Design thinking, assignment two. "School to Work"

1. Design Thinking
Assignment two.
Introduction and background:
I interviewed “Jessica” this morning, and we begin with her recollection of her days in school at a local Junior College. She was 42 years of
age at the time she entered a re-training program for ex lumber mill workers. Both she and her husband were in the program.
I asked her some baseline questions to watch her eyes. She looked up to the right each time I asked her a factual question. For example,
where she went to school, and the name of the school. I knew the answer to these, since I also taught at the same school in the late 1990's.
Jessica related her school experience as something she enjoyed, although she
left school at the same time her husband left because he was tired of it. She
got her AA degree in 1997.
After she completed her two year program, she choose to look for work in the
area, since she and her husband owned a new home in the area, and the
mortgage was affordable.
Seeking work was difficult and the economy in the area (a small, rural area,
Design Thinking; Empathy. 1
Illustration 1: Image from the interview. Cell
phone photo by “Jessica” of my work folder, etc.

2. 75 miles West of Seattle), had slowed considerably. Although Jessica had worked for the previous 32 years, she felt unprepared for re-entry
into the job market because she did not receive any job counseling or work preparation at the college. She mentioned that the biggest
hindrance to finding suitable and relevant work was the location.
She went on to say, and concluded that: “That the lack of transition training during my two years at Peninsula College affected me quite a
bit. When it was time to go, I felt very prepared for continuing my classes, but NOT for finding and landing a job. Luckily, I already knew
the tricks of searching for jobs, because I was older, but I was extremely nervous about the two years I had lost of being a part of the work
force and keeping up to date with my IT skills. I felt that I had lost networking connections as well as being two years behind the times in
both my trade and interview skills.
Even at that time I remember having a lot of sympathy for the kids who were graduating and going into the job market for the first time. That
could not have been a good transition for many of them and support from school, after graduation, is non-existent, as far as I know.
As for today, I can honestly say it has affected me every year after that, because I did not have the quality of skills I should have had to
interview and negotiate salaries with my employers every day since my graduation. I am positive I could have done better, had I had some
help in areas that are weak.”
Design Thinking; Empathy. 2

3. Design Thinking; Empathy. 3