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A college student in South Africa yearns to travel abroad - perhaps even to study further at an overseas university - and to experience different cultures and see the world. But there is a huge damper on her dreams. Money is scarce. As it is, she is using loans to pay for her studies. She worries about securing a job in her study field that will allow her to earn enough to pay off her debt and support herself after university. She has no idea whether those years she has spent studying will ever pay off.
"The South African student's story isn't unique. Many students all over the world are facing those same dilemmas and fears about the future," says Milenko Pilic, CEO and founder of HeySuccess.com. "And their fears are not unfounded. Globally, there exists a major disparity between college graduates and the amount of jobs available. Not only is the economy to blame, but there is also the old Catch-22 scenario that you are less likely to be hired if you don't already have some experience in your chosen field, which of course many students do not have upon graduation."
This job deficit for graduates and post graduates extends beyond developing countries, Pilic notes. "Many first world countries also struggle to absorb graduates into job markets already strained by the uncertain economy. According to recent reports, up to a fifth of students in the UK are still unemployed six months after graduating from some British universities. This has been going on for a while. In 2011, 53% of all Americans under the age of 25 with bachelor's degrees were unemployed or underemployed, with people with engineering and mathematics degrees often ending up as waiters or working in retail."
The problem isn't limited to those with diplomas, certificates or bachelor's degrees. "In fact, it seems that the higher your qualification, the less likely you are to find any work at all - let alone work in your particular field," Pilic says. "The amount of students pursuing masters and PhDs has been soaring in China, even though the unemployment rate for postgraduates has been plummeting since 2005; and for three consecutive years since 2009, employment rates for postgraduates have been lower than that of undergraduates."
Propelled by the despondency of students worldwide, Pilic was inspired to come up with a solution that would make a difference and provide students with some hope. "There are plenty of opportunities for students and young - or even older - adults to
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gain experience and improve their skills, such as internships, grants, work exchange programs abroad, scholarships, competitions and so on. So I came up with the idea to gather as many of those opportunities as possible from across the globe and to list it in one, easily accessible website."
That is how the HeySuccess.com directory website came to be. "It's an equal opportunity website. No matter what your socio-economic background, or your educational level, or which country you are from, we want to show you that you too can broaden your horizons and travel to, work, study or even live in another country."
HeySuccess.com is free of charge. It currently lists around 9 000 active opportunities and counting. "It is updated by our volunteers every ten minutes, so people should check back regularly."
Pilic says he deliberately named the platform HeySuccess. "It signifies a go-getter spirit. Instead of sitting back and waiting for success to find them, HeySuccess users go out there and actively pursue amazing opportunities that will allow them to reach all their goals and achieve unimaginable success. Thanks to HeySuccess, they can now find those opportunities in one convenient place."
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