Ten Thousand Coffees: Help Unlock & Build Hubs
The following is a guest post written by Tarif Rahman who is a community engagement lead at Ten Thousand Coffees, which is a site that I LOVE and have written to/referenced in the past. They are currently working on a great initiative that deserves to be shared.
Let’s face it. The job market sucks right now, there are way too many people competing for the same jobs, and the qualifications of every role, including entry-level roles, have shot through the roof. (How do you expect me to have 3-5 years of experience for an entry-level job, when you won’t even hire me for an entry-level job?!)
It is what it is. That’s why so many people are opting for unconventional routes such as starting their own business, pursuing passion projects, or just plain networking. The simple process of sending in a beautifully crafted resume and cover letter barely cuts it anymore. Don’t get me wrong – I still know people who get hired through their online applications, but it’s becoming increasingly rare, especially with minimal work experience.
One of the hard truths about this job market is that it’s about who you now vs. what you know, for a lot of opportunities. And that’s great, if you’re related to Kim Kardashian, but not so great if you’re a university student, new graduate, or even a young professional who has very little access to industry professionals who can help you down the right path.
There are way too many candidates that exist in the market right now who have so much to offer and amazing ideas to share, but are just not getting the opportunity to talk to someone to share this wealth of knowledge. It’s not just that there are no jobs or that there are too many existing candidates, but candidates are not even given the chance to meet with industry professionals, for something as simple as a discussion of next steps. Candidates need to be networking to find their opportunities, but finding the right contacts is a mission in itself.
Enter, Ten Thousand Coffees.
I know Lauren mentioned the organization in her last blog post about work-life balance, but as one of their Community Engagement Leads, I wanted to inform you more about what they’re doing. You can learn all about them here.
Ten Thousand Coffees is an online platform wanting to democratize opportunity and put everyone on a level playing field no matter your experience. We want to get the next generation, industry professionals, and everyone in between, engaged, talking, sharing ideas, and creating amazing opportunities over coffee chats. We want to break down those barriers to opportunities all across Canada. And make note, opportunities are not just jobs. They are anything that moves you forward such as conversations about next steps, ideas and insights, volunteering, case studies, etc.
The Ten Thousand Coffees movement has a way for communities to build an online space called Hubs to help everyone from students to industry professionals discover each other and access opportunities specific to their communities. I’m currently looking for members of the next generation (students, recent grads, young professionals), industry professionals, and everyone else to help launch Hubs for their various industries.
What is a Ten Thousand Coffees Hub?
- Connect with our community of students, alumni, faculty, staff and professionals
- Meet over coffee to share ideas, exchange insights and gain advice
- Find interesting opportunities that you wouldn’t find anywhere else
How You Can Help Unlock & Build Hubs
All you need to do to help unlock & build Hubs is fill out the form here to receive your VIP invite to our Ten Thousand Coffees Hub and share the form with your network.
Once we reach the minimum threshold to unlock the Hub, we will reach out to let you know so you can create your profile!
It’s highly unlikely that one of us, all by our lonesome, is going to drastically alter the current job market. But together, there’s no stopping what we can achieve and we can begin to change the way the current generation and upcoming generations access opportunities. So join the movement, help unlock/build hubs, and let’s start knocking down those barriers to our opportunities, so that we can start moving forward and make an impact!
Tarif Rahman
Community Engagement Lead-Ten Thousand Coffees
