Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

Calling All Graduates Looking For Work, Jeeni Officially Partners With Gradfuel to Create 654 New Jobs!!

/ By Doug Phillips
Calling All Graduates Looking For Work, Jeeni Officially Partners With Gradfuel to Create 654 New Jobs!!

Kickstart is a governmental scheme, introduced by Rishi Sunak as a response to the pandemic and the difficulty it created in employment for young people. Since its introduction last September, the initiative has boosted the careers of over 100,000 young people in the UK. This scheme has provided hope for young people who are trying to find their passion, career and purpose at a time when they need it most.  

Jeeni has been working with our specialist partners, Gradfuel who are consultants for the Department of Work and Pensions, which is where the Kickstart grant funding comes from. It’s a great opportunity for companies like Jeeni to bring keen young graduates on board for a minimum of six months, and scale up the business. Also, there’s no financial risk, with over £8,000 worth of grant money to support each young person taken on board. Gradfuel has worked with over 20,000 graduates and have been praised by companies such as ‘Fethr’ and ‘Thursday’. 

Apply to Gradfuel here: https://careers.gradfuel.co/kickstart-application-j/   

That's why Jeeni is so proud to be making good use of the Kickstart scheme with Gradfuel, to train, support and build the portfolios of people aged 16-24 and on universal credit. 

The Kickstart scheme can be essential for both employers and employees, because young companies can build a workforce at no cost at all to them, and young people get paid positions in the industry of their passion. The Government provides the grants to cover 100% of wages and national insurance contributions for well-qualified, pre-screened young workers on universal credit. The positions span across 6 months for up to 25 hours work a week and you receive a £1,500 cash injection into your business for each new person you take on with Kickstart. 

Although the governmental Kickstart scheme itself provides this crucial helping hand for companies and graduates, websites like Gradfuel are vital in guiding those graduates to the perfect Kickstart role for their careers. 

Gradfuel is a mediator between the Kickstart scheme and those it was designed to help. They provide an interpersonal and proactive connection to young people looking for a career path and “matches you with the perfect graduate jobs”. As of right now, Gradfuel have carried out over 100,000 conversations with their clients about their future and career opportunities. The pool of possibilities after education can seem endless and overwhelming, so a company like Gradfuel that takes you by the hand and leads you to a company that needs you as much as you need them is an extraordinarily valuable service.  

Our partners, Gradfuel are the experts in the market, and have raised £18.7m in Kickstart grant funding so far. Gradfuel have had a 99.5% success rate in their applications, against the market average of 22%, supporting over 1,400 companies to process their Kickstart applications. 

Jeeni can personally attest to the effectiveness and value of using the Kickstart scheme through Gradfuel. Zak Ahmed, Jeeni’s HR specialist had this to say about the opportunity, “The Kickstart Scheme has helped me gain the vital experience I need as a recent Masters graduate. I’ve found a very meaningful role here at Jeeni, where I’m progressing quicker than I could’ve imagined!” 

Zak Ahmed, HR Manager

Ella Venvell used Gradfuel to find her Kickstart position as Jeeni’s Artist Liaison and Marketing Leader, “The kickstart scheme has given me an invaluable experience which has helped me learn about the professional world as well as given me the time to develop myself and my portfolio.” and with regards to Gradfuel, Ella said that it’s “helped me find a job doing what I love, and am hoping to do as my lifetime career.” 

Ella Venvell, Marketing Leader

Past Marketing Executives, Rebecca Allen and Kate Stewart mention how invaluable their kickstart positions at Jeeni have been for them in her Inside Story interviews. Kate said, “In terms of kickstarting my career, if you will, my time at Jeeni has been so helpful, I’ve been provided with lots of training opportunities and learned lots of transferrable skills”. Rebecca also reflected on the skills that she was able to hone from her kickstart role at Jeeni, “I definitely think I’ve developed a knowledge of social media. I was also able to complete a lot of training courses, I did one on SEO and Google analytics.” Available here: Rebecca Allen, Kate Stewart

Among the 655 new roles available across England include; 116 sales positions, with a focus in London, Manchester and remote situations, 143 roles in Marketing, also for people based in London, Manchester or remote, 118 hospitality roles particularly in London and Birmingham, 121 admin positions focused on remote and London. There are also 31 roles for those specialised in graphic design such as Photoshop and Adobe for remote and London-based applicants. IT and data have 81 roles for London-based and remote situations and finally, there are 25 roles in finance, also for London and remotely working applicants. 

Don’t miss out on these opportunities and visit here for more information. https://grants.gradfuel.co/kickstarter-landing-c/ 

Apply to Gradfuel here: https://careers.gradfuel.co/kickstart-application-j/  

03
Mar

Team Jeeni- 4 months today since Lockdown.

LOCKDOWNThe impact of the pandemic crisis on the Jeeni project continues to be remarkably positive, not least because we have genuinely been able to help hard-hit artists and performers. The decision to open Jeeni for free subscriptions to all-comers in response to lockdown has seen mass sign-ups via our website and online community.  Yesterday, Jeeni returned to Crowdcube to raise more funds for helping new talent. Jeeni founding director Mel Croucher says, “We’re ahead of our original schedule, but there’s still so much more to do. We need to scale our online platform globally now and build our mass artist showcases to hit all our targets, and give our new artists the recognition they deserve.” We have already reached 90% of our target so if you want to see our pitch click HERE. Shena Mitchell, Jeeni founding director, says: "I have never worked so hard in my life, but it's actually been a welcomed distraction. I am fortunate that I have been working from home for many years, so no change there, and fortunate to be living in a house with an office and a garden. Living on my own 24/7 for 120 days has been a challenge. Working with musicians and performers in lockdown has been a massive privilege, listening to music all day and watching magical performances is a treat for me, as up until 2 years ago I was mainly working in academia and public sector fundraising for start-ups, which I loved. But working with Team Jeeni creatives is a dream come true. Most importantly, during this time of lockdown we have been able to reduce the cost of acquisition from £3 an artist to zero, and has again proved the concepts successfully pioneered in our Directors' previous marketing campaigns. We are connecting, collaborating, sharing and supporting each other, while we have fun and make a real difference, and we are delivering well. We now have over 27,000 unsigned artists waiting to be uploaded, with over a 1,000 new artists joining every day. As predicted, once the flood gates opened we would have plenty of content and could easily reach 100,000 videos relatively fast at no cost. However, we need to carefully balance our success against storage and streaming costs and that is why we have decided to relaunch Jeeni as a paid subscription service."  Jeeni aim to raise £100k for 2.4% equity with a pre-money valuation of £4million. Jeeni is needed more now than ever and we have proven that the demand is high. Jeeni Generation-4 will only support 100,000 videos, so we must now embrace Generation-5 as we head for global roll-out. TEAM  We are pleased to welcome five new members to Team Jeeni. Andrea Harding: Social Media. Dedicated to reaching out to new audiences, spreading the word about Jeeni artists, and helping build their fanbases. Sharron Goodyear: Image Maker. Photographer of the Year Winner, Jeeni official photographer for artists, performers, promotions and events, specialising in online virtual shoots.  Sammie Venn: Writer, Columnist and Blogger. Syndicating Jeeni news, interviewing and promoting our members, and spearheading our poetry and drama channels. Louis Mitchell: Video Wrangler. Identifying up-and-coming unsigned musicians, performers and dancers focused on Asian Hip Hop, Grunge and Rap. Lizzie Crow. Popular presenter for the BBC and top commercial broadcasters, and our go-to expert for voice-overs, podcasts, jingles and spoken word channels.  Click HERE to visit or return to jeeni.com

12
Mar

A Showcase for a New Chapter - Biden's Inauguration

What a difference four years make! This Wednesday 20 January 2021 will see Joe Biden inaugurated as the 47th President of America and he's planning a showcase for a new chapter. To begin the process of uniting his divided country, The Presedential Inaugural Committee has assured, the pared down event for health and safety reasons, will feature 'music, poetry, dance and pay homage to America's heroes on the frontline of the pandemic'. President-Elect Joe Biden and Lady Gaga - Photo: Variety When the outgoing President, Donald Trump stepped up to take the oath in 2017, he had struggled to get artists and crowds to help him celebrate. Having been turned down by Elton John, Celine Dion, Kiss and others, he eventually secured the services of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, rock band 3 Doors Down and country singer Toby Keith. It is alleged he also had the further embarrassment of having to have a crowd edited into the TV footage, as so few had shown up to witness the ceremony. Joe Biden in contrast, has had his pick of the crop and the list of artists wanting to be a part of the showcase action reads like a Grammy Award ceremony. Lady Gaga will be singing 'The Star Spangled Banner' for the swearing-in ceremony, due to commence at 11:30am. The inauguration line-up of stars reported so far, includes Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Lopez, John Legend, The Foo Fighters, Demi Lovato and Jon Bon Jovi, who also performed at Obama's inauguration in 2009. Justin Timberlake is confirmed, writing on twitter he will be performing a track he wrote with Ant Clemons during the lockdown. Timberlake recorded his final vocals for 'Better Days' on the night of the election. The track reflects the last year and the frustration, grief, anger and powerlessness everyone has felt, whilst encouraging everyone to stay hopeful. The spoken-word will play a large part in the proceedings too. The new President's speech to the nation will be an obvious focal point, alongside the words from his Vice-President, Kamala Harris. The firefighter Andrea Hall will lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Amanda Gorman, the first National Youth Poet Laureate will recite a poem. Father Leo O'Donovan and Reverend Dr Silvester Beaman, longtime friends of the Biden's, will deliver invocation and benediction, respectively. Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris - Photo: Getty American National Treasure, Tom Hanks, is also hosting a prime-time special, 'Celebrating America' on the night of the inauguration. the programme will air across multiple networks. More names are expected to be added to the itinerary, as the event is marking one of the most important days in US history for many years. http://www.twitter.com/joebiden www.twitter.com/kamalaharris www.jeeni.com

28
Apr

Two Ways Home ‘Waiting on Luck’ Single Review

This UK-based alt-country songwriting pair sets a new standard of warmth and bliss with their newest rock-tinged single, ‘Waiting on Luck’.  Two Ways Home consists of Lewis and Isi both contributing instrumental and vocal roles into the sweet, harmonious compositions that they write together. Having been a part of Jeeni for a while now, this wholesome, multi-genre duo has blessed many of Jeeni’s channels with their fun, easy-listening tunes including folk, country, rock and americana. Check out their showcase on Jeeni here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/two-ways-home/ Interestingly, this new single opens with a chorus; an increasingly rare structural choice. The section is heard stripped back, with just Lewis and Isi harmonising and a basic acoustic guitar accompanying them both. By displaying arguably, the most vital structural section of contemporary music first thing, it makes the listener instantly familiar with the chorus even if this is the first time that they’ve heard the track. That means that when the part is heard at full power, it is a total delight due to the listener subconsciously desperate to hear the part again. This decision can lead to a confusing and peculiar feeling in a song’s structure, however on ‘Waiting on Luck’, this device is heard at its most effective.  As is the typical way with country music, this single is exceptionally mixed and mastered, especially in regard to the layered vocals sitting in the mix with all other instruments so effortlessly. The singing from both members is so warm, and rich, thanks to the obvious synergy that they hold in their performative relationship. The introduction of some harder, more rock-styled sounds like distorted guitar and rolling, tom-heavy drum beats work perfectly with the country foundation that they laid down in the opening moments of this track.  Lewis and Isi’s understanding of song structures and musicianship holds their pieces together and really pushes their music to higher levels and this understanding is heard best in ‘Waiting on Luck’. Check out the new single from Two Ways Home’s showcase on Jeeni: https://jeeni.com/showcase/two-ways-home/ How can Jeeni support artists like Two Way Home?   JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience.  • We give creatives, independent artists and performers a showcase for their talent and services. And they keep 100% of everything they make.  • We empower our audience and reward them every step of the way.  • We promise to treat our members ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect.  • Access to artist liaison and a supportive marketing team.