My business plan is to improve the hiring process, more specifically, the Publix hiring process. So for my interviews, I targeted undergrad college students with no jobs, that are financially reliant on FAFSA and Bright Futures.
The three students I conducted interviews with gave me a lot of relative information to one another about part time jobs they desired. The hardest part about working during college is most companies are not flexible with their tight schedule, which makes a lot of jobs unobtainable, although Publix is extremely flexible with students, which makes the company that much more desirable. During fall and spring semester is the most particular time where they need a job, because they need to make up for all the spending on food, rent, and utilities. One student stated that they looked at Publix because of mutual friends that worked there, and applied to three stores in every department and never heard back. Other students looked at firehouse subs, jobs on campus, etc. but the pay was too low for their needs.
One thing all my interviewees had in common was that they searched for jobs on indeed and through UF 's online job sight. Mostly online efforts were made to find a job, although one student found out about Publix through mutual friends. The most searched inquiry was "Part time jobs, Gainesville FL" which is a relatively broad search, but they still could not find anything that met their four most important needs, flexible scheduling hours, decent pay, few job requirements, and to get hired.
In conclusion, the interviews I conducted really helped me see that their is a market for what I am doing, because Gainesville has a lot of Publix stores, and a lot of students looking to work with them. I concluded my interviews by asking all three of my guests the same question, how would you feel about working with Publix? and they all responded with no hesitation, yes! So innovating the Publix hiring process and working to get more students hired is a goal I still feel is realistic to work towards.
Hi Millaed. It was interesting to read about how other people responded to your business idea, I did not realize so many people had issues with Publix's hiring process. Finding students with time flexibility is indeed a difficult part of the process, so perhaps they could ask students if they take online classes. That way, these students with more free time during the day will be given more consideration because they are more likely to actually be able to make shifts.
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