We’ve never found saying goodbye very easy, especially after two years of hard work and commitment. FreelanceStudents opened its doors in July, 2009 and it will be closing them in the next 4 - 5 weeks. The decision to take this final step is a carefully thought-out one, and has been made under an atmosphere of mixed feelings.
The beginning
The journey started way back in the early stages of the recession when we realised that students were struggling to find work and SMEs were finding it financially difficult to take on full-time experienced resources. It seemed like a good idea to pair these groups together. After 3 months of hacking, we finally released a prototype that was basic, but nonetheless got us underway. The site launched with just one job, posted by a friend looking for a graphic designer. The growth was steady in terms of jobs, but the blog, on the other hand, struck a chord with a core crowd from the very beginning.
The break
In September 2009, and by sheer luck, we were featured in the Metro in a full page spread in their yearly Education supplement. The national newspaper had picked up on the idea and asked if we’d be keen to be featured… er… yes. The boost was massive!
Evolution
Over the two years the idea evolved, as we received customer feedback. So the site went from being a minor freelance-orientated site to a much bigger portal that also allowed for internships and graduate jobs. We went through two major re-designs and spent many late nights fixing bugs. The site also went from being free to a Freemium model. Our developers really did some fantastic work over the two years, especially Matt!
And the winner is…
Much to our surprise in February 2010, FreelanceStudents was voted a Smarta 100 winner. We were truly chuffed. But there was more to come; in May 2010 we picked up a second prize! FreelanceStudents won the Natwest special prize at the Smarta 100 awards. We were not able to attend the ceremony so we were surprised, and deeply touched, when Smarta contacted us letting us know that we had picked up an award. FreelanceStudents beat 99 other small companies from across the UK to pick up 1 of only 4 prizes handed out during the evening. This gave the site another major boost.
Growth
The site was launched by Tim Mukasa and started as a mini side project. Tim, if we’re being honest, had no real plan in place. He simply wanted to help students whom at the time were struggling in the job market. So as the site grew, maintaining the growing numbers and audience on various platforms proved to be fun, but ultimately very challenging. What started as a hobby had become something else, and with no vast return, looking after thousands of users, requires a substantial investment in both time and money in order to keep the website alive.
So what now?
Our followers and audience mean a lot to us. With your help we managed to help many companies and students, which was always our goal. Therefore, we are in the process of seeking new owners for the site. If we are unable to achieve this within our timeframe, then we are giving serious consideration to continuing as a blog only – this would be less time intensive and we could really give our all. But the team behind FreelanceStudents is not completely disappearing… no… we’ve just launched a new project (clothing and t-shirt website) that is again targeted at the young student market and one that we hope you will support! FreelanceStudents will continue to run as normal over these final few weeks.
Farewell
We will always remember FreelanceStudents fondly. Over the two years, we made new friends both online and offline. We would like to thank all our past collaborators, programmers, writers, marketers, employers, partner websites and readers that supported FreelanceStudents throughout this whole time. We found each job, located each prospective candidate and wrote each word… just for you.
Special Mentions
A special thanks to the following people and groups:
Carl McQueen, Smarta, NatWest, Lisa Scott (Metro), James Lachno, Tobi Akingbolagun, Yi Chen, Lottie Asma, Aylish Jarvie, Khaqan Mahmood, Brandon Houston, Matt Vickers, and Nielsen Cerbolles
Feel free to email us, if you have any queries.
All the best
The FreelanceStudents team
October 3rd, 2011
jessica.figueras
What a shame! I’ve used Freelance Students twice to recruit, and have had a brilliant experience. Hope you can find a way to carry on the good work.
October 26th, 2011
Victoria
Are you still planning to close? I certainly hope not as I was hoping to find some talented freelancers and interns using this site! I think it’s a great concept and you’ve achieved a lot since starting.