Two ambitious friends from the Midlands are set to launch an online recruitment agency for students.
StudentZoo.co.uk will help students across the country find term-time and summer jobs to fit around their time at university or college.
Job-hunters can sign-up to the service for free and will also be able to search for jobs and post or 'build' a CV.
The site will also aim to help businesses find suitable recruits quicker, by hand-picking students with the best-matched skills and flexibility.
The website has already gone live, with the official launch staged at both Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham. Staff will then visit universities in Birmingham, Warwick, Loughborough and Wales to promote the service.
Student Zoo was formed when Robin Stangroom and James Hawkswood, both of Warwickshire, spotted a gap in the market.
Robin said: "Government research revealed that 95 per cent of students work during the holidays and over 1.2 million get a part-time job - and from our personal experience, we knew the entire process was a nightmare.
"Businesses, particularly in retail, have started to realise that students are an excellent type of person to employ. They work hard, have flexible hours, will do overtime and often stay with a company for two or three years.
"Aside from that, businesses could place an advert for an awkward period of time - say three or five weeks - and because of our users, we will find someone quickly."
Student Zoo is hoping to attract businesses by offering a commission free service. The company will charge a oneoff fee for either individual adverts or bundles of adverts, and hope that larger companies will buy in bulk for various sites across the country.
James said: "We hope that the scheme will work for both small, local businesses and for larger chains.
"We will have people registered from across England and Wales, so if there's a company with shops in 10 different cities, and they expect they will need an advert for each at some point, they can purchase a bundle and then place the adverts whenever they like.
"For small businesses - say for instance a cafe which needs someone on alternate Sundays or an office needing some computer admin twice a month - we can scan through our database, find people with the relevant skills and in the appropriate area and suggest that they apply."
James and Robin have both recently finished university and know first hand the struggles students face. From their experience, they know that the internet plays a part in a student's everyday life, and believe the convenience for users will help their business grow.
James added: "Students want jobs, but get easily demoralised after trudging from door to door begging for work. But a tailored online service is perfect - every student has internet access now, and after signing up will bookmark our site.
"Our early hits data show that the same users return to the site several times a day to check for jobs - and for those who do not, we automatically notify users of jobs that might suit them via email.
"The service will work for students because it's constantly updated, and will work for the businesses because of the volume of traffic and the quick turnover of jobs."
