Launched only a few months ago, Talent Seed is the new innovative platform for finding your internship or work-study program. Indeed, the 4 co-founders of this startup had the idea of breaking the “classic” codes of job searching and so far it’s working! Business Cool spoke with Esteban Blactot and Mayeul Le Guern, two co-founders of Talent Seed, to learn more about their journey, but also about the specificities of this new tool.
The birth of the Talent Seed project
Can you introduce yourself in a few words?
Esteban Blactot: My name is Esteban Blactot, I completed an ES baccalaureate, which led me to complete 4 years of study at IAE Lille. I subsequently joined SKEMA in PGE. I have a rather entrepreneurial background, I worked for an incubator, Station F. Then at Pennylane, a French scale up as Sales Operations. I was also vice-president of my school’s entrepreneurial association, the SKEMA Ventures Club.
Mayeul Le Guern: My name is Mayeul Le Guern, after my baccalaureate I started with engineering preparation, then I joined EDHEC within the PGE. Subsequently, I joined the school’s entrepreneurial association, of which I had the chance to be president. I love setting up projects and am also attracted to the world of Tech; I also completed an internship in cybersecurity at Wavestone. Then, I did an internship at Station F, with Esteban, where I was responsible for coaching startups.
How did the idea for Talent Seed come about?
MLG: All four of us come from quite different backgrounds and we were lucky enough to join Grandes Écoles. Whether between us or even with friends from other schools, we realized that there was a significant number of students who had difficulty finding their internship. On the other hand, we noticed that the companies we had worked with (from startups to large groups) also had difficulty finding interns who matched their needs. We realized that there were two markets: that of students and that of businesses, and that they unfortunately could not cross paths. We said to ourselves that this represented a missed opportunity: we wanted to give it to students and businesses by creating Talent Seed.
This is where the idea was born, during our internship at Station F.
Talent Seed, an innovative recruitment platform
What is Talent Seed?
EB: Talent Seed is a super simple platform that allows students from Grandes Écoles and Universities to find an internship or work-study program, by being contacted directly by recruiters. The platform will allow recruiters to find top student profiles that match their HR needs.
How does the Talent Seed platform actually work for students and businesses?
EB: On the one hand, students register in 5 minutes using a small form which will allow them to describe their profile with information on their background (short description, CV, soft-skills, hard skills), and practical information such as dates, duration, or even the location of the internship or work-study program.
On the other hand, companies will see student profiles appear on a dedicated search page. It is on this page that recruiters will be able to look for their gems, in particular with the help of filters that can be adjusted directly. When the recruiter finds his candidate, all he has to do is contact him to begin the recruitment process.
How do you manage your life as an entrepreneur and your life as a student?
EB: When we started working on the project, I started a full-time internship. We therefore had to be rigorous and super organized. We set a fairly sustained pace with weekly meetings. Personally I worked evenings, mornings, between noon and two as well as on weekends. We had to optimize our time, with the additional constraint that my co-founders and I all had very different time zones (Mayeul in Thailand, Tanguy in the United States).
MLG: The big issue was indeed this notion of time zone in addition to the courses. Today, I am finishing my Master 2 with a dissertation due and I am organizing myself according to the courses. What is appreciable is that in a Master’s type program, we have a few fewer courses, but we have to work more at home, which really leaves room for autonomy and self-discipline. We have busy days, but we make sure to be very organized. By June or July, we will normally have all finished our courses, we will then be able to meet up in Paris and move on to full-time work. When we see the progress made in just a few months, all the students and companies registered on the platform, we say to ourselves that it’s promising!
What will Talent Seed look like in 5 years?
MLG: In the medium term we want to focus on what we are currently doing and deliver high quality on the platform: having students satisfied with the internships and work-study programs offered to them and, conversely, companies that find students corresponding to their needs. . We want these recruitments to have a real impact on both (the students) and the other (the companies).
In the medium to long term, we want to turn to an international market, and be interested in students and recruiters from other countries. We also think we are interested in a slightly more mature market, such as that of first employment or even permanent contracts.
What’s next for you?
EB: We will continue to develop Talent Seed, we feel that there is a real need, whether on the student side or on the business side. We really want to resolve this problem that we have experienced personally, and that many are experiencing at the moment. This is what makes us tick right now.
Talent Seed: the figures
EB: The Talent Seed team worked for nearly four months to create the platform. The latter was launched in November. Five days after its launch, the platform recorded more than half a thousand student registrations. The team was also contacted by large groups in order to develop the tool internally. Today, more than 1,500 students have already registered, as well as more than a hundred companies.
To be contacted directly by recruiters, register here: www.talent-seed.com
