16-year-old Serge Boghossian has turned a problem he faced while looking for work into a platform designed to help other teenagers find their first jobs. The Mississauga student taught himself to code and built Jobbli, a free online service connecting local teenagers with businesses offering part-time work. The idea came from seeing friends struggle to find employment and from his own difficulty getting a first opportunity. What began as a small project has since developed into a platform that Boghossian hopes can eventually reach young job seekers beyond his home city.
Serge Boghossian from Canada build a job platform for teenagers
Boghossian was born and raised in Mississauga and began working on Jobbli after noticing how difficult it could be for teenagers to enter the job market. Modern Mississauga reported that the idea came to him in November 2025 after watching friends struggle to find their first jobs. He spent about 2 weeks researching and planning before writing his first line of code.The rest of the process was largely self-directed. According to The Pointer, Boghossian had no mentor or school programme teaching him how to code, and he did not rely on his parents to build the platform. Instead, he learnt through YouTube tutorials and continued working on his skills until he could create the service himself.Before Jobbli, he had already built a messaging platform using HTML and JavaScript. That earlier project gave him experience that he later used to create the more complex job platform, The Pointer reported.
Image Credit: Modern Mississauga/Website
Need of a separate platform for young job seekers
Jobbli was created around a straightforward gap in the employment market. Modern Mississauga described it as a free, local platform for Mississauga teenagers aged 14 to 17 who are looking for part-time work. The publication reported that many mainstream job sites are designed with adults in mind, while listings suitable for younger workers can be scattered across social media, word of mouth and community noticeboards.Boghossian also noticed that local businesses faced the opposite problem. Restaurants, tutoring centres, banquet halls and gyms could be interested in hiring teenagers but did not always have an easy way to reach them. Jobbli was designed to bring both sides together in one place.The Pointer reported that Boghossian wanted the platform to be easy for teenagers to use, instead of expecting them to have professional qualifications or years of experience. Teens can look for opportunities, apply and communicate with employers through the platform.
Challenges faced by Serge while developing Jobbli
Creating the technology was only part of the challenge. Modern Mississauga reported that Boghossian found being taken seriously at 16 difficult, particularly when speaking directly with restaurant owners and local organisations. He had to demonstrate that the project was more than a school experiment.The business side also required him to learn skills that were not part of coding. He had to work out how to approach employers, explain the idea and follow up when businesses did not respond positively. Building the platform alone also meant spending long hours fixing problems in his own code without a senior developer to turn to, according to Modern Mississauga.His first step towards wider local recognition came when he contacted the Cooksville Business Improvement Area(BIA) himself. The Pointer reported that he cold-called the organisation to ask whether it could help promote Jobbli and later met with the BIA in person.
How does Jobbli handle the needs of teenage users
Because the platform is intended for teenagers, Boghossian has placed particular attention on privacy and safety. The Pointer reported that Jobbli uses Supabase for built-in security features, including measures intended to reduce the risk of employers sending harmful links to young job seekers.That concern is particularly important because the platform deals with minors. Boghossian said the privacy layer was intended to make teenagers less vulnerable while communicating with employers.Modern Mississauga also reported that employers can post jobs for free, while teenagers can apply, message employers and arrange interviews through the same platform. The aim is to make the process less scattered than the traditional search for a first job.
What happened after the first version was released
Boghossian did not wait until Jobbli was completely polished before allowing people to use it. The Pointer reported that he released Version 1.0 to gather feedback and see whether teenagers would engage with the idea.That early release helped him improve the platform before trying to reach a wider audience. Modern Mississauga reported that his first version was not perfect, but getting it into the hands of real users allowed him to begin conversations with employers rather than continuing to work on it privately.The response from teenagers and parents was described as particularly encouraging as per Modern Mississauga, although Boghossian said employers needed more convincing before trying something new. The Pointer reported that he was also in early discussions with myBlueprint, a Canadian education and career planning platform used by students and parents.
How Boghossian plans to expand Jobbli
For now, the focus remains on Mississauga. The Pointer reported that Boghossian’s immediate task is to persuade more local employers to use the platform while attracting teenagers to it. Modern Mississauga reported that Boghossian wants other young entrepreneurs to build something for a community they understand personally. His own experience as a Mississauga teenager helped him recognise a problem among people his age and shape a tool around it.