About Us
Learn about our founders’ story, and the vision it inspired.
About Grab A Grad
Grab A Grad was born out of the recognition that graduates face unprecedented challenges when it comes to finding employment. We recognised this mainly through personal experience.
Our Story
The story of Grab A Grad is also the story of our founders. We are all recent graduates from the University of Cape Town, and we all faced rejection of some sort in the corporate environment. Devlin searched for a job for almost a full year. Thando entered the freelance space, which is extremely difficult to navigate and is highly competitive. And Aleya, the only one among us who was employed, was laid off from her job due to the impact of COVID-19.
We recognised that the one common factor we shared was that we did not have practical skills. As we improved our own skills, we realised that thousands of other graduates might not necessarily be able to do the same – at least not without the relevant support. However, our skills had to cater for where the world is going, not where it is right now. Thus, Grab A Grad was born.
Inspired by the ‘wiki work’ model, we leverage graduates’ knowledge earned in higher education institutions, and place them in an environment with real challenges. The key is for them to use their problem-solving skills to provide pragmatic solutions in an African context.