Mzamo Mbhele shot to fame recently thanks to an application (app) he launched, which helps people find jobs just by using their cellphones. The enterprising young man funded this venture through the cupcake business he started at university. The 22-year-old from Umlazi township is currently studying IT software development at the Mangosuthu University of Technology.
He said he has been fascinated with technology from a young age – to the point that he was doing mobile phone repairs at the age of 11.
“I chose to study at Mangosuthu as it’s the best place for me to learn software development and grow my passion even further,” he said.
“Through my tertiary education I’ve been able to build Job X. It helps other young people like me find jobs. I created the app because of how costly it is when you’re job hunting. There’s internet café fees and many trips for CV drop-offs. With Job X you no longer need to travel to drop off a CV nor need to visit the internet café for CV drafting or file scanning.”
Mzamo developed the app in 2021, having spent six months in development by the time he launched it in November 2021.
Job X helps the youth find employment by showing them available jobs near them, based on their qualifications. It allows people to build a professional CV and save them in PDF format, he said. Users can also scan their documents using their phone camera and save them as PDFs.
The app is data-free, meaning users don’t need to buy data to use it. This he said was made possible through reverse billing – which means people can use Job X for free and he will cover the bill.
“Developing and launching the app cost about R8 000. It was funded by my cupcake business I run on campus. Thanks to the power of social media, it quickly caught up and gained 10 000 users in the first week. Currently the app has 45 000 downloads and is available on Google Play and (Huawei’s) AppGallery. Many people give positive reviews and feedback on how Job X has helped them.”
Mzamo said he was overwhelmed by the number of people who trust him and the app to help them find employment and felt confident the app would be their solution to job hunting.
“I’ve never had any form of financial support to help with the app nor has there ever been any big companies reaching out to assist. It has all been my effort and dedication,” said Mzamo. “My plan is to grow Job X into a bigger platform serving young people from many countries while maintaining the app and keeping it free to use. I hope I can get support so I can continue to keep the app data free.”
