kathleen's school-to-work journey
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Kathleen’s School-to-Work Journey
Gabriela Freitas Design Thinking – Jul-Aug/2013
Agenda
• Kathleen’s Feedback • Brainstorming & Selected Ideas • Empathy Map • Problem Statement
• Meet Kathleen • Career Mindset • Educational Journey • Learning Experience • School-to-Work Transition • Kathleen’s 5-years career plan
Selected Superpowers Prototype
Kathleen’s Feedback
Instead of the changing the learning method or transporting herself to the work environment through mediators, Kathleen prioritized abilities to improve
communication, to change herself and to transform her own reality. Insight!
Power Sensing Join an associa)on related to your
area of interest to improve networking and extend knowledge (e.g.: ITAC -‐ Informa)on Technology
Associa)on of Canada)
“We spend a lot of time complaining about how health care technology sucks in this country, why not make the effort to connect with others who are trying to come up with solutions just like you? It reduces duplicate efforts, if you have similar ideas, and it also increases the possibilities of coming up with something that will be really valuable.”!
Test
Prototype
Test
Selected Superpowers
Instead of the changing the learning method or transporting herself to the work environment through mediators, Kathleen prioritized abilities to improve
communication, to change herself and to transform her own reality. Insight!
Merging
Offer small local business to apply what you're learning in school to their business. Both parts win with the
experience.
Connect with a Health Care professional. Understand their job,
the challenges, and share ideas. Work on a solu)on for a simple (but
relevant) problem/need together.
“I like these two because they make more sense to me. How can you start imagining a career after work if you’ve got no real hands on experience? Same goes with application/solutions development, if you do not understand the problem from a users perspective it is impossible to come up with a viable solution.”
Kathleen’s Feedback
Selected Superpowers
Instead of the changing the learning method or transporting herself to the work environment through mediators, Kathleen prioritized abilities to improve
communication, to change herself and to transform her own reality. Insight!
Sonic Scream Become a voice in your area of interest. Share informa)on, share experiments, ask ques)ons, write essays, suggest solu)ons and start conversa)ons. Get involved, put yourself out there and be open to connect with other people. Use social media (such as blogs, Facebook, TwiRer, LinkedIn, etc.) in your favor.
“I’m trying this out at the moment. As a developer or IT person, the presence has to do with the following!
"1. GITHUB- to be respected as a coder, you’ve got to be willing to put a portfolio on display!
"2. BLOGGING- chatting about ideas as well as documenting your progress is very respected by future employers!
"3. TWITTER- get lots of followers (working on it)!
"4. Linked-in... have a full profile and get support from friends for showcasing skills”!
Kathleen’s Feedback
Prototype
Test
Selected Superpowers
Instead of the changing the learning method or transporting herself to the work environment through mediators, Kathleen prioritized abilities to improve
communication, to change herself and to transform her own reality. Insight!
Reality Warping
Start your own business now and adapt your learning experience to the challenges you face in the process.
Kathleen’s Feedback
“#YOLO. As someone just getting out of school, it is the best time to start you own business. Yes, you may make mistakes and fall on your face but then you have a more in-depth point-of-view about what real business requirements are. You will be a much greater asset to future employers with some independent learning on your hands. Other side-- you may actually succeed and never have to worry about finding your own job again.”!
Prototype
Test
Perception & Communication
Empathy -‐ Apply for volunteering in hospitals or con)nuing care centers in Toronto. - Join an associa)on related to your area of interest.
Power Sensing
Transportation Summoning -‐ Ask friends and family to involve you in problem
solu)on challenges they face in their jobs. Portal Creation -‐ Write companies asking for the opportunity to
spend a week learning from their professionals. Dimensions Travel -‐ Ask friends and family to join them for a day at
work.
Reality Manipulation Animation -‐ exercise: Apply what was learned in school to your
household.
Reality Warping -‐ Start your own business now and adapt your learning experience to the challenges you face in the process. -‐ Do extra-‐curricular courses.
Brainstorming Ideate
Developing Kathleen’s Superpowers
Method Oriented Chi
-‐ Ask teachers to incorporate real life case studies during lectures. -‐ Ask teachers for assignments to solve real life case studies.
Mentally-Based Superhuman Memory
-‐ Summarize the extensive notes taken during lectures and experiments into a short form reference document in bullet point form. It is a quick reference material that can be useful in the workplace.
Self-Change Pheromone Manipulation
-‐ Take the )me to create an aRrac)ve professional profile for yourself. Make sure to bullet-‐point the knowledge acquired over the years in University.
Telescopic Vision
-‐ exercise: simplify the thinking process behind what was learned in school applying it in daily ac)vi)es. -‐ exercise: every )me you see something you really like, imagine yourself in a mee)ng room with all the people responsible for making it a success. What goes on there? Exercise your thinking of needs, resources and solu)ons.
X-Ray Vision
-‐ Offer small local business to apply what you're learning in school to their business. -‐ Connect with a Health Care professional. Work on a solu)on for a simple (but relevant) problem/need together. -‐ Become a voice in your area of interest. Get involved, put yourself out there and be open to connect with other people. Use Social Media in your favor. -‐ Get a job, any job, and find areas where you could apply what you're learning in school to improve yours and/or the business' performance.
Merging
Sonic Scream
Elasticity
Selected Superpowers Ideate
“I selected the ones I am most likely to do.”!
Instead of the changing the learning method or transporting herself to the work environment through mediators, Kathleen prioritized abilities to improve
communication, to change herself and to transform her own reality. Insight!
Power Sensing Join an associa)on related to your
area of interest to improve networking and extend knowledge (e.g.: ITAC -‐ Informa)on Technology
Associa)on of Canada)
Reality Warping
Start your own business now and adapt your learning experience to the challenges you face in the process.
Merging
Offer small local business to apply what you're learning in school to their business. Both parts win with the
experience.
Connect with a Health Care professional. Understand their job,
the challenges, and share ideas. Work on a solu)on for a simple (but
relevant) problem/need together.
Sonic Scream Become a voice in your area of interest. Share informa)on, share experiments, ask ques)ons, write essays, suggest solu)ons and start conversa)ons. Get involved, put yourself out there and be open to connect with other people. Use social media (such as blogs, Facebook, TwiRer, LinkedIn, etc.) in your favor.
Empathy Map Empathize
“I’m an early twenty-something trying to figure out what exactly I want to be when I grow up.”
“I was going to learn how to save the world.”
“Face the job-force and actually contribute.”
“There is not much I have learned from University that I would not have been able to learn outside but it will give me a bit more respect on the other side.”
“We are only being prepared in getting the best marks on a 50 question multiple-choice exam- that is not real life.”
- It is only natural that aspirations will change with time and experience, but it seems fair to say that the University contributed to structuring Kathleen’s career goals.
- Traded Traditional, Prestigious and Academic Education for Hands-On, Progressive, Community oriented Education.
- The feeling that the educational organization is not prioritizing what matters “in real life” and the lack of engagement between institution and student turned university into a mere formality.
- Somewhere along the line, the learning experience ceased to be the main focus and the certification at the end of the course became the ultimate goal.
SAY THINK
FEEL “Next step for me is to truly brand myself, figure out what makes me different from every other Joe-Shmoe out there and learn to project that to the world.”
Problem Statement Define
A highly-personable, dynamic and culturally curious student of Commerce in IT
Management, with great confidence and strong goal orientation needs a better
way to incorporate “real life”/work and education because this could help her
understand what differentiates her from other professionals out there.
Name: Kathleen
Age: 23
Status: student at Ryerson University
Lives in Toronto/ON, Canada
Personality: highly personable, dynamic and
culturally curious.
Lifestyle Segmentation Profile: “Succeeder”*
Brief description:
“I’m currently working on my Bachelors of Commerce
in IT Management. I chose to pursue this degree
because it is the most applicable University degree to
what I want to be doing when I graduate. I would like
to own or manage a product development company
specializing in the Health Care field. This is why I am
working on a certificate in Health Informatics at the
same time, also at Ryerson.”
“I’m an early twenty-something trying to figure out what exactly I want to be when I grow up.”!
* Meaning: Strong goal orientation, confidence, and need for control. Based on 4 C’s - Young & Rubicam’s Psychographic Segmentation Tool. For more information, please visit: http://bit.ly/18ZCdEl
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Meet Kathleen Empathize
Career Mindset
“I am more aware at this point of what kind of human capital we need in this world right now. I am currently pursuing a degree that, I hope, will give me more concrete skills to face the job-force and actually contribute.”
“I was going to learn how to save the world.”!
“I seriously considered entering college first to learn plumbing or another craft, something that would always be in demand. After spending a year abroad I decided to study International Development at McGill.”
Before University:
After University:
“Face the job-force and actually contribute.”!
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It is only natural that aspirations will change with time and experience, but it seems fair to say that the University contributed to structuring Kathleen’s career goals. Insight!
Empathize
“After three years at McGill, I learned what true University Bureaucracy was and decided that it wasn’t for me. When deciding where I would go to next, Ryerson was by far my top choice. Ryerson offers the designation of being a University but with the hands on perks of being a College.”
“Ryerson is Canada’s leader in innovative, career-focused education and a university clearly on the move. It is a distinctly urban university with a mission to serve societal needs, and a long-standing commitment to engaging its community.” *
“McGill University is one of Canada's best-known institutions of higher learning and one of the leading universities in the world. With students coming to McGill from some 150 countries, our student body is the most internationally diverse of any research-intensive university in the country.” *
Traditional, Prestigious, Academic Hands-On, Progressive, Community Oriented
* Information retrieved from each University official website’s “About” pages.
traded for!Insight!
Educational Journey Empathize
“I am not a typical student, I struggle learning through normal classroom delivery which means most of my learning is done independently. I am hoping that this year, my final year, I will be able to learn things which are a bit more applicable to my field. It helps that I now have a more concrete grasp on what I would like to do after graduation.”
“Being completely honest, there is not much I have learned from University that I would not have been able to learn outside but it will give me a bit more respect on the other side.”!
Somewhere along the line, the learning experience ceased to be the main focus and the certification at the end of the course became the ultimate goal. Insight!
Learning Experience Empathize
“We are only being prepared in getting the best marks on a 50 question multiple-choice exam- that is not real life.”!
The feeling that the educational organization is not prioritizing what matters “in real life” and the lack of engagement between institution and student turned university
into a mere formality. Insight!
“Give me real life challenges; how to hire someone, fire someone, how to
adjust fix my accounting books or how to find a bug in my software and I
would say that university was very
beneficial.”
“If I were a bit better at networking and stuff I would probably say (it
helps) for sure. Because I spend most of my time away from
the University Organized events I
would have to say no.”
Empathize
School-to-Work Transition
Kathleen’s 5-years career plan “ By the end of the next five years I see myself owning my own product management firm, even if I am the only employee. I am currently working at getting there by taking every opportunity I can, independent from school, to learn everything there is to know about Continuing Care and Health Informatics alongside some interesting tech things. ! Next step for me is to truly brand myself, figure out what makes me different from every other Joe-Shmoe out there and learn to project that to the world.!!
"" "" "" ""Wish me luck!”!
Empathize