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Local brothers develop JobJunxion: a new way of connecting students and employers

Online service streamlines the connection between students' talents and employers' needs
JobJunxion founders2
Jack, right, and Justin Litchfield are the founders of JobJunxion. Supplied photo

Two Guelph brothers have created a new job service to help bridge the gap between students and employers.

Jack and Justin Litchfield, both graduates of Guelph CVI high school, have created JobJunxion, an online service that connects students and potential employers both before and after graduation.

“It really started back when we were both in university, seeing first hand the struggles that students were going through trying to navigate career pathways and find job opportunities when they graduate,” said Jack Litchfield, who like his brother has since graduated university.

“We came up with a solution that fits two solutions at once.”

Justin, 24, has been working full time at the business for about a year and a half. Jack, 26, for a year.

They moved to Kitchener to focus on it and take advantage of Communitech, a private/public partnership aimed at fostering growth of new technology companies.

How it works: students at any stage in university or college (including recent grads) sign up, listing their experience and interests. Their identity remains private until an employer that has signed up reaches out and the student agrees to connect.

Employers also register and post opportunities or search for potential future employees and decide if they want to offer interviews and orientations, co-ops, internships, or part-time jobs in the intervening years until graduation.

The service is free to sign up for. JobJunxion gets paid by the company if a successful hire takes place.

It basically helps business find the employees they need, work at cultivating the employees they need while helping students get the relevant experience they need.

Jack Litchfield said it’s a bit odd that 20 per cent of post-secondary grads report having difficulty finding a job in their field and 40 per cent of employers say they have trouble finding employees.

Justin Litchfield said he noticed a two-part problem when he was in university.

“First, a lack of awareness of what you need to make it when you join the real world, and second, an easy way to meet the people that matter to get a job while you’re still in school,” he said.

The Litchfields are currently scaling up the business, recruiting students and employers to sign up and working at getting post-secondary schools involved.

JobJunxion currently focuses on southern Ontario employers, with plans to expand.

For more info and to register, go to www.jobjunxion.com.


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Tony Saxon

About the Author: Tony Saxon

Tony Saxon has had a rich and varied 30 year career as a journalist, an award winning correspondent, columnist, reporter, feature writer and photographer.
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