Showcase - a freelance marketplace for hiring university students

Abstract

Student labor is a very common type of work, especially in higher institutions of learning, this is mostly driven by financial necessity: to fulfill an immediate or critical need; to cover a gap in other forms of student support; to supplement income in order to provide a better student experience, or to assist in the pursuit of future goals. Students, on the other hand, face several obstacles in their job search, including a lack of appropriate qualifications such as past work experience, academic credentials, and competition with the already existing workforce. And those who are fortunate in landing a job have difficulty dividing their time between school, work, and social life. Based on those considerations, working full-time or even part-time is not viable for many students, as it’s important to focus on college activities. Freelancing is one of the best ways you can earn money at university, as you can adjust the projects according to your own time and get decent pay as well. The major focus of this research was to determine the hiring gap between existing freelance marketplaces and students of Makerere University and thereafter devise solutions to this problem. HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, and associated frameworks like Laravel and Bootstrap were used in the implementation. The developed system bridges the gap between the current freelance marketplaces and Makerere University students by offering a platform where students can register as freelancers, be hired by other students and system users, and be paid for completing assignments. Although the findings of this study are specific to Makerere University, they can be extended to other higher education institutions, and the solutions offered can be tailored to meet a variety of demands.