Telstra Ventures invests in Covid-fuelled virtual work experience

Goldman Sachs, Citi and JPMorgan have signed up to virtual internship platform Forage to keep giving university graduates a leg up in their fledgling careers.

Forage says it aims to cover the gap between theoretical and real world learning by delivering virtual work experience programs.

Investment banking titans Goldman Sachs, Citi and JPMorgan have signed up to virtual internship platform Forage to combat office shutdowns and keep giving university graduates a leg up in their fledgling careers.

Forage, one of the 80 investments from Telstra’s venture capital arm, has also signed on major universities, which have praised its platform for bridging the gap between theoretical and real world learning.

The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted and prevented many university students from accessing vital work experience as well as derailed graduate programs at Australia’s and the world’s biggest companies.

Even firms that have continued graduate intakes, such as KPMG, have signed up to Forage, underscoring how the pandemic has accelerated digital learning.

Forage global account director Anthony Herring is predicting that virtual work experience will continue after the pandemic subsides, and is now flush with cash to expand its offering after completing a $US25m ($34.5m) in series B raising.

“The shift to virtual was happening before Covid. Covid really just was the catalyst for acceleration for a lot of these companies to really double down on their efforts to expand their range, to do more pre-skilling virtually,” Mr Herring said.

“Student demand has always been there and now companies are saying that by creating more open access channels for students to learn about their organisation, they’re actually attracting a far more diverse and more skilled talent pool.”

It comes as a survey from job search site Indeed revealed earlier this year that 80 per cent of 2021’s new graduates feared the pandemic had soured the job market. A further 89 per cent feared it would be difficult to find a job in their field of study, while 67 per cent expected if they landed their dream job it would be for less pay.

But there are some indications that graduate hiring is beginning to pick up.

Deloitte announced in July that it will hire 60 new staff in South Australia from graduate to partner levels to bolster its business transformation advisory division. Other companies are also looking to shore up there offerings ahead of the Covid recovery.

Mr Herring said Forage aimed to soothe anxiety among graduates by ensuring they could continue to add to their CV. He said the company’s virtual internships were developed in collaboration with Forage’s clients to simulate as close as possible onsite work experience.

“Covid really exacerbated that issue around access to learning opportunities, basically, you know as soon as it happened, internships were off the cards and we were lucky and well placed and that students and universities really turned to us to kind of fill that gap.

“Basically what we do is we create these online training programs that allow students to sample hypothetical tasks which basically replicate the day-to-day role.

“There’s enough theoretical content out there, but it’s like pulling back the curtains of what it’s actually like to work in these companies, which is giving the kids far more confidence and more exposure than they’ve had before.

“The old hiring signals for so long haven’t changed – it’s around CV, university etc. But what we’re seeing is companies are recognising that there’s new hiring signals they should be looking at, and those are around motivation and intent and drive and that’s paying off with students who go to these programs.”

Tasks can include helping a hypothetical manager draft an email or create a presentation to colleagues.

The series B funding was led by Blackbird Ventures, with participation from Telstra Ventures, Citi Ventures, Gaingels, Cap Table Coalition, ETF@JFFLabs and existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and FundersClub.

Albert Bielinko of Telstra Ventures said part of Forage’s appeal was allowing candidates to “try before they buy”.

“Students can actually test what being a software engineer at JPMorgan, working in markets at Citi or being a data scientist at BCG is like before applying, while picking up valuable skills,” Mr Bielinko said.

“The enterprises we spoke to were excited by Forage, significantly expanding their usage and achieving phenomenal hiring outcomes, while students raved about greater accessibility and diversity and inclusion outcomes.”