MY HUSTLE: Making a difference in job-hunting woes

Yasmine Hassan knows a thing or two about persistence.

The 28-year-old had to put off her studies in microfinance several times to work various jobs to raise her school fees. Today, she is the founder and CEO of Ogaan, a start-up which aims to create a space to efficiently connect employers and prospective employees globally.

She narrates her story to Nation.co.ke.

“I was born and raised in Nairobi by a single mother. I got a job while at the university, which means I had to put my education on hold for a couple of years as I also wanted to raise school fees. I eventually graduated in 2018.

I worked in research for a while on contract until last month so Ogaan is now a full-time job for me.

IDEA EVOLVED

My friends and I were in Mombasa in 2016 when we came up with the idea of Ogaan.

We were frustrated with job-hunting and wanted something that would help us travel the world as well. 

We initially named it Greener Grass, and it evolved over time. 

With Ogaan, a job seeker is also able to get feedback on why they weren’t picked for a position. Sometimes, it’s never personal and sometimes, someone may need to make corrections in their applications.

We wanted a catchy name that represents us and that means to know so we picked Ogaan, which is Somali. We registered in October of 2017.

We wanted the app to be a representative of what we wanted: a company that came up from an app and not the other way around. 

Initially, it was just me and my friend Joash, who is a filmmaker by profession. He helped with the design element seeing as he is also in advertising.

All we did for a year straight (October 2017 to October 2018) was work on the design, build a team, get advisors, lawyers and copyrighting. The number then moved to 18, which is where we stand at the moment.

We’ve faced many challenges time from attacks by bugs to viruses. Coming up with a team has also been difficult because we are trying to solve a job-matching issue while still trying to match ourselves with the perfect team. It took a while to do so.

On the technical side, we had to accept the fact that we only had the idea and were not tech-savvy. A lot of learning had to be done.

SELF-FUNDED

I funded the project for the most part, which was during the designing period.

A friend also came into the picture and contributed to helping with the development and the team.

We are now at the point where we have to start making sales and fundraising.

Our main vision is transparency and speed in the employment process. We hope to have 2500 hires annually by the end of the first year.

We have already closed down the first version of the technology. Both the app and the website are ready, and we hope to have a second version by the end of the year.

We’re also trying to partner with people who have verification systems as well.

We have started talks with people in different markets like Egypt, Sudan and Somalia because we hope to launch elsewhere. The plan is for the app to be similar to Uber where it’s only the location that changes once you go to a different country.

I look up to anyone looking to build Africa and to make it better.

My cousin, Hodan Osman, is a big influence in my life. She teaches at Harvard and advises us on many occasions. My mother is also a big influence. She fought for multiparty systems in Kenya and still consults for the government. She’s a very hardworking single mother.

The best advice ever received have ever received was to do everything out of love. ”