Student work, ready for the real world

Your first draft
deserves an audience.

First Draft connects students and early talent with employers who are actively looking for fresh thinking, real projects, and the work you've already done.

Share Your Work Browse Projects
MJ
RK
AT
SP
Join 2,400+ students already showcasing their work
Employer interested
Acme Corp viewed your project
⭐
Readiness Score
84 / 100
Tech & Software
Campus Event Accessibility Checker
A web tool that audits university event pages for accessibility compliance and auto-generates improvement suggestions.
Critical Thinking Technology Equity & Inclusion
AK
Arjun K.
Computer Science · BU '25
78%
2,400+
Student projects
380+
Employers browsing
5
Project categories
8
NACE competencies
How it works

A different kind of marketplace.

Students lead. Employers discover. No cold applications, no waiting. Just real work finding the right audience.

For Students & Early Talent
1

Upload your project

Share work from class, a hackathon, personal research, or a side build. If you made it, it counts.

2

Use our pitch scaffolds

Guided prompts help you describe what you built, who it's for, and what problem it solves — career skills built in.

3

Get your readiness score

See how your project maps to NACE career competencies and get feedback on how to strengthen your presentation.

4

Employers come to you

When an employer is interested, you get notified. No cold outreach required from your end.

For Employers & Organizations
1

Browse by category or skill

Filter by discipline, competency, institution, or graduation year. Find work that's relevant to your actual needs.

2

See the work, not just the resume

Every project includes what was built, the problem it addressed, and the competencies demonstrated.

3

Express interest directly

Flag a project you like and connect with the student. Hire them, commission further work, or bring them on as a collaborator.

4

Leave feedback

Even if you don't hire, optional feedback helps students improve and strengthens the quality of the platform.

What lives here

Every discipline. Real deliverables.

From apps to analyses, if a student built it for a purpose, it belongs on First Draft.

💻

Tech & Software

Apps, tools, websites, scripts, and dev projects

842 projects
🎨

Design & Creative

Brand identities, UX work, visual systems

614 projects
📊

Business & Strategy

Plans, case analyses, pitch decks, research

487 projects
📣

Marketing & Comms

Campaigns, content strategies, social media

393 projects
📈

Data & Analytics

Dashboards, models, visualizations, research

301 projects
Career scaffolding

Built to make you better,
not just visible.

Posting your work on First Draft is also a career development practice. Every submission builds the skills employers actually care about.

✏️

Guided pitch prompts

Answer structured questions about what you built, why it matters, and who it's for. Practicing positioning is a career skill.

🎯

NACE competency mapping

Tag your project to the 8 NACE career readiness competencies. See which skills your work demonstrates and which to develop.

📈

Readiness score

A holistic score reflecting how complete, clear, and employer-ready your project profile is — with specific steps to improve it.

💬

Employer feedback loop

Optional feedback from employers who viewed your project — not grades, but real-world signals about what resonated and what to sharpen.

✏️

Pitch your project

Step 1 of 4 · Guided prompts

Prompt 1
What problem were you trying to solve when you built this?
Prompt 2
Who would benefit most from what you created?
For employers

Stop waiting for applications.
Start discovering talent.

First Draft flips the model. Browse real work from students and early talent who are already building things that matter.

🔍

Skill-first discovery

Filter by NACE competency, discipline, project type, institution, or graduation year. Find candidates based on demonstrated ability, not just keywords on a resume.

📂

See the work first

Every project includes a full description, the problem it addressed, skills demonstrated, and a readiness score. Know what you're getting before a single conversation.

⚡

Express interest instantly

Flag projects, save to a shortlist, or reach out directly. Define what working together looks like — hire, commission, collaborate, or pilot.

Browse student work Create employer account
We want your input

Help shape First Draft.

First Draft is in early development and we're looking for real feedback from the people it's built for. Tell us what you think — your input will directly shape how this platform grows.

✏️

I'm a student or early talent

You've built things. Tell us whether First Draft would actually be useful — and what would make you trust it with your work.

✓
Share whether you'd use this platform and why
✓
React to the career scaffolding features
✓
Takes about 8–10 minutes
Share my perspective →
🔍

I hire or work with early talent

Tell us whether a platform like this would change how you find candidates — and what you'd need to see to actually engage with student work.

✓
React to the "browse first" discovery model
✓
Tell us what would make you take action
✓
Takes about 8–10 minutes
Share my perspective →
✏️
Student & Early Talent Feedback

Your take on First Draft

01
What's your current status?
Current undergraduate student
Current graduate student
Recent grad (within 2 years)
Early career professional (1–5 years out)
02
Have you ever built something — a class project, side project, research paper, campaign, tool — that you felt proud of but that never went anywhere beyond the assignment?
Yes, definitely — this happens all the time
A few times
Not really — I usually find ways to share my work
I haven't thought about it that way before
03
When you look at the First Draft concept, what's your honest first reaction?
I'd use this — I've been looking for something like this
Interesting idea, but I have some concerns
I'm not sure it's for me specifically
I'm skeptical — I'd need to know more
04
The career scaffolding (pitch prompts, NACE competency tags, readiness score) is designed to build your career skills as you post. How does that land for you?
Really valuable — that's actually what makes it different
Useful, but I'd want it to feel less like homework
I'd skip it and just post my work
It depends on how it's framed
05
What would make you trust this platform enough to actually post your real work on it? Select all that apply.
Knowing who can see my work (privacy controls)
Clear IP/ownership policy — my work stays mine
Seeing that real employers are actually using it
Other students from my community already using it
A career coach or advisor recommending it
Being able to take my work down at any time
Select all that apply
06
What's the biggest barrier that would stop you from posting your work publicly?
My work isn't polished enough yet
I'm not sure who owns the IP — it was a class project
Fear of judgment or comparison to others
I don't know how to describe what I built
I'm not sure employers would actually care
07
What's one thing First Draft would need to do — or be — for you to tell a friend about it?
08
Is there anything about the platform concept that gives you pause — something that feels off, missing, or that could backfire?

Thank you for shaping First Draft.

Your feedback goes directly to the team building this platform. We'll share what we learn with everyone who participates.

🔍
Employer & Hiring Manager Feedback

Your take on First Draft

01
How would you describe your role in hiring or working with early talent?
I'm directly involved in hiring decisions
I manage or mentor early career staff
I work in HR, talent, or people operations
I run or co-run a small organization or startup
I work in higher education and connect students to opportunities
02
What's the biggest frustration you have with how you currently find and evaluate early talent?
Resumes don't tell me enough about actual skills
I don't have time to sift through high volumes of applicants
The best candidates often don't apply — I can't find them
I can't assess cultural or creative fit until it's too late
We don't have the budget for traditional recruiting
03
First Draft inverts the typical model — instead of students applying to you, you browse their work and reach out. How does that feel?
This is actually how I wish hiring worked
Interesting, but I'm not sure I have time to browse
I'd need strong filters and curation to make it useful
I'm skeptical — most student work isn't ready
04
When you look at a student's project on First Draft, what would need to be present for you to take action? Select all that apply.
A clear description of the problem they solved
Evidence of their thinking process, not just the output
The tools and skills they used
A readiness or quality score with clear criteria
Their graduation date and availability
Demonstrated relevance to my industry or problem space
A short video or demo of the work
Select all that apply
05
If you found a student project that was genuinely relevant to your work, what would "expressing interest" most likely look like for you?
Reach out about an internship or entry-level role
Commission further work on a project or contract basis
Invite them to present or collaborate on a specific initiative
Add them to a talent pipeline for future openings
Provide feedback — not ready to hire but want to stay on their radar
06
The platform uses NACE career competencies to tag student work. How useful would that framework be to you as an employer?
Very useful — I already use NACE or similar frameworks
Somewhat useful — it gives structure even if I don't know NACE
Not useful to me — I'd rather see skills listed plainly
I'd need to know more about what NACE actually means
07
What would make you come back to First Draft regularly — not just once out of curiosity?
08
What concern or reservation would you want the First Draft team to address before you'd feel comfortable using the platform?

Thank you for shaping First Draft.

Your feedback goes directly to the team building this platform. We'll share what we learn with everyone who participates.