An online tool which aims to re-invent the recruitment process for school leavers aged 15-19, has launched a mobile app this week – making it even easier for its users to find suitable work, training and volunteering vacancies.
miFuture is an online portal that turns the art of applying for college, jobs and apprenticeships on its head. Users build a profile that takes into account their qualifications and experience but also looks at hobbies and interests. Taking this holistic approach jobs, training and volunteering opportunities are then matched and filtered to the user.
Former college lecturer Gemma Hallett from Beddau near Llantrisant came up with the idea while she was on holiday four years ago and, with business support from the Community Enterprise Network (CEN), Gemma is now her own boss and has turned her idea a reality.
The miFuture website was launched in August 2015 and the miFuture app is available from Monday October 26th. The easy to use app works in a smiliar way to the dating app ‘Tinder’. Users swipe right if they’d like to find out more about a vacancy or swipe left if it doesn’t interest them.
Gemma, 32, had the spark of inspiration for miFuture after recognising that not enough was being done to support school leavers and help them prepare for job-hunting. “I worked with young people every day in my role in education”, Gemma explains. “I had discovered that motivation was really low for many school and college leavers in terms of finding a job. Recruitment websites can be very broad and the process was off-putting to many of my students.
“I thought that there had to be a better way to target recruitment at 15 – 19 years olds. I had an idea for an alternative but, having never worked in business before, I couldn’t do it alone.”
Gemma turned to the CEN, which was part of Meadow Prospect, housing organisation RCT Homes’ charitable arm. The CEN was a project funded by the European Regional Development Fund and backed by the Welsh Government which was designed to support individuals and organisations in pursuing their enterprising ideas.
With support from her friends and CEN, Gemma developed miFuture. She modelled the website on the format of dating websites, where people are matched based on their interests, passions and compatibility.
The website helps young people build a CV online in 4 easy steps, taking them through the stages of qualifications, skills, experience and most significantly, ambitions and passions.
Employers can use the site to target the right people – matching their requirements to people’s passions and skills. If there is a match it will appear on the job-hunters news feed – making this a personalised recruitment service.
With a growing number of pupils signing up and a list of companies already working alongside miFuture – such as CCFC Foundation, RCT Homes, Coleg y Cymoedd, Business in the Community. Merthyr Council and RCT Council – miFuture hopes to become not only a success in targeting and recruiting school leavers in South Wales but also nationally.
