SURFjobs brings career guidance into a short-video format

If the name SURFjobs makes you think of waves, you’re quite off track. The surfing here happens on a digital wave of success. The Upper Austrian EdTech company aims to bring career guidance exactly where young people already are: onto their smartphones. SURFjobs is the first EdTech from the EdTech Austria Fellowship 2025 that we are introducing in more detail—and it shows impressively how coaching and peer learning can drive educational technology forward.

Young people need orientation, and companies need a platform to find new talent. These pressing, contemporary needs led to the founding of SURFjobs in 2024. During a project at Johannes Kepler University Linz, founders Florian Girlinger, Robert Hartl, Emin Vojnikovic, and Elias Ramoser realized that school-based career guidance has stagnated for decades. Innovative digital solutions aligned with young people’s media habits were largely missing—especially visual, low-threshold formats that are easily accessible on mobile devices. So they founded an EdTech company to rethink career guidance in a modern, “TikTok-style” format.

“Young people today primarily get their information from social media, videos, and interactive formats. Traditional brochures or static websites often play only a minor role,” says Florian Girlinger. At the same time, choosing a vocational path or further education is one of the first major decisions in life. Career guidance therefore needs to be visual, personalized, and regionally relevant. This is exactly where SURFjobs comes in.

From fellowship to innovative EdTech

The fellowship was what led the founders to further develop SURFjobs as an EdTech solution in the first place. “It helped us significantly to refine our business model so that we can scale as much as possible,” says Florian. The fellowship marked a decisive turning point: “We realized where we want to go. Before, SURFjobs was simply a job platform—after the program, it became a career guidance platform.” Particularly valuable were the individual support provided by the EdTech Austria team and the network offered—ranging from other EdTechs, experts, and mentors to a solid understanding of the complex education system and concrete entry points into it.

“The highlight was the community—and especially the people who openly share everything.” The fellowship also enabled collaborations that otherwise might not have happened—for example, working with EduQuest, another fellow, who supported SURFjobs in developing gamification elements. This synergy highlights the strong benefits of peer learning.

Florian continues to be active in the fellowship’s peer circle, sharing knowledge, experiences, and contacts with the new cohort. In the meantime, the company has become a member of EdTech Austria, successfully completed the quality assurance process for digital teaching and learning materials, and is now listed on the Ministry’s learning apps marketplace. The team also took part in the “Digital Roadshow: Learning Apps Marketplace” organized by EdTech Austria.

A digital update for career guidance

The idea behind SURFjobs is as simple as it is powerful: the app presents professions in a trendy short-video format and connects students with companies, schools, and apprenticeship opportunities. This creates a digital ecosystem that brings together all relevant stakeholders. Inspired by platforms like TikTok, SURFjobs replaces long text descriptions with short, dynamic videos. These provide authentic insights into real working environments and offer a more tangible impression of everyday professional life.

While SURFjobs supports students in career orientation and decision-making, teachers are provided with a dedicated interface that offers an overview of their class’s developments, interests, and activities—enabling more targeted guidance and support. “Career guidance becomes more structured and transparent,” says Florian. Companies also benefit: they can present apprenticeship opportunities and showcase their working environment. Most content is created in collaboration with external partners directly within companies—often together with apprentices. Secondary schools such as technical colleges or business schools receive free profiles to present their educational focus.

Interest assessment, geotargeting, and AI

A central feature of the app is an integrated RIASEC interest assessment. It helps young users reflect on their strengths and interests and develop a first differentiated self-image. The results form the basis for personalized recommendations. SURFjobs also uses geotargeting to display apprenticeship and training opportunities available in the user’s immediate surroundings. Artificial intelligence is also used: it supports the description of less common professions and will increasingly be used to suggest individualized educational pathways based on data analysis and potential interest patterns. The vision is an app that not only informs but also provides long-term guidance. Currently, around 136 schools—including middle schools and polytechnic schools—as well as over 200 apprenticeship professions are represented on the platform.

See Your Future – with international perspectives

The idea is reflected in the name: SURF stands for “See Your Future”—highlighting the ambition to make career opportunities visible and tangible: digital, data-driven, and rooted in the everyday lives of young people. The success since participating in the fellowship speaks for itself: SURFjobs won the IdeaUP! competition 2025 in the EdTech category, received the Upper Austrian business award Pegasus 2025, was included in the learning apps marketplace, and is now supported by the Upper Austrian Directorate of Education. The next step is already underway: the company is working on expanding the platform across Austria while also exploring international opportunities.

This success story clearly demonstrates how powerful the combination of mentoring, collaboration, and peer learning can be—and that EdTech holds enormous potential in career guidance. Far beyond the classroom.

Short interview with Florian

Why do we need SURFjobs?

We realized that nothing truly innovative has happened in career guidance for about 20 years. What was missing was a digital process that reflects today’s spirit and works as intuitively on a smartphone as TikTok. Young people immediately asked us where they could download it—that’s when we knew there was real demand. Our goal now is to bring a clear structure into the career guidance landscape. We want to support each student individually over about one and a half years until they find the right educational path. It’s a sustainable product designed to help students make happier choices for their future.

How do AI and data analysis help students?

We want to use data and AI to show students options that truly fit them. Often, they have been unconsciously interested in a certain direction for a long time without realizing it. Through geotargeting, we only present opportunities that are realistically available in their region—instead of overwhelming them with a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

With over 200 listed apprenticeship professions, how do you ensure students don’t lose track?

We rely heavily on statistics and data to strategically prioritize content. An interesting fact is that in Upper Austria, for example, only 22 specific apprenticeship professions account for around 75% of the entire apprenticeship market. This insight helps us expand the platform based on actual demand and make the most relevant professions visible first.