Jamin Stortz – August ‘13

IDEATE – assignmentdesign.thinking.action.lab

55Ideas in this brief

“Undergraduate Students need ways to connect to experienced professionals to successfully transition into a career”

- Problem statement

Most Obvious Solutions1. Organize meet-ups to connect undergrads

and mentors by career field2. Launch a new social network to link

undergrads with mentors3. Create a curriculum and classroom

materials for a ‘Transition Success’ college courses

4. Develop programs within Universities to connect undergrads with mentors

5. Create a ‘mentoring app’ with tools and aids to assist with transition

6. Develop and foster support groups for transitioning undergrads to share fears and successes

7. Create a “Mentoring Magazine” as a national conversation on career transitioning aimed at undergrad students

8. Develop program that holds “transition courses” as part of internship programs

9. Create a non-profit organization that acts as a 3rd party match-maker between transitioning students and mentors

10. Universities provide support (classes, mentoring, job placement) to graduates after graduation as part of transition

11. Adopt-a-student program matching undergrads with alumni

12. Resume/interview boot camps at universities

13. Job-shadow program to give undergrads wide view into chosen field

14. “Transition Month” – experience transitioning while still in school to help students prepare

Add/Remove/Modify Previous Ideas1. Establish partnerships between University

and career fields/industry to encourage mentorship and job placement

2. Mentor Cocktail Hours hosted at prospective workplaces

3. Combine physical meet-ups with online social network to grow and foster personal connections

4. Transitions classes use an ‘immersive story’ format with hands on assignments to provide better experience of transition

5. Combine student support groups with online social media platforms

6. Create a web-based transition start-up company

7. Add a “Mentor Campaign” with aggressive marketing to encourage involvement with mentor/transition programs

8. Make the transition learning and transition process a ‘game’ (using a web-based platform) to incentivize and make the transition fun

9. Create and share “TED-talk style” transition success stories

What Would a 5 Year Old Do?1. Connect to mentors through existing

professor relationships2. Meet and connect with mentors in a

playful park-like environment… “Play dates for transition”

3. As part of everyday learning: Class room instruction for transition; embedded as a regular part of curriculum in all technical field courses

4. Host field trips to industry, associations, and work places to learn and make connections

5. “Play” - Simulate career and transition through a hands on learning experience, re-enact transition and apply in real life transition

6. Ice cream socials to connect mentors and students

7. “Practice Makes Perfect” – during entire undergrad program, practice skills for transition

Unlimited Budget1. “Movie Set” – sound stage with movie sets

and actors to recreate entire transition process; students must navigate challenges before doing it in the real world

2. Program to pay in full/part internships to support graduating students as they transition

3. Government guaranteed job placement for all

4. Mentors are paid/incentivized to be a mentor; mentoring is viewed as part of normal work duties

5. Personal coaches for transitioning students6. Graduating students are given ‘Service

Challenges’ where they work on a program of community benefit while learning the skills needed of any professional to make

the transition 7. Year-long transition fellowship program

with field trips, projects, mentoring events (basically every idea in one program)

8. Tax incentives for mentors to encourage mentorship

9. Mandatory military-style professional boot-camp program for all graduating students to learn leadership, teamwork, accountability, responsibility and transition skills

10. Wearable cameras monitor transitioning students and monitored by staffs of transition experts

Control Over the Law of Nature1. “Hindsight” Students go forward in time to

see how they made the transition, then get to go back and learn from their mistakes

2. Students can visit and observe their career field work places with no respect for time or distance – ‘all access, behind the scenes look”

3. Speed up time to see a transition that normally takes 1-2 years (or more) in just a few minutes

4. Physically connect the student with their perfect mentor regardless of location

5. Students magically granted perfect transition skills

6. Society/culture at large transformed into placing large value and effort into transition support and mentorship

No Money $1. Organize a grass-roots movement to

support transitioning students2. “Pay it forward” campaign: Connect 1

student with 1 mentor; then the student pay’s it forward, creating a cycle of mentoring

3. Journal transitioning experience to deepen experience and learning of own transition

4. Host transition/mentoring talks by industry at universities

5. Blog about transitioning documenting pitfalls and success of transition

6. Create a “transition twitter” feed to create

a social media conversation on transitioning

7. Organize meet ups through meetup.com between students and potential mentors

8. Read and share biographies of notable leaders who made their own transition when they were young

9. Conduct street or door-to-door interviews of neighbors on how they made their transition

Most Practical Idea

Organize meet-ups to connect undergrads and mentors by career field

This idea employs existing social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, MeetUp.com) to organize meet-up events at Universities and/or sponsoring work places. The meet-ups would be part networking event to encourage connections between students and mentors, part support group for transitioning students, part class-room to teach transition skills, and part TED-talk to share exciting stories from mentors and students who have been part of successful transitions.

This idea would not require much support infrastructure and would rely on the ‘grass-roots’ organizing of students at universities to establish these meet-ups. A small support non-profit organization could be established to provide helpful tips and guidance and marketing to establish and encourage the use of these meet-ups. An umbrella organization could also facilitate the sharing of mentoring and transitioning best practices among the different student groups. In this sense, these groups serve as a ‘Transition Success Lab’ where good ideas to help transitioning students can take root. A small umbrella organization could be funded by Universities, industry partners, and government and philanthropic grants.

Most Disruptive Idea

Make the transition learning and transition process a ‘game’ (using a web-based platform) to incentivize and make the transition fun

Employ game theory to make learning about transitioning and the transition process itself fun and engaging. Through online learning and a unique social media platform (think LinkedIn targeted for transitioning students) the transition process is no longer feared by graduating students, but embraced as an exciting new chapter of life.

In this idea, game theory incentivizes learning and development of transition skills (networking, developing mentorship relationships, job search, internships, resume writing etc.). “Progress charts, points and rewards” provide incentives and fun for transitioning members while they are still students.

After graduation, the transition experience itself is informed by game theory to encourage good transition habits and skills such as continued networking and job searching while also facilitating strong connections to industry for future job placement. This idea could be done as a for-profit start-up and employ a LinkedIn business model.

Favorite Idea

“Play” - Simulate career and transition through a hands on learning experience, re-enact transition and apply in real life transition

In this idea, learning and skill development for the transition process is done through fun simulation and hands on learning. This is the opposite of a class in resume writing, rather role-playing, field trips, and hands-on experiences with the transition process are part of this instruction. This learning experience begins in school with students and can continue after they graduate.

The idea of play and simulation serve to points:1. A playful environment takes away many students’/job seekers’ fear of finding a career2. Simulation can offer enhanced learning and better outcomes than normal class-room style

instructionBy continuing beyond school, this learning experience also serves as a support for transition students which can be critical in making a successful transition.