Looking for an easy way to make cash in the Boston area? One College of Arts and Sciences sophomore is trying to help you out.
The student, Alexis Pire, recently launched a website that connects employers looking for temporary, part-time workers with Boston University students looking to make a quick buck.
Launched in late March, Quickiejob.com is not affiliated with the university’s own Quickie Job postings available to students on the Student Link website.
Pire’s website offers two options: one for college students seeking work and one for employers. Once students log onto the site, they are able to search different areas of Boston and surrounding communities for job listings and internships.
Similar to Facebook.com, Quickie Jobs requires students who register have a valid university-affiliated email address.
Pire said he came up with the idea while searching for an internship.
“I was looking at different job websites for an internship, but everything was very disorganized and all over the country,” the College of Arts and Sciences sophomore said. “Quickie Jobs is centered on Boston-based jobs and internships.”
Quickie Jobs differs from the Student Link, where students must search for a temporary job they want and then travel to the Student Employment office at 881 Commonwealth Ave. to get contact information for a potential employer. Instead, Pire said his website puts students directly in contact with employers.
“Every school has a career office, but I don’t think they have the resources to centralize their job searches,” he said. “Plus, with the website, there is no need to have a staff. We’ve eliminated the middle man.”
Student Employment Office manager David Strock said the university’s quickie job service is extremely popular. Strock said he does not think the popularity of the service will decline in the wake of Pire’s independent website.
“The Boston University Quickie Job Service is an extremely popular service,” Strock said in an email. “Over the course of a year, we have between 1,600 and 1,700 students placed into nearly 3,000 quickie jobs.”
Strock said he feels SEO adequately meets the needs of the student population, whether the jobs are temporary, part-time or full-time.
“I do not expect the popularity of our service to decline,” he said. “Boston University Student Job Services offers a free listing service to Boston University students and employers, and we have been doing so for over 40 years. During that time, we have listed jobs for over 50,000 employers, and we currently have an active base of over 3,000 employers.”
Pire said he has had a good response from the BU student community. Since the site was launched March 28, more than 300 BU students have registered.
“This website is designed for students,” he said. “Students should be able to have fun and enjoy the experience without being tied down by a part-time job.”
Among the BU community, however, some students said they are wary of using a temporary job service not affiliated with the university.
“You don’t know who is posting offers on just any job board,” CAS junior Noelle Heesen said. “I would be afraid that this site was offering lower quality jobs.”
CAS sophomore Gianna Rey said she is skeptical of job boards in general, but thinks a website not affiliated with the university might offer more variety.
“This website might have a wider variety of jobs because it is not affiliated with the university,” she said. “It’s just companies looking for temporary people. Online job boards are very impersonal.”