1) The document describes an empathy map for a recent graduate who has been unemployed for 10 months and struggling to find a job. 2) He has applied to many companies online but receives little feedback. He prepares for interviews by practicing English and reviewing skills. 3) He feels pressure when friends find jobs but draws motivation from family and friends. After a year without a job, he plans to get a master's degree for better job prospects.

1. Empathy Map
Shem Cristobal
Design Thinking

2. Say
Empathy Map

3.  Running 10 months now looking for a job
Say
 Lost track of the numbers of companies applied for
 Normally keeps contacts in phone and deletes
them after long period of no feedback, can
revert back to email sent items if need to list
down all companies applied for.
 Prepares himself by practicing his
speaking in pure English and reviewing
for the specific skill needed in the job,
e.g., Quality Assurance concepts.

4.  Checks the company profile before attending the
interview
 Normal application methodology is to use online
job sites, e.g., jobstreet.com
 Friends usually cheer him up
 Family provides the finances and prayers
 Encouragement is received from family and
friends
Say
 Challenges in obtaining a job lies more
into having
1. Experience
2. Prestige of the school where one
graduated from

5.  Cannot feel that being a Dean’s lister of the
school he graduated from has bearing in getting
the job
 Thesis made during college is more into
documenting out-of-the-shelf software
Say
 Did 200 hours of On-the-Job training, was
eventually hired by the company but he
resigned after a month
 During the early stages of the job hunting,
only considers software engineer position,
now he is considering hardware- or
network-related opportunities

6.  Due to the number of interviews undertaken, he
already has the idea on the ‘usual’ questions and
‘usual’ answers to the them
 More confident now to do one-on-one interviews
but still find it difficult to do panel interviews
Say
 Got a final interview only once, all the rest
were initial interviews checking his skills and
experiences
 Internal pressure to have a job is felt
only when hearing a friend or peer
getting a job, but this motivates him
to persevere more in job hunting

7.  Normally asks his peers how they got the job, looking
for things they did that he missed to do in job hunting
 He thinks that if after one year of not being able to
get a job, he will take a master’s degree in
Technology Management, as suggested by his
parents, from the University of the Philippines
Say
 Aside from job hunting, he is doing other
“past times” during the transition, e.g.,
1. Reviewing
2. Watching American movies – to get
English “lines” and be more fluent in
speaking
3. Helps friends by teaching them on
their homework

8. Think
Empathy Map

9.  10 months is long enough for him to
accept the job hunting
preconceptions, such as, (1)
experienced/skilled and (2) coming
from a prestigious school or university
are indeed realities in getting a job
Think
 He is experiencing negligible amount of
pressure from friends and family that he is
able to wait this long for the desired job
related to his course (as opposed to
others who would take on any job just to
have work and generate income)

10. Think
 Getting a master’s degree from the
country’s premier university will position him
better to get a job next time
 He must be verbally challenged in speaking out
his mind during interviews as he is doing prep
works in English through watching American
movies
 His interviewers must be having a different
and negative impression on his decision to
resign early from his first job

11. Think
 He is a less than usual job hunter by not
taking time to properly track his job
applications
 He is not building a network of HR contacts as he
is deleting their information after unsuccessful job
application
 He is making himself prepared for his
scheduled interviews
 He has limited number of job
hunting methodologies

12. Think
 He is not confident that his education is
‘experience’-worthy for the industry he is
applying for
 He is now developing fallback plans and job
alternatives
 He is making himself “busy” and “satisfied”
by helping others so as not to mind he is
currently jobless
 He must increase the number
of final interviews to indicate
improvement in job hunting

13. Feel
Empathy Map

14. Feel
 He feels he can still find the right job for
him but hopeless in having it soon
 He feels loved and understood by family
& friends and would consider their
suggestions
 He feels he has so much potential and
channels this energy to helping those in
need

15. Stakeholder
Empathy Map

16. Stakeholder
A bright fresh graduate
looking for a job from a
prestigious company that
can be considered by his
peers as “cool”, high-
paying, and has “future”.

17. Insight
 Chance of getting a job is slimmer as first
pick companies have rejected you
 Chance of getting a job is harder as
months pass you by
 Chance of getting a job is getting worse
as peers get hired before you do

18. Problem Statement
An intelligent fresh graduate needs a way
to reinvent himself in order to get a job
because he is running out of company
options, time is against him and he is being
left out by peers.