A team of students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison is heading to Minneapolis next week for a national competition in which they hope to win a $50,000 prize for their startup SideShift. Similar to job dating apps, this social media-inspired tool is designed to make it easier for small businesses to hire college students.
University of California, Madison seniors Canyon Pergande and Nick Lawton started a side job last fall after seeing classmates struggling to find university jobs and local small businesses struggling to find staff. I started a shift.
They noticed that many stores, restaurants, and bars around campus were not posting job openings online or accepting online applications. “We have had to rely on a variety of recruitment methods, including paper applications, resume submissions, and word-of-mouth referrals,” said Pergande, 22, who works at the popular college bar The College Club. says. She is a few steps from campus.
While that strategy may work for companies in “prime locations,” “many other companies really struggle to find and retain college talent,” he says.
On the other hand, major job sites like Indeed, which can streamline the process for employers and job seekers, are aimed at larger companies, Pergande said. Local job boards, like the one run by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, are useful for advertising, but nothing else.
The two wanted to design a platform for small and medium-sized businesses that could attract more applicants with less effort. They envisioned a tool that would allow companies to not only post jobs, but also accept applications, message applicants, and offer interviews. But neither Pergande nor Lawton knew how to code, so they brought on Drew Levin, a senior studying computer science and data science, as co-founder and chief technology officer.
Created by three undergraduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, SideShift is like a job dating app designed to make it easier for small businesses in Madison to hire college students.
The website they created is currently in beta testing, and the mobile app is expected to be released later this month. This will allow students and employers to fill out their profiles and upload photos and videos if desired, “making it a more social recruiting experience,” Pergande said.
For students, the profile acts as a resume, providing the basic information employers need about the student’s experience and skills. Students can browse available opportunities on an Instagram-like feed, filter based on their interests, and apply with the tap of a finger. Employers can follow up with applicants without leaving the platform.
Both students and employers can use SideShift for free, but employers pay per hire. Currently, the tool is only available to people with .edu email addresses, but Pergande said he hopes to eventually offer the service to other job seekers.
So far, Pergande said, the platform has hundreds of students and 30 to 40 companies on board, including florist Red Square Flowers and restaurant Comfort Fuel. He added that he was employed by the company.
Look out for $50,000 in prize money
SideShift is only about six months old, but its founders are already taking advantage of the many opportunities available to student entrepreneurs. They are part of Ramp100, a startup-building cohort run by the University of California, Madison’s Entrepreneurship Science Institute, and made their first formal pitch this month at the student organization Transcend University’s annual innovation competition. He is currently competing in four more business competitions, including advancing to the third round of the statewide Governor’s Business Plan Competition.
Later this month, Pergande and Lawton will head to the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis to compete against student entrepreneurs from across the country at e-Fest, one of the world’s largest undergraduate business plan competitions. The national event, which will be held from Thursday, April 18th to Saturday, April 20th, will feature 25 teams, each competing in multiple contests.
The Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge on Saturday has the most prizes at stake. The contest is a “Shark Tank” style competition with a total prize pool of $215,000 and the first place team receiving $50,000.
“This is a really, really exciting opportunity and we hope we can get some cash. It’s going to be huge for the whole business,” Pergande said, adding that if He said that if he wins anything, most of it will go toward marketing and expanding the business.
But other needs have emerged as he and his co-founder prepare to graduate next month. They plan to continue their business, but they also need to pay rent and living expenses.
“It’s good that we probably need to raise a little less money than we’re planning because we need to support us and the team in some way as we start to build and grow. I think.”
