Get your First Job with Startup Co-Founder Eyal Grayevsky

We’ve heard the stats, we’ve read the personal stories, and, for some, we know someone in this situation: College graduates are either unemployed or underemployed. Now more than ever, students are beginning to question if all their effort to pursue a degree is really worth it. How can the high school diploma to college degree potential earnings ratio be true if millions of recent graduates can’t even find jobs? The nation’s graduates are asking questions, and, surprisingly, one of their very own may just have an answer.

Eyal Grayevsky is the 25-year-old co-founder and CEO of FirstJob, the “only job site of its kind” that matches college graduates with internship and entry-level positions by using their existing social networks. After graduating at the peak of the recession, Grayevsky said he experienced first-hand the difficulties of finding a job.

“My classmates and I found the resources available very limited; there was no “go-to” site for first-time job seekers,” he said. So, Grayevsky decided to create one.

FirstJob recently launched its job site on March 25; and Recruiter.com had the opportunity to speak with Grayevsky before the exciting event. Check out what he had to say about the struggles of our nation’s graduates and how FirstJob is here to help:

1. What are some of the most common challenges soon-to-be or recent graduates face when job searching?

Millions of recent graduates are struggling to find meaningful work even while job opportunities continue to be added to the marketplace. As the economy strengthens in 2013, entry-level and internship hiring is on the rise, but graduating seniors often don’t know where to start the job hunting process. And when they do, they find boards filled with jobs requiring too much experience or “work from home” scams and spend hours applying to positions without ever hearing back. It’s intimidating to put themselves out there, and it’s a highly emotional time in their lives.

FirstJob is there to connect those college seniors ready to enter the job force with the companies that need them in a simple, empowering way. I was a recruiter when I graduated from college, so I encountered both sides of the problem: as a student trying to get hired and as a recruiter trying to find the best talent. Our mission at FirstJob is to solve the problem from both perspectives.

2. How does FirstJob help and/or eliminate the challenges in question 1?

FirstJob provides a complete solution, empowering new grads to discover the inside company connections they didn’t know they had through Facebook and LinkedIn. They can then gather skill and personality endorsements from their most trusted contacts, apply to the most relevant jobs, track the status of their applications and access helpful career resources. Additional features, such as a profile match score and FirstIdea, a Quora-like, crowd sourced QA forum focused on career related topics, will also be rolled out as the site continues to grow.

Our company’s unique product, memorable branding, strategies for mass distribution and superior employer service position us well against the few players in this space. We are set apart by our proprietary systems and commitment to constant innovation, delivering the best product and maintaining the most recognizable brand among college students and recent graduates.

3. Is FirstJob only for soon-to-be and recent college graduates? Or can any job seeker create a profile?

It is designed for college students and recent college graduates in their search for quality internship and entry-level opportunities. For that reason, our database features only jobs that require no more than three years of experience and no less than a college degree. We currently list 10,000+ available, quality and relevant internship and entry-level opportunities at 4,000+ companies, making us a great resource for college students, recent graduates and young professionals looking to pivot their career early on in the game. Our goal is to reach a level of 30,000+ positions by next quarter. For the time being, we suggest that only job seekers looking for internship and entry-level jobs should create a profile on FirstJob.

4. Why should employers use FirstJob to source talent as opposed to other job boards?

The site makes college recruiting easy, because it is a targeted resource for companies looking to hire the best new grads at their target schools through both our innovative online recruiting platform and university outreach program. The company maintains a strong presence on campuses nationwide through our ambassador program. With this, we’re able to actively promote our employer partners’ brands and job awareness online, as well as strengthen their physical and social media presence at their target schools. The service reduces the need to rely heavily on costly tactics, such as campus visits, career fairs and connecting with numerous career centers.

FirstJob is cost effective: For early adopters, we offer a results-driven price structure that charges recruiters for unlocking candidate contact info instead of charging per post.

The company is also socially powered: Company Connect™ displays which network connections the applicant has at the employer, proving the recruiter with easy access to reliable references within their organization. EZ Vouch™ lets the applicant easily gather skill and personality endorsements from friends, classmates, colleagues and professors, providing the recruiter with a more in-depth look into their strengths.

5. I am a senior, about to graduate college and look for a job. What’s the no.1 reason I should use FirstJob?

FirstJob caters only to college students and recent college graduates and is committed to providing the most easy-to-use, complete solution for those entering the job search. We understand both sides of the problem and have made a product tailored specifically for the college senior.

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Image: FirstJob Founders James Maddox, L, and Eyal Grayevsky