Last month, after watching an inspiring showcase featuring apps created by young coders using Apple’s Swift Playgrounds programming language, we resolved to searching for SA young creatives who have created their own apps and are making a huge difference locally. Upon embarking on that quest, we stumbled upon Mzamo Mbhele, a South African student who created a zero-data app that helps job seekers find employment opportunities.
Mzamo, the 22-year-old student from Umlazi is giving LinkedIn developers a run for their money with his innovative job-hunting app called Job X which will help South Africans find jobs even when they run out of data.
The youngster, from Umlazi township in Durban, is a third-year IT software development student at Mangosuthu University of Technology.
JOB X helps job seekers find employment by showing them available jobs near them based on their qualifications.
So if you are going to be job hunting in 2023, Mzamo’s app may be just what you need.
“So you download the app and then you register your details, like what qualifications you have. The app will then triangulate your location and start showing you jobs available close to your location based on the qualifications you entered.
“JOB X will show you jobs within 10km and then the search becomes wider as you scroll down,” Mzamo explains.
It also streamlines the process of creating a CV and allows you to scan and attach documents from one single application, saving all documents in PDF format.
Most importantly, the app is zero-rated, which means you don’t need cellphone data to job hunt.
“There are so many people who are not tech-savvy, so it’s difficult for them to look for work online. That is why an app like JOB X will help because everything is right in front of you.
“Actually, it’s easier to use than other platforms out there,” he says, adding that it is free to use, even without the internet.
“It was important for me that the app to be free because I know how much it costs to print a CV and go to the internet café. It cost a lot of money and if you are unemployed you do not have the money to spend looking for work. Now everyone can find job opportunities.”
