Finding jobs is a stressful journey for students and graduates across the nation, particularly in a pandemic. In order to help students with their job search, Sheik Floradewan, 22, founded ApplyHub, a tool to help streamline the job application process and improve job seekers’ chances of securing employment.

Floradewan joined the job market last spring after graduating from Baruch College with a Bachelor’s degree in marketing and a minor in English.

Even though the economy was in freefall due to the pandemic, she was fortunate enough to secure a position as a marketing coordinator at The Pension Boards – United Church of Christ, a company that specializes in financial retirement programs such as pensions and health benefits, that summer.

Floradewan’s work search and application process experiences motivated her to create ApplyHUB, and the idea came to her when she realized she wasn’t alone in this process.

“One day I was on LinkedIn and saw a meme on this with hundreds of comments on it, and realized I wasn’t the only one who was frustrated with how tedious the job application process was,” she said.

Although there are numerous work search engines available, ApplyHub was designed to be much more effective.

“Our competition offers varying degrees of what we are offering and none of it is in one place. Users would have to go to different platforms for their different needs. With ApplyHUB everything is accessible in one centralized place, hence its name,” Floradewan explained.

Floradewan argues that ApplyHUB is in students’ best interests because it allows them to take control of their work application process and easily guide them through it.

Initially, Floradewan found starting a business to be a lonely and intimidating task and struggled to balance her full-time job with participating in CUNY Startups. One of the biggest challenges she faced was finding a software developer who could build a prototype. After outsourcing a freelancer based in Germany, she had to navigate language barriers and time differences in order to communicate issues.

Still, ApplyHUB was something Floradewan expressed that she was really passionate about, so putting in the hours after her nine-to-five didn’t feel exhausting, but rather satisfying.

CUNY Startups also taught Floradewan how to sell her ideas to investors, and she gained advice and encouragement from mentors.

Setting boundaries was critical, Floradewan explained, because balance was crucial, particularly when working from home, where her workspace and personal space are one and the same.

“I think the most rewarding part of it all is seeing your idea come to life and knowing that I’ll be able to help others if and when this is a success,” she said.

Within the next year or so, Floradewan hopes to have the site on each of the CUNY schools’ job portals, and the next goal is to extend to other colleges around the country before opening to the general public.

Editor’s Note: Sheik Floradewan, who was quoted in this article, is a former Ticker news editor.