Like so many other Canadians, Environment alumnus Harley Pellowe lost his job in May of 2020. But thanks to a conversation he had with a recent graduate on ENVConnect, a Ten Thousand Coffees-powered platform built for Environment students and alumni, he came up with an idea to help other job-seekers — and transform his own career.
“After losing my job I was using Google Sheets to keep track of job applications I sent out,” he explains. “As I talked to others about how they managed their job searches, I found everyone seemed to use different tools. There wasn't one platform specifically designed for job seekers.”
Pellowe joined ENVConnect and through the Ten Thousand Coffees smart-matching program, was introduced to a fellow Environment alumnus who was having the same difficulty.
“He told me how challenging the job search process had been for him. His family is overseas, he was stuck inside due to the pandemic, and he had sent out almost a hundred applications without getting a single interview,” Pellowe says. “Based on that conversation, I decided to build a productivity tool specifically for job seekers, but it would also have a supportive community where people could celebrate each other's successes and encourage each other during the low points of the job search process.”
Today Pellowe is the founder of Search City, a productivity app and supportive community purpose-built for job seekers.
Steve Krysak, an alumnus and former staff member, approached ENVConnect from the other side. Working steadily as an account director at Overlap Associates Inc. in Kitchener, Krysak helps the creative consulting firm work with industry and public sector clients to help design better create products, services, organizations, and systems.
“I joined ENVConnect to meet-up with current students and hopefully offer advice and guidance,” he says. “I was also interested in learning more about the current student experience during COVID and seeing if there were areas where I could help.”
During the first smart-match cycle, Krysak was introduced to another alumnus, which was a nice surprise. “We hit it off pretty quickly. He was interested in speaking with people earlier in their career and learning more about their experiences, and I was lucky enough to be matched to someone with a similar life experience as I have, as well as a similar sector of work.”
The Ten Thousand Coffees smart-match algorithm is finely tuned to help match people whose goals and experiences will complement each other. That’s exactly what Krysak discovered.
“I’ve had a few good discussions about career planning and dealing with working during the pandemic. It's been really interesting to hear from people in other organizations and have an open conversation about things we’re all trying to figure out.”
As for Pellowe, the early days of Search City are going well and he's looking for more users to get feedback on the platform.
Anyone else interested in exploring new career opportunities, meeting other Environment alumni and students, or just exchanging ideas in a casual atmosphere tailored to your goals, can sign up with ENV Connect here.
