Searching for jobs is a long and tedious process, with contenders often applying for hundreds of jobs to receive just a few offers. And while most young professionals these days have gotten somewhat used to this process on platforms like LinkedIn and Handshake, international job seekers face an additional challenge: They must not only find a well-fitting job, but also a company that will sponsor a visa.
After dealing with these pain points in her own job and internship searches, international student Sophia Mao co-founded the tech startup Jobbly alongside Teng Yun Lin and Emma Chiang.
“We all have been through a similar journey and feel all the pain points, so that’s why we came together and wanted to make a difference,” said Mao, who is from Taiwan and working toward her MBA at UNC Chapel Hill.
Jobbly is a web extension designed to help international job seekers with their searches and applications. The extension connects to existing job search platforms, including LinkedIn and Indeed, to streamline processes with additional tools and filters.
Jobbly is part of this year’s cohort at Launch Chapel Hill, which is an accelerator for early-stage startups. As an MBA student, Mao said the program is helpful to junior entrepreneurs and has provided her with opportunities to network within the Triangle’s robust tech ecosystem. By the end of her time with the accelerator, Mao hopes to have built up the business to acquire 200 paying customers, as well as investors.
With Jobbly, users plug in the extension to their web browser, and it offers additional search tools to filter jobs that will sponsor visas. While Jobbly is based in English, it targets job seekers worldwide and helps them find jobs around the world.
The platform also uses AI to input keywords from a job listing into a user’s resume, which Mao said is helpful in instances when companies use AI to comb through applicants. Users also have access to their personal dashboard, which shows the number of jobs they’ve applied to and saved, as well as their key skills—which AI uses to help bolster their resume.
Beyond the platform’s primary tools and functions, Mao said Jobbly is also a company that’s focused on community. Users have access to a mentorship program that’s made up of professionals in the workforce. Jobbly uses information in a user’s dashboard, including the user’s resume, their country’s visa process, and the main languages they speak, to match them with the best-fitting mentors. (Mao said she hopes to eventually offer some sort of monetary compensation for the professional mentors.)
“You can go together, not just go alone during this journey. So that’s the concept of Jobbly – we want to be really people-oriented and help people to get career success,” Mao said.
QUICK BITS
Startup: Jobbly
Co-Founders: Sophia Mao, Teng Yun Lin, Emma Chiang
Founded: 2023
Location: Chapel Hill
Website: jobbly.io
Funding: Seeking investments
Size of team: 10 total (3 full-time)
After beta testing in late 2023, Jobbly launched the full version of its platform in early 2024. Mao said those in the founders’ network had been Jobbly’s first customers, but the startup just achieved their first organically-acquired customer in July: an international MBA student seeking an internship.
Individual customers can enjoy a seven day free trial, after which they can pay a weekly, monthly or three-month subscription fee. These are priced at $4.99, $9.99 and $29.99, respectively. Users can also earn one month free by referring three customers.
Mao invites potential customers to reach out to her at sophia.mao@jobbly.io.
