What students want: an online, mobile-first career platform

Once an accounting graduate finishes four grueling years of studies, a brand-new challenge awaits: Employment. But gone are the days of the traditional four-page CV; of trying to find accounting firms on Google, only to spend countless hours uploading documents to career pages.
Enter Suitup, where graduates create a professional, standardised online CV once and can apply to numerous firms with a single click. An application manager dashboard then keeps them up to date on their application’s progress.
That also means no more ill-composed, incomplete CV’s with dodgy font choices in employers’ inboxes. No more irrelevant life experience (like being back-up cheerleader at the primary school athletics meeting) to sift through. And no more time wasted responding to follow-up emails.
Mobile first
Soon platforms like SuitUP — a digital mobile-first interface — are where most millennials will be looking for jobs. We meet students where they are — on their smartphones and on social media. Approximately 70% of website traffic is direct and organic thanks to word of mouth, and social media and email campaigns account for about 30% of our site visits. Up to 60% of students access the platform via their phones, which makes the entire application process easier, more mobile and more accessible. SuitUP is like a campus career exhibition that runs 24/7, all year and can be continually updated.
How it works
Students create an account on the website [hyperlink: suitup.work] where they can upload their CV, apply to positions and view the application process in a dashboard that gives step-by-step updates on the employer’s actions.
They edit their profile in eight simple steps that also guide the student (who may very possibly be doing this for the very first time) into creating a compelling, concise and complete CV.
The profile format is designed to simplify the employers’ search. Employers can easily compare applications and CV’s in a standardised format, and with one click share an applicant’s CV with other interested parties via email.
Students also upload important documents such as academic transcripts to the platform and indicate which board exams they have completed or are currently studying toward.
What happens next
Employer profiles contain all the information students need about training offices and what the company offers practically (such as a laptop, study leave and travel opportunities). It offers insight into the firm’s culture (especially important for millennials) and the type of experience they will gain by working there.
In this way the platform also exposes them to new offices and opportunities they may not have been aware of. Students follow employers they are interested in, whose updates are then featured on their home page feed. A first-year student can therefore already show interest in certain firms, get to know the firm over the years and develop loyalty towards them. This way both candidates and employers are more likely not to just fill a position, but actually get a great fit.
If the employer profile shows there are spaces available for the next auditing training-program intake, the student can simply click “Apply”. The steps of the process are then mapped on the dashboard. Every action taken by the employer is visible to the applicant. Unsuccessful candidates are rejected with a standard message, and star candidates are kept aware that they are moving through the process, eventually towards a meeting, an offer and a signed contract. No glitches, no gremlins, no lost documents.
