www.croodle.co.uk
I thought I'd tell you a little bit about my latest venture 'Croodle'. In essence it's going to be a social networking site for creative industry graduates based in Scotland - to be used by graduates as well as employers.
Graduates will be able to create a profile with details about themselves and upload some images of their work. They'll then be able to chat in industry specific forums about portfolio/CV tips/their industries and anything else that takes their fancy....They'll also be able to join and search job 'groups' where admin will post links to the latest jobs (and employers will also be able to post opportunities directly here)
As I said before employers will be able to create a profile and post any opportunities or jobs they have in 'groups' relating to their industry (paid/unpaid/voluntary etc). They'll also be able to join in forum conversations and contact any graduates directly who catch their eye.
Another main aspect of 'Croodle' is the blog where every week/month (still need to clarify dates!) we'll have a guest blogger which could be an employer giving graduates tips on how to improve their portfolio, or a successful graduate telling us how they landed their dream job. (get in touch if you fancy writing a blog for us). Bloggers can include as many links as they want to their work, online portfolios etc so it's a great way to get noticed!
The idea for 'Croodle' came about in the middle of last year when I was thinking about the time just after I had graduated from Glasgow Caledonian University with a 1st in Applied Graphics Technology...and the trouble I had trying to find a job (which was actually relevant to my course) and how this experience could have been improved. I think one of the main reasons for the my struggle (and I'm sure the struggle of many others) was that there was no place online where graduates could be directly connected to industry employers. I think this is especially true for graduates living in Scotland, as I remember scouring job sites with 1,000+ creative jobs only to be hit with '0 results match your search' when putting in Scotland as the desired location - although I'm sure this isn't the case. It wasn't the problem of not 'looking in the right place', but one of the 'place' not existing! Croodle aims to be a place where graduates can form a community to share their knowledge, experiences and opportunities and also a place where employers can connect directly to the people looking to work with them.
I'm hoping to launch Croodle in May/June this year and although there may be a few teething problems I hope people will bear with me! :)
If you'd like to hear more about Croodle, would like to write a guest blog (as a graduate or employer) or would like to chat then email hello@croodle.co.uk
Follow Croodle on Twitter @Croodle_tweets
Join Croodle on Facebook
Check out the Croodle website and join our mailing list!
Melissa on Google+
