You're working a job that isn't the one
Serving, retail, warehouse, gig work — it pays the rent, but it's not the line you want at the top of your resume, and it's the only recent one you have.
Early-Career Builders
Your gap doesn't have to keep growing.
You graduated. The question now is not whether you can get a job. The question is whether you can move from a temporary job to a professional role, and from that role to your first promotion.
GradPlanHQ helps you keep building experience, proof, relationships, and visibility while everyone else waits for the right opportunity to appear.
Already a member? Your membership doesn't end at graduation. Keep the same meetups and community, then choose the track that fits what you need next.
College students and recent graduates can join the Founding 100 Beta Cohort at no cost during beta. No payment is required.
You already earned the degree. Now you need recent proof.
Most recent graduates aren't struggling because they learned nothing in school. They're struggling because employers can only evaluate what they can see today.
- Recent experience.
- Recent accomplishments.
- Recent references.
- Recent evidence of initiative.
GradPlanHQ helps you keep building all four while you work toward your next professional role.
Feeling stuck after graduation?
Map your existing experience, relationships, and opportunities before deciding what comes next. Most recent grads have more building material than their resume shows.
Takes about 3 minutes. No account required.
Who this is for
An employment gap reads as absence, and absence is the part a hiring manager fills in with a guess. Dated project work with a named reference replaces the guess — and keeps your career moving.
You've applied everywhere and heard nothing
The applications go out and the months go by. The only thing changing on your resume is how long ago you graduated.
You're freelancing, but nothing reads as a team
You've got skills and a few one-off gigs. What you don't have is work with a named organization, a real deadline, and someone who'd vouch for you.
Four ways to build recent experience
You're not starting over. You've done the degree and you've done the work — you just need something recent with your name on it. These all run through GradPlanHQ, but the goal isn't a role inside the community. The goal is proof, references, and momentum for whatever comes next. Each one produces a resume line and moves you a step forward.
Inside GradPlanHQ
Mentor students coming up behind you
Run PeerTakes sessions for current members on the thing you just lived through: the major, the internship search, the first job hunt. You're closer to it than any career center.
The resume line
Mentored 12 undergraduates through a structured peer program; Community Ambassador as reference.
Inside GradPlanHQ
Co-host an Action & Momentum Meetup
Take one of the weekly task meetups as facilitator. You set the task, keep the hour moving, and make sure everyone leaves with something finished.
The resume line
Facilitated weekly working sessions for 20+ members over six months, with attendance and completion tracked.
With a community partner
Lead a community partner project
Own a scoped project for a vetted nonprofit, school, or small business end to end — brief, plan, delivery, handoff. Real client, real deadline, real deliverable.
The resume line
Led a four-week volunteer recruitment redesign for a public library; the partner is a named reference.
Inside GradPlanHQ
Build something the community needs
Improve the thing itself: the tools, the guides, onboarding, the partner pipeline. Work with actual users, actual constraints, and a team you ship alongside.
The resume line
Shipped an onboarding revision used by every new member; measured drop-off before and after.
How it works
- 1
Pick one way to serve and one project cycle. You commit to roughly two to four hours a week — this fits around a full shift schedule and keeps your career moving forward.
- 2
You work it in the Action & Momentum Meetups alongside everyone else, so progress happens on the calendar instead of on a someday list.
- 3
Every cycle ends with a dated deliverable, a written STAR story, and a named reference who can confirm it.
What you leave with
One completed cycle turns a waiting period into a dated accomplishment.
- Resume bullets with dates that land in the gap, not before it
- A named reference who watched you do the work
- A portfolio artifact you can show in an interview
- Interview stories in STAR form, written while the details are fresh
- A network of people building career momentum at the same time as you
An earned path to certification and paid-role eligibility
Complete a project cycle, co-host four meetups, and pass the facilitation review to earn the Certified Growth Cycle Facilitator credential. Certified facilitators can apply for paid Community Manager openings as cohorts grow. Certification usually becomes relevant after your first completed project cycle — most members who pursue it complete the full path in about three months. The certificate's included in your membership; there's no fee and no upsell.
Certified Growth Cycle Facilitator
Earned by facilitating real sessions, not by passing a quiz. It goes on LinkedIn with a date, and every co-hosted session comes with written feedback you keep.
Community Manager (paid)
Run the meetup schedule, onboard new members, keep partner projects moving. Roughly 5–8 hours a week, paid hourly, one cohort at a time.
Openings are posted to certified facilitators as new cohorts launch. Certification makes you eligible to apply; it doesn't guarantee a position.
Ready to keep going? The GradPlanHQ Academy is where members who've completed meaningful work practice becoming the facilitators, hosts, and community leaders who help others move forward.
Alumni get a head start, not a locked door
Gating a service track would contradict the whole idea. It's open to any recent grad — alumni just move faster because they already know how a cycle runs.
If you were a member
- Step straight into co-host or project lead roles
- First look at new community partner projects
- Your past project history carries over as context for the next one
If you're new here
- Join at any point within about three years of graduating
- Complete one project cycle first, then co-host and lead roles open up
- Same membership, same meetups, same reference on your work
FAQ
Questions? Start Here.
MembershipDo I need to have been a GradPlanHQ member?
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No. It's open to anyone within roughly three years of graduating. Alumni can co-host and lead projects right away. Everyone else earns it after one project cycle, usually four to six weeks.
MembershipDoes this cost more than the student membership?
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No. College students and recent graduates can join the Founding 100 Beta Cohort at no cost during beta. GradPlanHQ expects to introduce paid membership after the beta period, and Founding Beta Members will receive advance notice about future options.
Meetups & CommunityHow much time does it take?
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Two to four hours a week, most of it inside the meetups you're already attending. It's built to fit around a full-time schedule, because most people in this track have one.
Experience & ProjectsIs this a job board?
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No. We don't place anyone. What you get is proof: dated work, a person who can vouch for you, and the words to describe both. That's the part most job searches are missing.
Start something this month, not next year
One cycle is four to six weeks. That's one dated project, one reference, and one story you can tell in an interview — added to a resume that's been standing still.