designers.
Image credits: Coming home after college
“I work full time, so I use (Home From College) as a way to get side gigs,” Sierra Estevez, a recent SUNY Oneonta graduate, told us. “I’m able to filter through the different gigs available to find opportunities that fit my schedule or schedule.”
When examining the market, the majority of listings are one-off gigs primarily focused on content creation or product testing, which many brands offer to get feedback from a younger demographic. Compensation varies greatly. For example, Nivea is currently offering $500 to create two TikTok videos. Smaller companies offer much lower compensation, with one company offering as little as $15 to try a product and leave a review.
“All gigs on Home From College are paid… (this) helps eliminate (jobs) that maybe seem disingenuous to students or manipulative of their time, because we know Gen Z cares a lot about that too… We We always want to make sure that the opportunities for someone starting a career are always compensated realistically in terms of exchange value,” Haber said. She added that the team reviews all listings before they go live.
Image credits: Coming home after college
Another way Home From College caters to Gen Z and stands out from other career sites is its interview feature where students answer questions from real companies, which they can post on their profile. For example: “If you had to describe your personal brand in one sentence, what would it be?” » or “What role do you play in a group?”
Additionally, the platform allows students to show off their personality with fun covers for their profiles and colorful pages that explain their background, experience, and what they’re looking for.
Students can also see the number of times companies have viewed their resume and the total number of profile views they get on a weekly and monthly basis. Companies see a similar dashboard that tracks the number of candidates being reviewed and the number of contracts signed.
Students can also receive messages from companies, giving them the opportunity to connect with future employers.
“I actually get to talk to different people about these brands, whereas with other platforms I’ve tried, it’s a message I pitch or an application I send in a abyss and that I never really hear from,” Estevez added.
Home From College also competes with design tools like Canva with its latest feature, “Resume Studio.” Although the templates offered on Home From College are arguably less advanced than the Canva templates, they serve as a starting point for students who may have never written a professional resume before. The resume builder is still in beta, so the selection will likely improve over time.
Image credits: Coming home after college
Home From College is free for students and offers three subscription tiers for businesses: Starter ($99 per month), Growth Mode ($199 per month), and Business (price varies). Students are paid directly through the Home From College platform and businesses are charged a 20% service fee on top of the price of each invoice.
The platform has more than 100,000 users. Home From College has helped facilitate “thousands and thousands” of hires, Haber said.
Home From College primarily targets people who are just starting out in their careers, however, the company wants to expand its product offerings to people who have been in the workforce for ten years or less.
The company has already raised $1.5 million from PEAK6 and angel investors.
techcrunch
