Drafted, a startup emerging from stealth, has launched a jobs platform designed specifically for students and early-career professionals, a demographic often overlooked by traditional job platforms like LinkedIn, Handshake, and Indeed. The platform utilizes AI and video resumes to match candidates with job openings, going beyond the typical keyword-based approach used by most recruiters and job platforms.

The startup has already partnered with over 3,500 companies, ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies, including Google, Amazon, and DoorDash. Additionally, Drafted has partnered with top schools such as UCLA, University of Miami, University of Chicago, and Georgetown University to onboard students and young professionals looking to land internships and jobs.

The platform was created by two-time founder Andrew Kozlovski and former Amazon software engineer Rodrigo Pecchio, who met during their time studying at USC. Kozlovski, who previously founded Brainz Power, a company that sells a supplement formulated with natural ingredients designed to support brain health, wanted to move beyond the supplement space and create something that affected people's lives in other ways. After consulting for several startups, including Y Combinator startups, Kozlovski came up with the idea for Drafted, which aims to help students get jobs faster and help startups discover the talent needed to drive their visions forward.

Drafted works by first getting customers to enter their name, university, and degree, and then prompting them to create a video resume where they answer questions typically asked by recruiters. Job seekers can then send their profile directly to startups and companies on the platform that are hiring. On the employer side, companies can filter through video resumes to find the right candidates for their open roles, looking for candidates from specific top schools or with specific skills.

The platform's AI matching technology then displays video resumes alongside percentages based on how much the candidate's expertise aligns with the company's culture and requirements for the position. According to Kozlovski, this approach is more efficient for employers, as they can conduct multiple phone screens in a short amount of time, saving them potentially months of work.

Kozlovski believes that Drafted works differently than other job platforms, as it doesn't rely on keywords when matching candidates to roles, a practice that can sometimes overlook people who would be perfect for a job. Additionally, video resumes are more likely to capture attention and be viewed for a longer period of time compared to traditional resumes.

Drafted plans to keep the platform free for job-seekers forever, while employers can use the platform for free for now. The startup plans to eventually charge a subscription model based on usage, which Kozlovski claims will cost a fraction of what a recruiter would charge.

In terms of the future, Kozlovski says Drafted aims to be "the number one job site that college students think of when they graduate from university." For now, the company is focused on growth and onboarding as many students as possible. With its innovative approach to job matching and its partnerships with top schools and companies, Drafted is poised to make a significant impact in the job market.

The launch of Drafted comes at a time when the job market is becoming increasingly competitive, with many new grads taking months to land employment. By addressing the needs of students and early-career professionals, Drafted is filling a critical gap in the job market, and its AI-powered platform has the potential to revolutionize the way companies find and hire talent.