Job simulations
Tasks copied from real jobs, checked against a model answer. The problem isn't real.
Here:
The problem is real, and the business's own team reviews what you deliver.
Real work experience from founders and small companies
Do real work for a real business, before anyone hires you.
Founders and small companies post briefs: real problems from their business. Apply, work through it step by step, and their team reviews what you deliver. A mentor who does the job can help you get it right. It’s real work experience, before your first job.
- Applying to a brief is always free
- Real businesses, not simulations
- Leave with a record signed by the business you worked for
Example Open brief · for learning
Tembo
Logistics startup · 6 people
Look at a month of our delivery data and tell us one thing we should change.
- SQL
- Spreadsheets
- Data analysis
- Steps
- 4 steps · the team reviews each one
- Time
- About 3–4 hrs/week, 4 weeks
You've tried the other routes
Practice is useful. Experience comes from real work.
Most routes into a first job give you practice. Practice is useful, but a real business on the other end is what turns it into experience.
Mentorship platforms
Good advice, but you still have to find real work to use it on.
Here:
The work is here. Your mentor helps you do it well.
Internships
Real work, if you can get one. Often unpaid, and often nobody has time to teach you.
Here:
Anyone can apply to a brief, and a mentor teaches you alongside.
Courses and bootcamps
You learn the tools. You don't get real work, and the bill often comes up front.
Here:
Applying is free, and your record comes from people who saw your work.
Practice shows you can follow instructions. Real work shows you can deliver.
What FursaFlow is
Real work, a mentor, and proof. All in one place.
Other routes give you one piece. FursaFlow puts all three together, so each one makes the others count.
The work
Briefs from real businesses
Founders and small companies post real problems. You apply, deliver it step by step, and their team reviews what you send.
Browse open briefsThe knowledge
Mentors who do the job
People in the role today tell you what you're missing and how to close it.
Find a mentorThe proof
A record anyone can check
The business signs a Brief Record. Your mentor signs a Verified Skill when you can do it. Both sit on one link for your CV and LinkedIn.
See an example recordStart with whichever you need first. They're built to work together.
What a brief looks like
A real task, broken into steps.
A brief is a real problem from a real business. It's posted by the people who need it: solo founders and companies of about 2 to 30 people, with more work than hands.
Tembo
Example- The business
- Logistics startup, 6 people.
- The problem
- “Look at a month of our delivery data and tell us one thing we should change.”
- What “done” means
- A short write-up of what you found and one recommendation, talked through with the team.
- The steps
- 4 steps. The team reviews each one before you move on.
- Skills
- SQL, spreadsheets, data analysis
- Time
- ~3–4 hrs/week, 4 weeks
- What you leave with
- A Brief Record from Tembo when you deliver.
Why small companies
-
You're close to the decisions.
In a small team you talk to the founder, not a queue.
-
Your work gets real attention.
They posted the brief because the problem is theirs, so they read what you deliver.
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You see how a real business works.
Deadlines, trade-offs, people who want different things. That’s the part of the job no course teaches.
Two kinds of brief, for two different stages.
Open brief
For when you're starting out. It's unpaid and built around your learning, so a team can't use it for its real production work. The team answers your questions and reviews what you deliver.
Supervised brief
For when you're ready for more. It's work the team actually needs done, so they bring in an advisor: a senior person, paid by the team, who reviews each step before it reaches them. Your advisor knows the brief. Your mentor knows you.
How it works
Apply. Do the work. Leave with proof you did it.
- 01
Find a brief and apply
Browse briefs by skill and field. Applying is free and short. Sometimes a team will invite you to apply, or ask for a quick call first.
- 02
Work through it, step by step
You get a shared space with the team: files, steps and chat. Submit each step; the team reviews and approves it before you move on. AI is allowed and visible. What's judged is your judgment.
- 03
Bring in a mentor if you want one
Stuck, or want to do it properly? A mentor who does the job tells you what's missing and what to do next. More on mentors below.
- 04
Leave with a record
When you deliver, the business can sign a record of what you did, and for whom. More on your record below.
Not picked this time? Ask your mentor what the team was looking for, work on it, and apply to the next one.
Real work goes faster with help
The business brings the work. Your mentor helps you do it well.
Your mentor doesn't give you the work, and doesn't do it for you. They're someone who does the job for a living and helps you before you apply, while you work, and after.
- Before
- Which briefs fit where you are, and what the team will look for.
- During
- What you're missing, and what to do about it.
- After
- What went well, what to change next time, and whether you're ready for a Supervised brief.
Start with a free slot: four weeks, one session a week. You see every price in your own currency before you book.
Find a mentor in your field →Amani K.
Senior data analyst, fintech
On Tembo's brief, step 2
“Your query works, but you haven't handled the drivers with no stops logged. Fix that before step 3.”
The people who help you
People doing the job right now.
Not career coaches or motivational speakers. People in the role today, across many fields, checked before they can take a booking. Some offer more than one free slot a month.
Amani K.
Senior data analyst · fintech
Helps you go from writing queries to modelling data a team can trust.
- SQL
- dbt
- Data modelling
Free slot open this month
Brenda O.
Lead product designer · logistics
Reviews your design decisions the way a design lead would in a real critique.
- Discovery
- Wireframes
- Design systems
Free slot open this month
Tomas R.
ML engineer · healthtech
Takes you past notebooks: evaluating models and running them in production.
- Python
- Model evaluation
- MLOps
Free slot taken this month
Priya S.
Product manager · SaaS
Shows you what product managers actually write, and makes you rewrite it until it holds up.
- PRDs
- Discovery
- Stakeholders
Free slot open this month
Two roles you'll meet. Know which is which.
On a Supervised brief you may work with two senior people. They do different jobs.
Your mentor · works for you
Knows you
- Who
- Someone who does the job you want. You choose them.
- Their job
- Names what you're missing, tells you what to do about it, and checks next time that you did.
- How long
- Weeks or months, across every brief you take on.
- Signs
- Your Verified Skill. Only a mentor can, and only when you can do it.
- Paid by
- You, or nobody: start with a free slot.
An advisor · works for the team
Knows the brief
- Who
- A senior person the team brings in for a Supervised brief.
- Their job
- Scopes the work and reviews each step before it reaches the team.
- How long
- That one brief.
- Signs
- Nothing. The team approves each step and signs your Brief Record.
- Paid by
- The team.
Your advisor knows the brief. Your mentor knows you.
What you walk away with
Proof you did the work. And the confidence to talk about it.
Everything you earn lives on one record, at a public link anyone can open without an account. The certificate is the page you take with you.
-
A Brief Record
Signed by the business you delivered for: what you delivered, and for whom.
-
A Verified Skill
Signed by your mentor, and only when you can do it. Paying more never gets you one.
-
Your certificate
One document with every Verified Skill you've earned. Download it as a PDF, share the link, or add it to LinkedIn. It carries a QR code anyone can scan.
Example certificate
FursaFlow Verified
Issued because a mentor who does the job reviewed real work and signed each skill below.
This is to certify that
Aisha M.
Learner · data analysis
1 Verified Skill
Signed against
| Skill | Signed by | Against |
|---|---|---|
| SQL & data modelling | Amani K.Senior data analyst, fintech | Delivery data review for Tembo |
“Models the data before she queries it, and handles the awkward cases without being asked.”
- Issued
- 14 Aug 2026
- Credential ID
- demo
fursaflow.com/verify/demo
The business owns what's delivered. You can always describe what you did, and show it in your portfolio unless the business marked the brief confidential before posting.
Using your record
Put your record where it gets seen.
A record only helps if people see it. Here's where it goes.
- 01
On your CV
Add your record's link under each project. Anyone can open it without an account and see who signed what.
- 02
On LinkedIn
Add your certificate to your LinkedIn profile, so it sits next to your experience.
- 03
In applications
Download the PDF and attach it, or paste the link wherever a form asks for a portfolio.
- 04
In interviews
When they ask “tell me about a time you…”, tell them about the brief: the problem, your decisions, and what you’d change. The QR code lets them check it on the spot.
You control it. Turn a share link off whenever you like.
It's yours for good. Your record stays with you, whoever paid for the work.
And the part no document shows: you'll walk in knowing you've done it before.
Fair for you, written into the rules.
-
Free to apply.
You never pay to apply to or work on a brief.
-
No free labour.
An Open brief is built around your learning. If it's really the team's production work, it has to become a Supervised brief, with an advisor the team pays for.
-
You can always talk about it.
Describe any brief you worked on. Show the work too, unless it was marked confidential before you applied.
-
Real businesses.
Every brief comes from a business account. Teams are checked before they can run Supervised briefs or sign Brief Records.
-
Nothing when you're hired.
We're not a jobs board. If a business later offers you work, that's between you and them, and we take no fee.
Curious how we pay for all this? How we make money.
Before you apply
Questions, answered plainly.
The things people ask before they apply. The short answer comes first.
More questions answered →Do I need experience to apply?
No. Open briefs are built for people who are still learning. Each brief lists the skills it needs, so pick one that fits where you are now.
Browse open briefs →I'm changing careers. Can I apply?
Yes. Briefs ask for skills, not job titles. A mentor can tell you which of your skills carry over and what's still missing.
Should I do a course before I apply?
Not necessarily. Talk to a mentor in the job first; the free slot is made for this. Then decide whether a course would fill a real gap, or whether real work would teach you more.
Find a mentor in your field →Are these real companies?
Yes. Briefs come from real founders and small companies, not simulations. Teams are checked before they can run Supervised briefs or sign Brief Records.
Will I get paid?
Yes, if the brief says it's paid. Every brief shows clearly whether it's paid and how much. On a paid brief (a Supervised brief), the team pays you per milestone, and you're paid when they approve each one. Open briefs are unpaid, because they're built around your learning.
How much do mentors cost?
Mentors set their own prices, and you see every price in your own currency before you book. Every mentor offers at least one free slot a month: four weeks, one session a week.
See mentors and their prices →Can I use AI?
Yes, and we expect you to. AI is part of how work gets done now. While you're learning, use it as a guide: to explain things, check your work and speed you up, not to do the whole job for you.
Do I need a mentor to do a brief?
No, but it helps. A mentor tells you what you're missing while you work. You can start with a free slot.
Find a mentor in your field →What if I'm not picked?
It happens. Ask your mentor what the team was looking for and what to work on, then apply to the next brief.
Who owns what I make?
The business owns what's delivered. You can always describe what you did, and show the work in your portfolio unless the business marked the brief confidential before posting.
Will companies I apply to recognise it?
It's a record anyone can open and check: who signed it, and what it says you did. We don't claim any company requires it. What it gives you is proof you can show and a real story to tell.
See how a record is checked →Will this get me a job?
We can't promise that, and nobody honest can. What you'll have is real work you delivered for a real business, a record anyone can check, and a real answer in every interview.
Field Notes
Getting experience without a job yet.
Honest guides on the experience gap: why it happens, and what to do about it.
8 min read
The Experience Paradox: Why It's Getting Worse (And What's Being Done About It)
Entry-level roles increasingly demand 3-5 years of experience. Here's what has been tried, why it failed structurally, and what actually works.
Layla Ramadan 3 Jun 2026
Real work. Real proof. · 8 min read
How to Become a Cloud/DevOps Engineer With No Experience
The DevOps engineer path doesn't run through years of experience — it runs through certifications and real projects. Here's the exact roadmap.
p
priya-sharma 2 Jun 2026
Real work. Real proof. · 6 min read
Why Internships Reject You Without Experience (and What To Do Instead)
Every internship posting asks for experience you can't get without doing the internship. Here's what the data says about the system, and what actually works.
p
priya-sharma 3 May 2026
Your first real work starts with one application.
You don't need to be hired to do real work. You need a business with a real problem, and the confidence to apply.
Free to apply · Real businesses · No fee when you're hired