By high school students, for high school students – welcome to WorkTeen, a platform that helps school students connect with NGOs, social enterprises, and corporate organizations for internships, volunteering and research opportunities.
By high school students, for high school students – WorkTeen is a platform that helps school students connect with NGOs, social enterprises, and corporate organizations for internships, volunteering and research opportunities.
“The idea behind this website developed with the knowledge that many students in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme have to complete 50 hours of community service to finish their course,” says Aman Surana, a student of Class 12 in Jaipur who works on the design and management aspects of WorkTeen.
While high school students form the target audience group for WorkTeen, not many companies have dedicated opportunities for them. So the team approaches various NGOs and companies with the view towards creating opportunities for students.
All a student has to do is visit the website and he/she will be able to browse through options based on location and skill preferences. Interested students then apply through a form and their details are sent to the concerned organizations. The entire service is free for students and organizations. “Some of the opportunities available currently on our website include a marine research programme in Andaman and Nicobar islands; several volunteering opportunities with NGOs in Mumbai and Delhi; openings in Mumbai-based museums, etc.,” says Aman.
Work Teen has a team if 10 members including five core members and three co-founders. Most of the members are students of Class 12. They are operational in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Jaipur and the team members are active in different cities trying to look for opportunities.
They have over 4,000 users from over 60 schools till date. While the team did not require a lot of funds to begin with, they understand that it might be a need in the future as the scope of WorkTeen grows.
“Organizations usually say that high school students don’t have the know-how to work with them but we believe that this is a general misconception. High school students have the many innovative ideas and a desire to learn, which makes them perfect for an opportunity,” says Aman who himself got a chance to work with a smartphone company as a graphic designer, which led to him gaining a lot of experience and exposure.
Visit WorkTeen here.
Featured image for representation only. Source: Flickr
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