With online portfolios, FolioBoy aims to alleviate pressure on students

In development since early this year, FolioBoy launched its beta last week.

Are you a student feeling the pressure to find a job? Not sure how you’re going to position yourself, your degree and all of your accomplishments for future employers to find you?

FolioBoy wants to help.

The Kansas City, Mo. startup aims to connect students with their futures by offering a souped-up, online version of a résumé and portfolio. The service provides students a platform to house and share their research, contributions and experience for reference by employers and post-secondary education institutions.

FolioBoy has been in development since the beginning of the year and launched its beta last week. Students can sign up now to begin creating their personal portfolio and sharing it with colleges and employers. Creating a portfolio is free, but premium options such as a custom URLs and additional storage options will be available for a fee. 

Evan Kirsch (left), FolioBoy’s founder, first had the idea for a portfolio-type service for students based on personal experience.

“Just like every college student nearing graduation, I felt the pressure from family and friends to find a job.” Kirsch said. “That is when I realized that there was a dire need to help students position themselves during the transitional periods of collegiate life.”

His passion for directing and encouraging students throughout their academic experiences is evident. “I’d really like to see students connect with their future early,” he said. “Whether you are a first-semester freshman or a fifth- or sixth-year senior, the most important factor is that you leave applying your skills in a field related to your passion.”

FolioBoy won the University of Missouri-Kansas City‘s 2011 Venture Creation Challenge, and Kirsch is up for the UMKC 2012 Student Entrepreneur of the Year award, which will be announced this month.

Kirsch currently has two interns working with him, but the company plans to hire five full-time employees by the end of the year. Kirsch said the startup has to move fast because its biggest competitors might be the very colleges FolioBoy’s student users are attending.

“Individual colleges are starting to provide portfolio-building services to their students,” Kirsch said. “But most portfolio-building companies are niche-specific and targeted to an older, more professional demographic.”

For an example of a FolioBoy portfolio, see the image below.

 

Credits: Screenshot from folioboy.com. Photo of Kirsch from folioboy.com. Portfolio image courtesy of Kirsch.