The idea that a college diploma is a surefire way to land a good job has fallen by the wayside. Today, recent graduates with a bachelor’s degree (or even a master’s degree) often find themselves struggling to leverage their educational background into employment opportunities in their field. Employers also encounter difficulties during the hiring process because it is time-consuming to search for, identify and select the right candidates for available jobs.

MyEdu, a two-year-old, Austin-based startup, is attempting to bridge the gap between new grads looking for jobs and employers seeking qualified employees. The company’s main purpose is to offer resources to college students, helping them find the right courses and professors to build an academic plan best suited to their goals. It also gives professors access to official GPA records to track student progress and achievements.

MyEdu just launched a new service that is more specifically geared toward finding jobs for new graduates. Students can create academic profiles that list their skills, talents, coursework or personal experiences and connect with other students and employers. The platform is free for students and schools and aims to help students find internship and employment opportunities more easily.

Companies can access the MyEdu platform for a monthly fee, which allows them to facilitate the hiring process by targeting job postings and searching for candidates based on specific criteria, such as major, school, courses taken, work and extracurricular background and graduation year. Employers can also access MyEdu’s database of academic information, as well as communicate directly with students who ask for advice on courses and experience that will help them get a job after graduation.

TechCrunch writer Rip Empson points out that, though there are other similar resources on the Internet, MyEdu’s offerings have an edge over the competition:

Companies like BranchOut and Identified target the younger end of the age spectrum and offer plenty of ways for younger generations to build out profiles, share their accomplishments and connect with employers. AfterCollege is another company trying to bridge the gap between higher ed and employers and build out a college student and recent grad-focused LinkedIn.

But MyEdu has the benefit of building its new profile and recruiting options on top of a huge data set that already contains one of the larger repositories of course and grade history out there — something that differentiates it from its competitors and gives it a big proprietary advantage over its competitors.

Since 60 percent of MyEdu internships lead to students being hired by the same employer, this platform could be a valuable tool for both students seeking employment after college and companies looking for smart new talent.

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