Trained, but no job? Here is platform to showcase your skills

When Adam Grunewald came to Kenya six years ago working with Google he had no idea that he would one day set up an online platform that enables persons in the informal sector connect with clients.

His role at Google where he worked for three and a half years in San Francisco before coming to Kenya was to design new products. He was among the team from Google who launched the Beba pay smart card in 2013 that allowed transit passengers to pay for their bus fare without having to use cash.

The cashless mode of payment however did not take off as expected due to some challenges. However, the Lynk, an online platform he designed to help people in Kenya with various skills to showcase and promote their products and services, is already a success.

“I used to spend like three days a week on matatus mostly on route 44 and I would speak to so many people specifically fundis, domestic workers, people who worked in various casual jobs. I heard stories about frustrations they had on getting a job,” Mr Grunewald says.

This got him thinking as he came to the reality of the challenges young people faced getting employment. This is how the Link was born.

“In my third week in Kenya, I found that the base of my toilet at my apartment was leaking on the floor and I had a very difficult time getting a genuine plumber. However, I managed to get one who fixed my toilet.”

He later asked the same plumber if he could refer him to one who can fix his fridge. And the plumber seeing an opportunity to make more money recommended himself to the job.

However, the toilet started leaking again and the fridge’s mechanical problem recurred due to poor workmanship.

“I am sure a lot of people have had a similar experience as mine. It is a bad experience but this is not because this plumber is bad or because they are dishonest but it is because this person has no kind of regulatory framework that allows them to say that I am good at one thing and not the other,” he says.

Colleges

This is the problem that the Lynk has cured, he says. Through the platform, the artisans can showcase their skills through the products they make “first to Kenya and with time the world”.

Lynk has partnered with technical and vocational training colleges to identify workers who can sign up with the platform. Those who seek to join the platform go through a screening process which include an interview that involves reference and background check. They also have to go through a test tailored to their respective professions.

For example if you are a carpenter you have to demonstrate that you can design something such as a table.

Workers can also be referred by customers satisfied with services offered.

Lynk started with just Mr Grunewald and his partner before getting two more other people. They worked as a team of four for eight months before increasing the workforce.

The platform, that started with Sh2.5 million capital, now has 1,300 workers who work under 51 different fields such as beauty, maintenance, music, languages, carpentry and tailoring.

“We invest very heavily in getting quality workers and also have guarantees of all the works we do. And we give starter packs to our workers making it easier for them to only worry about doing a good job,” Mr Grunewald says.