Student work marketplace bitJob have this week announced a collaboration deal with BCB ATM UK. This will effectively provide a convenient ‘Point Of Exit’ for students (in the UK at least), wishing to cash out their earnings for jobs undertaken through the service.
So What’s a bitJob?
In an ever more competitive job market, University leavers need relevant work experience just to get a foot in the door. Not to mention the fact that some extra cash to fund that fancy student lifestyle wouldn’t go amiss.
At the same time, many employers find it hard to source reliable, skilled and cost effective talent. This is especially true for short term contracts and piecework.
bitJob aims to sit squarely between the two camps and play matchmaker. Students will build a Dynamic Portfolio Resume (DPR) of the work undertaken. This can also be used to apply for graduate positions outside of the service. Employers can view this DPR along with a students reputation profile, to help choose the right candidate.
bitJob Co-founder and CMO Elad Kofman explains:
Our solution is to connect students with employers for short term jobs online, so they can then continue to specialize in their relevant profession and also make a decent living throughout their academic period!
We are working hard to make sure STU works for you. #STU #ICO https://t.co/U2vWXJWXqc
— bitJob MarketPlace (@BitJob_Team) August 11, 2017
Show Me the Money
Students can use the service for free and are paid in bitJob tokens (STU) on completion of work. The tokens are being developed on the Ethereum blockchain, and there will also be an option for employers to make payments in Fiat via PayPal.
To encourage participation and promotion within universities, the students’ unions will receive a commission on each transaction through an affiliate program. This will come from fees paid by employers who use the service.
STU tokens will also be available for trade by investors, and the company is currently undertaking funding at the Pre-ICO stage. Pre-sale investors are even being offered a free Trezor hardware wallet.
More information on the service is available in the whitepaper.
And What Can I do with STU?
Outlets on campus will be encouraged to accept STU tokens for items and services such as coffee, study materials, haircuts, etc. As uptake of the program grows, this will open them up to new markets.
Students and investors will also be able to convert STU tokens on exchanges, and bitJob intends to maximize the number of exchanges on which this is possible. It will also be possible to transfer STU to other students (e.g. for that pint your mate had to lend you the money for last night).
Finally, with this weeks announcement, UK students will be able to use their STU to withdraw cash from ATM machines run by BCB ATM UK. And as we all know, for students, nothing talks quite like hard cash.
Landry Ntahe, BCB ATM UK Head of Operations, states:
We aim to facilitate users on the Bitjob platform the means to exchange tokens across the UK through our BCB ATM’s
Do you think that college students will use STU? More importantly, will enough merchants accept it to make it a viable cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments below.
Images courtesy of bitJob