Every major job portal out there is focused on the big companies and aspiring entrepreneurs are left alone in the difficult job search. While everyone agrees that to gain experience as an entrepreneur the only way is to actually start your company or work in a startup and try to grab the most out of the experience, no one helps students in this difficult search.
Now recent graduates have a easy way of finding internships in startups and small businesses: Enternships.
The site was started by Rajeeb Dey, a 23 years old graduate from the University of Oxford. Being president of The Oxford Entrepreneurs student society Dey is very informed about students’ needs and is also very connected with the UK startup scene.
“If you want to be a lawyer, accountant or banker you can do internships in the summer of your penultimate year but if you want to be an entrepreneur, other than setting up your own venture the best way to learn is to work in a start-up / small firm. In the current economic climate in particular there are fewer jobs available in big corporations so it’s about time we shifted our attention to the ‘long tail’ of the recruitment industry and looked at the millions of small but exciting firms out there.” Dey said.
The premise of the new site is very simple, employers sign up and post placements and potential enterns upload their CVs and apply for them. Employers are then able to manage the entire recruitment process, from posting a vacancy to filtering, interviewing and selecting candidates, via the website.
There are already plenty of listings from a lot of the major european startups such as Huddle, MyDeco and Wakoopa. The team is now working on expanding their radius to India and USA.
“One of the greatest luxuries of being a student is having the time to think about ideas. One of the best things about being in a start-up is that it is all about ideas. An Enternship will give you a great opportunity experience life in an entrepreneurial environment.” Says Martha Lane Fox, Co-Founder of Lastminute.com and CEO of Lucky Voice, who is supporting Enternships and providing great positions in some of their ventures.
If you are a student looking for some entrepreneurial experience, this will surely be helpful.
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This is something that is really great I think there should be many more programs like this in order for these graduates to gain some kind of experience in the job world, otherwise when they do apply they get turned away because they have no work experience but how are they to gain this if no one will give them a chance.
This is something that I had not really thought of and it does make sense instead of getting the experience in a huge company which one can also get over looked and forgotten, start with something that has just started and you working and gaining the knowledge right from the start is an excellent idea. This why the person not only gains the knowledge he/she requires when leaving school but they also help the start of something new.
I think this is a great concept, especially with the current GFC situation. Most new graduates are struggling to find positions. This sort of idea would give both startup companies the opportunity to find new talent and also the graduates to develop important skills that will help in their long term career.
I agree with about comment. At the moment there are alot of fresh and willing graduates out in the job market. I believe a website or central hub where they can go to pick up hints and tips is a great idea and will benefit them when they secure a full time position.
Very nice blog, your article is interesting, i have bookmarked it for future referrence
That is a VERY interesting idea.. has anyone actually hired an intern via this website though?
Very good, very helpful to the students who have no experience, hope can help more people.
Although it is a bit more risky, the rewards of getting involved in a start-up company are much greater. Everything is much faster evolving, dynamic and exciting, and as a result you’re going to be given much more scope and responsibility (rather than repeated trips to the photocopier or coffee machine!). And if things go really well and the company is expanding, the chance of that internship turning into a lucrative permanent position are very high.