This document summarizes an interview with a mechanical engineering graduate about his transition from college to work. He notes communication gaps between schools/businesses and students/employers. Existing career programs and networking opportunities are underutilized. Students want personalized career information from working professionals. Improving communication between stakeholders and offering more specific career guidance through networking could help students transition more smoothly to the workforce.

1. DTAL Aug.5, 2013
Empathy Map and Challenge Statement
Maureen King

2. Stakeholder Description
• Male 2012 college graduate, BS in mechanical
engineering with a robotics concentration
• Employed in robotics field since 2012
• Currently contemplating graduate school for fall
2014
• Independent-minded, inquisitive, thoughtful,
passionate, values-driven young man looking for
a project or company with a strong value-driven
mission and vision

3. SAY
• “High school is monstrously different from college, and the transition is similar going from most [schools
and colleges] to work. You usually just get thrown in with no real understanding of the expectations.”
• “The job search process feels like you are flying blind most of the time, and the transition process is
pretty much the same.”
• “Use all the resources your college/school offers—job fairs, resume writing seminars, mock interviews,
business contacts, alumni, professors, classmates. Most people don’t. I know I didn’t.”
• “Communication between students and potential employers/businesses can be lacking.”
• “Fail early and often, and understand why you failed. Ask questions.”
• “Finding a job depends on who is in your contact network, what your field expertise is, and actually
looking and applying [for jobs] over a long period of time.”
• “Networking is HUGE! It’s about communicating who you are, what you are interested in, and what you
might be looking for while listening to the other person talk about what they are looking for. Use
experienced voices to get more information.”
• “Send out lots of applications to many businesses, and keep in contact with them. Start in the fall (if you
graduate in spring) and even if they aren’t hiring, get information from them and build contacts. You also
get experience working on the applications and interviews by starting early.”
• “It’s a real challenge to have the right someone to talk to while you are working on the transition…both
the job search/hiring process and the first year or so at work. A personal connection is key.”
• “Internships have mentors; project based classes have professors and TA’s to talk to; you need the same
kind of support during the first year of work. You need someone to ask and answer questions, provide
advice and guidance, and be a sounding board.”
• “Communicating is important! Don’t be afraid to do so, especially in transitions.”

4. DO—Part 1
• “I didn’t use the graduate planning office as much as I could have. I got sample resumes
from them and had them look over mine, but really got most of my advice from two
professors that had previously been in the business (robotics). I used them for answering
questions like “what skills are you looking for?” because they had actually hired
mechanical engineers in robotics businesses. I did look at the college’s list of business
openings because the post graduate planning office is really good at gathering a lot of job
opportunities. I would approach the process differently if doing it over…I would use more
of the planning office offerings.”
• “My success seems like sheer luck. I arrived at a job fair a bit late, and in the last 20
minutes ran into people representing my current employer. It was the right time and place.
I asked them about openings, talked about my skills, and landed a technical interview on
the spot.”
• “My transition to work was not really typical of most of my friends. A day of introductions
was the only real onsite training. I was ready to go to work because of the project work I
had done at college. The college fosters a high level of confidence and provides a large
skill set. Work was a bit overwhelming at first, but not any more so than college had been.
It was daunting but not to the point of failure. I could ask my two mentors for advice and
found the right people at work to find out the detail stuff (like health insurance forms) and
who ran which departments. I’m not afraid to ask questions, and the engineering manager
was helpful in answering them. I felt more than prepared to go to work.”
• “I recently got an email from my college asking me to participate in high school fairs. It
seems like a great idea for college searchers to be able to talk to people who are actually
doing what the students might be interested in. It’s valuable to the students to hear what
we do and how we got there (transitioned), and to hear it on a personal level. We in the
industry have good stories to share but no one is asking us. (Well, some colleges are.)”

5. DO—Part 2
• “One of my friends currently works for a start up. During his job search
process, he was rejected often. He got humble and very respectfully asked,
without being threatening, why he was being rejected. He didn’t get defensive;
he asked for advice like what was missing from his resume or his experience
that was causing him to lose the attention of the hiring managers. Most places
were really helpful and gave him advice. I would probably do this if rejected
from someplace I really wanted to be.”
• “Another friend is about to finish grad school in the coming year. She is
terrified of the transition to work. She has no idea where to begin or who to ask
in the job search process. (She didn’t attend my college.) She really needs a
mentor in her field, but hasn’t got any contacts because her college doesn’t
really promote networking and doesn’t seem to use their alumni except for
fundraising. I try to send her info or contacts that might help her.”
• “Little things are what trip people up. I helped transition one of our new
employees (from my college) via email. He had about a week of orientation, but
found the commute daunting and was overwhelmed. We talked about finding
housing in an area closer to work. We also talked about things like health care
(“who do I talk to at the company?”) and skills he might need to bolster.
Because I knew what he had studied, I knew that there were skills the company
expected him to have that were taught but not emphasized in our classes.”

6. THINK
• Teach students to ask questions.
• Colleges/schools/ vocational schools/community colleges could foster better relations
with alumni. Encourage them to return and have conversations with students. Small
groups or one to one meetings that allow a lot of personal interaction would be ideal.
• Communicate with area businesses and industries to get hiring managers and specialists
(like engineers, doctors, chemists, project managers, etc.) to work with and visit the
school. Develop contacts within the company. Ask them to meet students to share details
about work (what they do) and also what skills, resumes, portfolios, people they look for
when they are hiring. Again small groups or one to one interactions are preferable.
• Get information about possible positions directly from the source (business) or from
people who have work experience in the field.
• Get local hiring managers to help with the mock interviews. Get the best. These types of
interactions will foster relationships between employers and potential employees, and
schools and businesses. The practice interviewing would be very valuable to students.
• Get personal…take a personal approach. Find out the students’ needs and interests, help
them figure out what they might like to find out more about, and be as proactive as
possible to get them those contacts and information.
• It would be interesting to survey the alumni: find out degree/major/field of
employment/how many applications/ how many rejections (and why, if they know it)—and
also gather hard data on what the field is looking for along the line of skill sets.

7. FEEL
• This interview led me to believe that a communication
gap still exists, now between schools and businesses,
and also between students and employers. And likely
still exists between parents with unrealistic expectations
and students who aren’t sure what they want to do (and
that hasn’t changed in years).
• One to one personal attention (perhaps a mentor) might
be a key point in helping more students transition
smoothly into the work world.
• More discussions about careers and career oriented
information seem to be wanted by students.
• Students want to have more contact with those
employed in the fields they are interested in.

8. Problem Statement
• Students making the transition to work
need better methods to communicate,
connect, and network with more
experienced people because there are
little unexpected things that trip people up
and a successful transition does not
happen overnight or by osmosis.

9. INSIGHT
• Communication between and among the various
stakeholders appears to need strengthening.
• Networking seems to be underutilized.
• Existing career planning programs at schools
seem to be underutilized.
• Students want more specific information about
careers shared in a personal interaction with the
people actually doing the jobs.
• Many opportunities seem to exist to improve the
quality of career information offered and the
methods of sharing that information.

10. INSIGHT
• Communication between and among the various
stakeholders appears to need strengthening.
• Networking seems to be underutilized.
• Existing career planning programs at schools
seem to be underutilized.
• Students want more specific information about
careers shared in a personal interaction with the
people actually doing the jobs.
• Many opportunities seem to exist to improve the
quality of career information offered and the
methods of sharing that information.