Defining & emphathize activity

1. “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

2. 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

3. 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 EmployeeRecruiter
• Graduates have No
awareness of education
vs avenues in the market
• Absence of easy
communication channels
to bridge between seeker
and beholder

4. 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 EmployeeGraduate
• There an expectation
mismatch between the
employer & the
employee
• Grads don't understand
the work standards and
live in their own self
contented world

5. 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 EmployeeRecruiter

6. 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 EmployeeRecruiter

7. 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

8. 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!