1. The student discussed his experience transitioning from undergraduate studies in India to work experience there to pursuing an MBA in the US. 2. He noted major differences between the education systems, with the US system better preparing students for industry needs through tailored courses and emphasis on practical learning over just marks. 3. The student emphasized the need for students to focus on self-evaluation, understanding their interests and career goals, and taking their studies seriously to be ready for industry challenges like working in teams and under pressure.

1. Empathize and
Define
about developing empathy for someone who has a stake in
the school-to-work transition, and defining a problem or
need he/she has related to the challenge.

2. Interviewed Person
• Profile –
• Completed his Engineering in Computer
Science in India
• Worked in IT industry for 2 years
• Pursuing his MBA degree in US
• Working as an intern in a company

3. Major gap between students learning
in college vs what industry needs
• The MBA is a totally different education compared to
engineering. The system in the US places a focus on
learning courses. You're expected to know everything
about it and they're directly tied with what companies
look for. In fact, some of the courses are designed based
on what companies and the industry generally demands.
• Since the aim is to attract companies, our school tailors
our course to what enables us best to land a job here.
Not that it is the best way to go about it, but comparing
that to how it is in India.

4. • A syllabus once set, is not reviewed much. There is no
periodic review to see if industry has changed and if
anything new has to be incorporated. Minor
adjustments are made, just so that the different
universities can distinguish among each other.
• Due to this, there are extended periods of "training" in
Indian companies whereas in the US, people are given
very short training periods. Training here is not to
educate one about a particular technology but it is for
them to understand the framework. They're expected
to know the technology.

5. College -> work -> back to college-
How different was it?
• College to work was pretty smooth. Settling in wasn't
difficult as I bit serious about studying. Some of the
subjects we studied were particularly useful, but we
never made full use of it. We never learnt to
understand.. We learnt to score marks.
• We never appreciated how important some of the
courses were when we were studying. Over here, it is
constantly emphasized.. so students learn more
consciously and put in more efforts

6. • Work -> college, now this is a bit tricky. I came into a new
education system. I spent the whole first semester
getting used to it. The system of credits, scoring system
took a little time getting used to there were constant
assignments.
• We're actually encouraged to do our own bit of work and
learn. Also, our professors constantly relate any theory to
practical examples, real-world scenarios, and how what
we learn is useful in the industry. They tell us why we
should know a particular concept. And since it's so tied
up to what happens in the industry, the
companies, during interviews, naturally expect us to
know the ins and outs of these concepts

7. • I can say, for certain, that college -> work will be easier
here if we sincerely did what the system wants us to do
during the studies
• In India, our system is confused and throws too many
things at us so we don't know where exactly we should
head. We try to learn too many things and end up
holding little in our head.

8. What areas should the student focus
for the transition from college to
work, irrespective of the location?
• During undergrad studies, we never focused on anything
sure, we did a degree in computer science, but that field
is vast.
• We chose a field in it based on which company we were
placed in. That thinking has to change.
• To do that, we need awareness. We need to know what
the field is, what is the history, who are the companies
there.
• If you look at it from a placement perspective, we need
to have a narrow target based on out interest in working
in certain technologies/fields.

9. "Must Do" things for students before
entering the industry are?
• I believe its more in the thinking -The mindset
• Know what you want to do before going in. Not just
enter and go where the wind blows. Why do people
complain about industry training? They knew industries
will have trainings for 6 months, but they still ended up
there.
• They were too lazy in charting out their own paths. They
didnt want to spend energy trying to research their
interests and identify companies that worked in the
things they want to work in too . If students were more
proactive and interested about their careers, that is one
thing they should work on.

10. • Maybe the college Placement center can take up some
initiatives, like, create self evaluations.
• The students should be made aware of it and made to
understand that its extremely difficult to work in industry
with limited knowledge and that he/she needs to be on
his/her toes if they are to even stand a chance.
• When an alumni/senior come to college and speak to
students, it shouldn't be – “learn this technology, you can
get placed in these companies” but rather it should
be, “these are the essential things I didn't do in my
college days and I regret them.. they're so important, now
that I am in the industry, I understand better”

11. As a student,what do you think are the
"MustImprove" areasduring college days?
• There is a need to improve both social qualities and
knowledge as far as students are concerned. Improving
knowledge ranges from knowing the working principles to
understanding the most basic concepts of things a student is
concerned with.
• And, social abilities include leadership qualities, clear
communication abilities which makes the other person
understand what is being expressed and sometimes to
convince him etc.
• Situation handling abilities and similar things. A situation
might be a problem or an event or any such scenario.
• Because, knowledge, resources and other things can be gained
whenever we want. But, problem solving and situation
handling abilities are more based on experiences than
thinking abilities.

12. Our school tailors our course to
what enables us best to land a job
I believe its more in the thinking -
The mindset
I regret them.. they're
so important, now that
I am in the industry, I
understand better
we never focused
on anything sure
our system is confused
and throws too many
things at us so we don't
know where exactly we
should head.
We never
appreciated
how
important
some of the
courses
wereWe never learnt to
understand.. We
learnt to score
marks.
We're actually encouraged
to do our own bit of work
and learn.
He was pretty good in combining his present
and past experiences; relating his undergrad
education with work experience and later
comparing it with his current education

13. Feel the necessity
of the creating
awareness among
the students.
Understand the
errs done by us
and do not allow
them to repeat
those.
Encourage the students
to take their course in
more serious manner.
Create Self-evaluation which will
help the students in identifying
themselves
Motivate
them to
get ready
for the
future
Change the
mindset of the
students

14. Problem Statement
A STUDENT who has some industry exposure now pursuing
his higher studies thinks we need we need a way to create
awareness among the students about self-evaluation; need
to focus on learning; importance of communication &
collaboration and appreciate the courses in college
because the industry needs a ready-to-work resource who
knows his/her abilities well and handle difficult scenarios
under pressure while working in a team.