2. Things to have in mind
• Stakeholders: students, employers, parents,
university administration (teachers),
government, district authorities, career
counselors, HR staff
• Two types of transition:
– Full (only work)
– Semi-transition
• at once school and work for a certain period
• Lifelong learning
3. 1. Empathize & Define
Interviewee: student
• Final year of a bachelor's program in the field of
Finance
• No previous work experience
• Not sure if working in the field of Finance is
what he wants
Empathize & Define
4. Empathy Map
• Say
– I have no work experience
– I have only theoretical knowledge but not
practical
– I study only theory in my university and don’t like
it at all
– The university program is out-of-date and doesn’t
meet the company requirements
– All the companies want min. 2 years of work
experience when hiring employees which I haven’t
Empathize & Define
5. Empathy Map
• Say (cont.)
– There are no internship programmes for students
in local companies or they are few;
– Most of the employers want well-quialified interns
which is nonsense
– Most of the employers just hire interns on low
salary to use them for a certain period of time or
project and after that they don’t need them
Empathize & Define
6. Empathy Map
• Do
– Several failed attempts for starting job
– He doesn't hear back after several job interviews
– Now he is not actively seeking a job
– Recently he pays a lot of attention to the job
interview as an important part of the job
application process – reading books on this topic
(What to do or not to do in an interview and so
on)
Empathize & Define
7. Empathy Map
• Feel
– A bit nervous talking about that
– Frustrated by that situation
– Demotivated and discouraged
– He feels he cannot find a proper job
– He feels betrayed by the educational system – he
feels he had been wasting his time these four
years so far
Empathize & Define
8. Empathy Map
• Think
– School-to-work transition is quite an important
step in every person’s life, so it is normal for
everyone to have a lot of expectations
– A paradox arises - the student is not satisfied with
his education, but does not take steps to build his
knowledge
– The student is discouraged by the educational
system and he doesn’t see how it will help him in
the future
Empathize & Define
9. Empathy Map
• Think (cont.)
– The student is amazed that no employer wants to
develop their employees - starting as a trainee
and after time to upgrade their skills
– The student does not know why is the paradox -
the business wants young people to work for it,
and at the same time requires work experience in
at least 2 years
Empathize & Define
10. Insights
• The student is focused on how to perform
well in an interview but not how to upgrade
his work skills
• The student is not prepared for seeking job
and applying for it
• The student is not self confident because he
doesn’t meet the company’s job requirements
Empathize & Define
11. Insights
(cont.)
• The education system instilled in him that
there are only a,b,c or d solutions for every
problem and that he cannot do anything
about that; he cannot think out-of-the-box
• The student does need an external stimulus
for being more active
• After four years of studying he is not so sure
that he had made the right choice in studying
as financier
Empathize & Define
12. Problem Statement
The student needs a way to gain practical
knowledge, to become more confident in his
abilities while studying in university because he
is not so motivated to do it himself and doesn’t
know how to do it when moving from
university-to-work.
Empathize & Define
13. 2. Ideate
The student needs a way to gain practical
knowledge, to become more confident in his
abilities while studying in university because he
is not so motivated to do it himself and doesn’t
know how to do it when moving from
university-to-work.
Ideate
14. Brainstorming
The problem with gaining work experience is a
general problem so it needs general solutions.
I see three types of relationships:
-University-Business
-Student-Business
-University-Student
Ideate
15. Brainstorming
University-Business
•Creating labs in universities for researching of
certain business problems
•Active participation of business people in
creating university programmes
•Depends on the subject in class, an organized
visit of the students in a certain company to see
all the learning skills in action
Ideate
17. Brainstorming
Students-Business
•Company competitions and solving real
company problems by students
•Scholarships for students in commitment to
work in the company for a period of three to
five years
•Commitment to research by the students of
business weak / strong points - using the theory
in practice (e.g. SWOT analysis)
Ideate
18. Brainstorming
Students-Business
•All assignments by the University (term papers,
essays, reports, etc.) should be tied to a specific
company for each particular student who should
have access to all its data – establishment of
closer relationship
Ideate
19. Brainstorming
University-Students
•Creating career centers
•University should conduct extracurricular
trainings (e.g. How to better perform at
interview, time management, starting own
business, etc.)
•Creating conditions for the formation of the so-
called spin-out companies
Ideate
21. Brainstorming
Other suggestions
•Free practical-oriented MOOCs
•Involvement of student’s parents and friends in
learning process for more incentives and fun
•Training in the parent’s company /if
possible/under parental control
Ideate
22. Idea Selection
The most practical idea
University should conduct extracurricular
trainings (e.g. How to better perform at
interview, time management, starting own
business, etc.)
Ideate
23. Idea Selection
The most disruptive idea
Involvement of student’s parents and friends in
learning process for more incentives and fun
Ideate
26. Prototyping
Prototype and Test
Free
practical-
oriented
MOOCs
Mobile friendly
web platform
Businessm
en
as
lecturers
Assignments
on certain
business
problems
that lecturers
had
encountered
Team
sup
to
3
students
aftercompleting
the course
students
will receive
a certificate
27. Prototyping
I can ask for a local IT company to make that
course with them. They created an IT academy
and they are conducting all kinds of courses
nowadays. They have a web platform with video
vectures.
Good examples:
Coursera, NovoEd, Udacity
Prototype and Test
28. The most disruptive idea
Engagement of parents and friends in learning
process for more incentives and fun
Prototype and Test
Prototyping
29. Open days for parents and friends
Announcement of what is learned on a daily
basis – the university will use blogs, social
networks to announce that information – thus
there will be a kind of social control over the
students and lecturers
Assignments for parents – evaluation of parents
and students teamwork. Any parents’ grade will
affect students’ rating
Prototype and Test
Prototyping
30. Parents are “busy” people and have no free
time unlike their children – students will have to
spend 3-4 hours a week at their parents’ work
and report every week what they would have
learned.
Prototype and Test
Prototyping