My Weblog

Michael Gugel and Kelly Lewis, created CollegeQuickJobs while studying at University of Virginia, have since graduated, moved to New York, redeveloped the site from the ground up, and relaunched it just this month. CollegeQuickJobs is designed to help local residents find college students for short-term jobs such as babysitting, tutoring, yard work and house sitting. From the other perspective, the site helps college students make a few bucks in between classes.

Residents can post job offerings and students from “a select group of top colleges” can post resumes, pictures and other qualifications, all free of charge. When employer finds a promising candidate, they can pay CollegeQuickJobs $12.99 for the student’s contact information.

The site, as Michael Gugel explained to me in an email, is currently in the process of initiating early guerrilla marketing efforts around various colleges in order to spread the word. As part of these efforts, the “CollegeQuickJobs Robot” could be seen making the rounds of various parts of New York City last week. Due to the cost of marketing, however, the company is starting with colleges in areas that have the most potential employers, which explains why some “top” colleges located in more rural areas are not among the schools listed on the site. Gugel said they hope to add these in the near future.

Many sites, including Monster and CareerBuilder, provide students with opportunities to find part-time work, but not too many focus on short-term “odd jobs” like yard work or babysitting. Likewise, competitors do not provide local residents (as opposed to businesses) with a way to connect the vast student labor market. CollegeHelpers performs a very similar function, but also lists internships, while CollegeQuickJobs appears to focus on non-career-oriented work. In addition, CollegeQuickJobs differs from all of these sites in terms of its payment model. While most job-posting sites charge either a monthly rate to the employer, or an initial fee upon posting a job offering, CollegeQuickJobs only charges the employer once a likely candidate has been found, an approach which may appeal more to households.

It is a safe assumption that local residents will be more comfortable hiring a confirmed student at a reputable local institution as a babysitter than, say, a random off Craigslist. The real question is whether they will be willing to shell out $12.99 for this comfort on top of the sum they plan to pay the babysitter. Let’s hope so!