Imagine finding a great career without wasting countless hours applying for the wrong job opportunities. A tool that drops the perfect job right at your front door while taking the guesswork out of the equation. That is exactly what Chapman students (and siblings) Nicolay Lameijer ’16 and Layla Lameijer ‘17 developed with
MySlate
.

What started as a simple idea rapidly surged into a growing business venture. Today, the duo have developed a platform to put Chapman students at the employment forefront, embracing the concept of
Thinking Chapman First
.

It all began when Nicolay wanted to improve community relations and help students earn a little pocket change at the same time. The concept was simple: employed by the local community, students could pick up time-sensitive tasks or odd jobs, such as moving boxes or fixing a computer, and earn money.

However, Nicolay soon realized the gratification for quick cash was connected to a much larger, categorical issue for the millennial generation. Students are continuing to enter a fragmented and insufficiently digitized job market. With tuition skyrocketing over the past decade and the growing mismatch in the student job market, many students found themselves facing unemployment upon graduation. “It’s insane! Nearly 48 percent of students with an undergraduate degree are underemployed and that number jumps to 59 percent for graduate students,” Nicolay says.

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Nicolay and Layla with Gene Alexander, director of technology entrepreneurship at the Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics



Nicolay enlisted the help of his sister Layla and they began to write a business plan and develop their strategy. They connected with
Chapman Launch Labs
to help grow the company. “It’s incredible how many resources we have through the Chapman Incubator,” Nicolay says, “You can find anything from free hosting for your website to great connections with potential clients.”

Stop Searching, Start Matching


The primary focus of MySlate is helping employers and college students find their ideal job matches. Think of it like Match.com for employers. Employers set specific criteria within interest pools and students create career profiles. Once an interest pool has been created, the system automatically and continuously makes matches. There are more than 500 variables within the matching criteria that can be paired with a student’s career profile. So if a new student joins the platform, and they are qualified, the system will automatically invite them to join the “talent” pool.

“Receiving network requests with job invites flips the model and enables the student,” Nicolay explains. “And with this approach, employers will be certain that students in their pool are qualified for the job.” By giving students the option to accept or reject an invitation, the system also filters out the students who are not interested in working for the company.

On the platform, students can create a personalized career profile with uploadable media and a downloadable resume ready to print. In addition to receiving network requests after getting matched, students can follow their favorite companies and organizations, request to join interest pools, and direct message recruiters. On the other side, employers can create a public page and manage their interest pools. “The interest pool is where the magic happens,” Layla says.

Take, for example, Fiction Ltd. who is looking for a marketing intern. Fiction Ltd. will start off by setting some basic requirements first: junior or senior in college, a minimum GPA of 3.0, at least 4 upper-division marketing classes, and a weekly availability of 20 hours. They can weigh the importance of each requirement and choose to add in even more bonus criteria such as participation in sports, clubs, and other on campus organizations. In other words, the matching possibilities are endless. This level of customization is what sets MySlate apart from the rest of the field. Instead of handpicking all-stars from a stack of resumes, qualified matches are the only results seen, giving the employer full control over how students are being matched.

The employers can set their criteria to find student candidates who match positions based on variables such as roles or offices the candidates held within campus organizations, course work they completed, or internships they had within certain industries. This level of customization is what sets MySlate apart from the rest of the field. Instead of handpicking all-stars from a stack of resumes, qualified matches are the only results seen, giving the employer full control over how students are being matched.

Giving Chapman Students Employment Opportunities


MySlate is set to launch in the spring of 2015. As part of the beta testing phase, MySlate plans to engage the entire Chapman community by giving students first access to connect with employers on the platform. From freshmen to seniors, Chapman students can use MySlate to build a professional online presence to attract and impress recruiters. Using MySlate as a career development tool has the potential to lead students to part-time or full-time work or an internship while they are still in college, nearing graduation and beyond. “It is my mission to connect every Chapman student to a suitable career opportunity well before graduation,” Nicolay says.

MySlate is free for students and employers, with premium options for businesses seeking extended recruitment solutions. “Businesses of all sizes need a cost-effective solution to recruiting the best candidates. On the other hand, students should never have to pay to find a job,” Layla explains. “The less a business pays, the more jobs they will post, which leads to more students getting hired!”

Learn more about MySlate »

Looking to hire fellow Panthers?

Alumni who are interested in hiring Chapman University students are encouraged to visit and pre-register at
MySlate.com
to receive 3 interest pools free of cost, as a thank you for
Thinking Chapman First
! Use the promo code: THINK CHAPMAN FIRST