By Tyler White | Reporter
Have you ever felt lost trying to develop your resume or build your LinkedIn profile to make yourself professional and presentable? For Guilford, Conn., junior Aaron Volf, this feeling is what inspired him to start his online business to help people.
Volf started the online business Shiners in June 2022 to help in resume development, LinkedIn optimization and email development. With these three services, Shiners works to help build and develop professional profiles.
“Professional brand image is how your reputation is perceived by others,” Shiners’ website reads. “We provide our services so that you can achieve and maintain that reputation.”
Through the three services, Volf said Shiners is intended to help people build their professional reputation. He said the business can help college students looking to land job opportunities as well as high schoolers to stand out in college applications.
“I tried to build a bridge to how people could better establish themselves in the online community and establish a brand that people can respect and that would want to hire or accept in your school,” Volf said.
Volf wanted to start this business as an opportunity to help people who might be confused on how to present themselves professionally. He said it was hard for him to decide what he needed to show schools for acceptance and connection.
“It was just hard for me to express myself online and try to show the schools why I want to go,” Volf said. “I just knew that there were other people who could also be in the same problem.”
Durant, Okla., junior Robert Lynch is one of Volf’s friends who has been helping him grow this idea of professional development. He said professional development is something that is important for college students because it isn’t usually focused on.
“t’s very important to students because a lot of students, they go to college and they’re mainly just focused on classes,” Lynch said. “Once you graduate, you got to go get a job. I mean, in school, most classes don’t teach you how to put yourself out there, how to apply, how to look professional.”
Although the business is still in the early stages of development and growth, Volf said he is constantly working to expand the brand and build a stronger network. He has been working alongside Baylor Oso Launch to continue to expand Shiners.
Since starting Shiners, Volf has primarily worked on helping and assisting his friends in their professional development. He has been able to provide key insight on building their LinkedIn profiles and basic formatting for professional email communication, helping them find more opportunities and connections.
“I just see the impact because it can help people land jobs,” Volf said. “Say I’m trying to land a job at some company after I graduated from reaching out, consistently emailing, building a connection, fostering a relationship, so it’d be so much easier to communicate with that company and what they’re looking for.”
Lynch said Shiners is a great business for students to take advantage of if they really want to enhance their professional development. He said if students want to take that step in building their professional profile, Shiners provides that step.
“His services are unique,” Lynch said. “You don’t really see many people offering these kinds of services, and it gives students a chance to take that step with the services he offers.”
Volf said he wants Shiners to be a business that shows people how important it is to build a professional reputation. He wants to continue to build the brand and expand his connection with more people so they can understand the importance in communication and development when finding jobs or applying to schools.
“I just want them to know that that can really help attract opportunities,” Volf said. “If you’re portraying a professional brand online … I can show how you can be a valuable asset to their team.”
