My kickstarter experience
My Kickstarter Experience
Knowing how many companies are applying for the government Kickstarter scheme made me think that I should share my personal journey with this initiative.
Long before I took the plunge to apply for the scheme on behalf of Pep & Lekker, I had heard tales about how brilliant the scheme was and how brand owners quickly found themselves inundated with fantastic applications from graduates with first class degrees from top universities like Bristol and Oxford.
Such claims peaked my interest as a fantastic opportunity, so when I found myself shortlisted for the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, an opportunity arose to apply via their gateway, so I thought why not!
Here is my own personal experience:
It Takes a Few Months
Do not expect the application to be a quick process. I had to wait over 4 months from applying for my jobs for them to appear on the portal. This was frustrating for me as by the time I made the application I urgently needed some help and had even gone so far as to encourage someone to apply for universal credit so they could join me. The universal credit application came through faster than my application, so I lost this candidate who accepted a job elsewhere.
Very Few Referrals
When my jobs were first on the portal I had very few referrals. My contact at the local job centre was incredibly helpful and suggested that I:
1. Change the job title – tone it down so it was less scary for applicants
2. Make the job remote – which enabled the job to be advertised nationwide
3. Remove the requirement for a degree – the demand for applicants is now so high, that I needed to reduce my qualifications threshold
For those jobs that are not remote, I believe potential applicants have enjoyed a lot of success going down to their local job centres and asking them to arrange a day of interviews on their behalf.
Countless Referrals BUT Very Few CVs
Once these tweaks had been made to the job description, the referrals came flooding in, almost one a day. So much so that the DWP asked me why I had not completed my job search as they assumed that I was being unnecessarily picky. The truth was very different. Despite numerous referrals I received very few CVs. The job coach refers to the job but puts the onus squarely on the candidate to send in their CV.
When I received my first CV I got very excited. My bubble however was almost immediately burst when the CV began, ‘I like looking after my grandma.’ There was clearly a mix up with candidate looking for a job in social care not social media!
When CVs eventually started to trickle through, it’s fair to say that the calibre was mixed. It quickly became apparent that top candidates with good CVs had to be interviewed at the earliest opportunity as they were liable to be quickly snapped up.
Universal Credit
In truth, we got off to such a slow start and the calibre of the candidates was so lacklustre that my job centre then recommended that I start advertising across my own social channels. I did this but was only too aware that any applying candidate needed to be on universal credit. In my experience, some graduates can be a bit sniffy about applying and others will be automatically ruled out if they have any savings. Although I appreciate that the aim of the scheme is first and foremost to help unemployed, young people; it does seem a shame to rule out those young people who were prudent enough to build savings.
Success At Last
Despite being a long, drawn out and time-consuming process, I am very pleased to report that 6 months on from the start of the process, I have now found a fantastic candidate in Talesha!
This week I have had the headache of setting up PAYE and there will be slight nervousness until the first payment from the DWP comes through, but it is very exciting to have my first employee on board. It definitely feels like the next important step in my journey.
Thanks to Rishi for making it possible as he is not only helping young people but self-funded start-ups. In fact, the scheme is so successful and demand so high that my only suggestion would be that if the government is genuinely serious about getting people back to work, the scheme should be extended to all potential candidates regardless of age. Why not include mothers who’ve had a career break to raise children? Or widen the net yet further to capture all those who’ve been away from work because of sickness and mental health issues?
A win win!