Sometimes, you just need help for one shift. Not a new hire. Not a long onboarding process. Just one extra set of hands—today, for five hours. In a perfect world, you’d text someone, they’d show up, do the job, get paid, and you’d both move on. Simple, right? But if you’ve ever actually tried to do that as a business, you know how quickly that “simple” idea turns into a nightmare

Let’s be honest: nobody’s impressed by a Word doc in 12‑pt Times New Roman with a generic “objective” slapped on top. Not students—and especially not the ones who actually want to work. And yet, here we are—still asking 19‑year‑olds to “upload a resume” for a single 3‑hour event shift.

Every time someone claims “kids these days don’t want to work,” I want to show them the thousands of shifts students have picked up through Stunio—sometimes with just an hour’s notice. The truth is: students do want to work. They just don’t want your outdated version of work from 1997.

Let’s start with a hard truth: your perfect hiring pipeline doesn’t exist if nobody ever actually applies. Job boards might look shiny, but data shows they’re delivering more noise than talent. On average, job boards account for around 60% of all applications, yet they produce only about 42% of hires—while referrals, which make up just a tiny slice of applicants, often account for more than 10% of actual hires.

Hiring someone new shouldn’t feel like a leap of faith—but most days, it does.

I’ll never forget one hire we made when I was running my previous business. We’d been short-staffed for months, and the team was burnt out. We rushed the process—posted a job, skimmed applications, picked someone who seemed decent on paper.

He showed up to their first shift, hopped in the dump truck… then told me he didn’t know how to drive a manual dump truck. By week two, after I’d had one of my experienced employees unsuccessfully try to teach him how to drive, I had to let him go.

You post a job. You get 117 resumes. You spend hours sorting, screening, emailing, scheduling. Three people show up for interviews. None are a perfect fit, but you’ve already wasted so much time, you pick one and hope for the best.

Six weeks later, that “best guess” has ghosted, flopped, or flamed out—and you’re right back where you started. Only now, you're out thousands of dollars and dozens of hours you’ll never get back.

Sound familiar?

I’ve seen students show up early, hustle through a shift, solve problems without being asked—and still get overlooked because their resume didn’t hit the magic keywords. I’ve seen sharp, coachable young people ghosted after an interview because they didn’t have “enough experience.” And I’ve seen businesses churn through seasoned hires who “looked great on paper” but couldn’t adapt, didn’t communicate, or flaked out after two weeks.

The Old-School Schedule Doesn’t Work Anymore

Most of the students we talk to are juggling way more than just school. They’re working 2–3 part-time jobs. Supporting family. Navigating inconsistent class schedules. Managing chronic health conditions. Trying to stay alive and stay ahead at the same time.

Every small business owner has said it:

“I just wish I could find someone local, reliable, and ready to work.”

And every student has said this:

“I had no idea a place like that was even hiring.”

The problem isn’t a lack of talent. And it’s not a lack of jobs. It’s a visibility problem.

So, you’ve booked a shift or landed an interview for a longer-term role through Stunio. First of all—nice work. Unlike traditional job platforms, Stunio isn’t built around weeks of ghosting, email chains, and outdated questions like “What’s your biggest weakness?” But when a business does want to talk to you before the shift, it’s because they’re genuinely interested. Here’s how to be ready—and impress them.s with an idea.

If you’re struggling to attract Gen Z workers—students, interns, or early-career talent—it’s not because they don’t want to work. It’s because they don’t want to work for you. Or more accurately, they don’t want to work for outdated systems, unclear expectations, and jobs that feel like they were designed for 2005.

This generation isn’t scared of work. They’re just allergic to inefficiency, inauthenticity, and being treated like replaceable parts. The good news? If you’re reading this, you’re already halfway to solving the problem.

When you pick up a gig through Stunio, it’s not just a way to make money. Every shift is a chance to prove yourself, build experience, grow your network, and show an employer what you're capable of—before they even ask for a résumé. And for students who play it smart, that one-off gig can turn into an internship… or even a career.

You needed someone to cover a shift. What you got was a future hire. That’s the beauty of Stunio. It’s not just a platform to book reliable fill-ins—it’s a built-in talent funnel hiding in plain sight. The students who show up for your gigs today could be your part-time anchors, interns, or even full-time team members tomorrow. If you’re tired of wasting time (and money) on job boards, endless interviews, and flaky temp agencies, this blog is for you.