Apprentishop takes on the challenge

A trio of Waimea College business students have set up a website and are creating an app to match employers with potential apprentices.

Year 12 students Jet Tristram, Jason Chew-Ho and Yuosmunea Heng came up with the idea of creating a matching service for employers and young people seeking apprenticeships for their Young Enterprise Scheme project.

The idea stemmed from students at school looking for job prospects and the result is Apprentishop. They liken the process to the dating app, Tinder, which helps match people together.

“Some students are hanging around school, waiting for it to finish and then go on to a job,” Jet says. “So, our idea would help them find a job with training - an apprenticeship basically.”

The team has already won the competition’s validation challenge in the Top of the South and now they are working on the completion of the app as well as seeking employers who will work with them before it goes live.

Jason describes the app-building process as “extreme” and they have worked it out with the help of YouTube. The potential business has required more than just app-building skills though and each student brings their own strengths to the team.

While Jason is creative and thinks outside the square, Yuosmunea has shown an aptitude for building the app and talking to people, and Jet has the knack of networking. Together, they wanted to create a business.

“If you want to learn how to create a business, you need to do Young Enterprise,” Jet says. “It gets you out there in the real world and makes it feel real.”

“You’re actually building connections,” Yuosmunea adds. “Initially we were all scared of getting on the phone and talking to people.”

He admits it was the movie Wolf of Wall Street, where a stockbroker says “if you’re stuck, get on the phone and start dialling,” that inspired their venture.

“So, we just started to pick up the phone and started calling.”

It has produced positive results, with the Primary Industry Training Organisation (ITO) taking a keen interest in the technology to potentially assist students from its own training programmes.

The team is now marketing their idea, mainly through Tik Tok and Instagram, while looking for employers to trial the site and app.

They can be reached through apprentishop@gmail.com or at apprentishop.nz on Instagram.

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