“I’m a very big believer in equal opportunity as opposed to equal

outcome. Equal opportunity to me, more than anything, means a great

education. Maybe even more important than a great family life. We

could make sure that every young child in this country got a great

education. We fall far short of that.” – Steve Jobs

Empathise…Refine and Define

Process

Context: Explored the role of current education system to make graduates (grads) work-ready.

Interviewed 1. Candidate who just finished college and has got an offer to work at

an organisation

2. A HR executive recruiting new grads for a corporate

3. An employee performing a role no where close to her education

Think from 3 perspectives

Improved Exposure / awareness at an earlier stage would:

help in picking the right education have help them land the right career path

Grads prefer to stay in their own circle and don’t reach out to avenues available to them

Think that they don’t have enough awareness of the market

Usually think getting a job is doable

Graduates Employee Recruiter

• Graduates have No awareness of education

vs avenues in the market • Absence of easy

communication channels to bridge between seeker

and beholder

Say from 3 perspectives

They say it only gets REAL at work . The basic understanding of various avenues to work in an organisation is missing

Say that Graduates are totally un-prepared for work

They are happy with their progress

And ability to land a job

Recruiter Employee Graduate

• There an expectation mismatch between the employer & the employee

• Grads don't understand the work standards and live in their own self contented world

Do from 3 perspectives

Learn the work skills the hard way

Cope up with transition pangs

Either learn fast or give up career

Conduct orientation sessions to bring grads up to speed

Orient placement officers

Recruit misfits to meet the demand

Manage with knowledge they gather

Reach out to immediate circle to gain confidence & information

Google the obvious

• Graduates do not stretch

• Organisations have heavy demand and do not have a stringent recruitment policy

• Graduates learn or perish with in less given time

Graduate Employee Recruiter

Feel from 3 perspectives

They feel that college should also teach them professional work skills like work etiquette , drive for results , communication / working in teams as part of curriculum

Grads have no transition in behaviour from college to work

Feel that grads lack DRIVE and prefer to stay in comfort zones as they have loads of opportunity

They feel lost ; have no clue about what their role / job would look like and what is expected from them

• Powerful orientation on expectation before hiring

• Including key work skills as part of the college curriculum

Graduate Employee Recruiter

Insights Summary

• Graduates have No awareness of education vs avenues in the market

• Graduates pick education streams without any understanding or inclinations of work

• Absence of easy communication channels to bridge between seeker and beholder of information

• There an expectation mismatch between the employer & the employee

• Grads don't understand the work and live in their own self contented world

• Graduates do not stretch and move out of their comfort zones

• Organisations have heavy demand and do not have a stringent recruitment policy

• Graduates learn or perish with in less given time ; work pressure for the first one year is enormous

• Powerful orientation on expectation before hiring

• Technical training can be on the job but life skills need to be digested over a period of time

• Including key work skills as part of the college curriculum would really help graduates to become work ready

Problem statement

A passionate , driven recruiter of a multinational organisation needs a way to bridge the gap between ace institutions and corporates with meaningful education that would make graduates work ready from day one!