Job hunting made easy.

A young Bahamian entrepreneur is hoping to help more Bahamians find employment by connecting job seekers with local employers seeking to fill various positions via the launch of an interactive and user-friendly job search website for The Bahamas.

242jobs.com which was founded by Donavon Powell was launched in late October 2016 and has made it  easy for Bahamians to find and apply for jobs. Users can set up a profile, create and upload a resume as well as search and apply for jobs at 242jobs.com. The website and app has a feature which allows users to sign up for job alerts and are notified of new job posts and job posts that match their preferences.

“As a Bahamian, I went off to school, got my education but I couldn’t come back home because I didn’t know who was hiring and I couldn’t find a job,” says Donavon who currently resides in Ohio.

“I came to the understanding that there are a lot of jobs in the Bahamas but the problem is there is a big disconnect because job seekers do not know that those jobs exist due to the fact that employers are not reaching out to the job seekers. In the United States most individuals find  jobs using job boards. That’s how employers are able to reach directly to persons looking for jobs. No one is going to a job site every single day looking for a job. A lot of the companies in The Bahamas don’t have an online presence so their job posting capabilities are very limited. I wanted to build something  much more advanced to keep up with the times and as a young Bahamian I decided to lead by example,” says Donavon a Series 7 and 63 broker with Morgan Stanley.

“The response has been phenomenal. The site is very interactive, user friendly and has a lot of different features. We have an app in the App Store. I have been just calling companies up in the phone book, letting them know about the site. Once they start positing their job openings on the site they tend to love it,” says Donavan.

He adds: “It saves them time and a lot of money. I just wanted to try and help more Bahamians find jobs in The Bahamas without having to go to so many websites or go door to door to businesses. A lot of times people get discouraged when they find out a company isn’t hiring but when the company does begin hiring the person doesn’t even know.” As Donavan noted, unfit employees can be detrimental to a business. “You need to hire the right employees that can help your business grow.”