“Job searching shouldn’t feel like a full-time job,” says co-founder of Drafted

Students walked across the stage, diplomas in hand, hoping that they would land a job right after and now many are walking into a wall. For the recent college graduates, the thrill of graduating is quickly being replaced by the anxiety of job searching in a market that feels stacked against them. Recent data indicates that the unemployment rate for college graduates aged 22 to 27 has consistently been higher than the national average since January 2021. This trend is partly due to the unfortunate timing of their graduation as they entered the labor market during a hiring slowdown following a period of high job openings in 2022. 

Moreover, a significant portion of recent graduates are underemployed, working in positions that do not require a college degree. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, about 41% of recent college graduates are underemployed, with many in the humanities and liberal arts fields.

Now with Trump’s renewed tariff policies, situations could go from bad to worse. By raising costs for companies, especially in manufacturing and tech, tariffs often lead to hiring slowdowns, job cuts, or a shift toward automation to save money. That means fewer entry-level roles for new graduates trying to break into the workforce. According to TIME and MarketWatch, industries hit by tariffs are already scaling back, and with economic uncertainty rising, companies are becoming more cautious about expanding teams. Fresh graduates are already juggling student debt and limited experience, and the timing couldn’t be worse.

Job Hunt Jailbreak

But students might receive some respite as Andrew Kozlovski and Rodrigo Pecchio’s new startup has just emerged out of stealth mode.

Drafted is not just any other job platform for students and recent graduates, but it’s a platform for that portion of the student community who often gets turned down or ignored by traditional job platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed, or Glassdoor.

The team believes it shouldn’t take nine months to land your first job after college or that startups should not find it hard to hire the best of fresh talent.

The young founders wanted to bridge this gap between a job seeker and an employer seeking fresh entry-level talent. After meeting at the University of Southern California, the two later reconnected in Miami to develop Drafted, a platform that is to revolutionize the way startups and young professionals connect.

As in an interview with Refresh Miami, co-founder Andrew Kozlovski said, “I wanted to work on something that truly impacts people’s lives.” “When you look at hiring today, not much has changed in 30 years. Companies post job listings, wait for resumes, and hope the right candidate finds them. We knew there had to be a better way.”

This is not Kozlovski’s first time in a business; he started off quite early. He founded Brainz Power as a 21-year-old college student to pay off his tuition fees.

But this time, he chose to assist students, as he had once been. Co-founder Pecchio, an immigrant from Venezuela, moved to Miami as a teenager and witnessed the challenges international students and young professionals face in distinguishing themselves.

Drafted Not Ghosted

Both the founders realized how AI can be used to not only create a job platform but also foster a community that thrives on cultural significance as well. 

By utilizing artificial intelligence and video resumes, Drafted matches candidates with a diverse range of employers, from startups to Fortune 500 companies. This approach allows job seekers to create a single video resume that can reach thousands of potential employers, eliminating the need for multiple applications and enhancing visibility in the job market. Every candidate creates a short video resume, and their AI matches them with companies based on culture fit, not just keywords on a PDF. The video consists of over three to five minutes of real engagement per candidate with no chance of ghosting and instant clarity.

In an exclusive interaction with AIM Research, the co-founder Andrew Kozlovski mentioned that AI helps them eliminate friction on both sides. For students, it means no more sending out hundreds of resumes into a black hole and for companies, it means no more wasting time on phone screens. Therefore they get to know the real person in 60 seconds.

The startup has partnered with over 3,500 companies, including tech giants like Google and Amazon, food delivery services like DoorDash, and numerous Y Combinator startups. Additionally, Drafted works with top universities, such as UCLA, the University of Miami, and Georgetown University, to facilitate internship and job connections for students and young professionals.