Empathize and Defineabout 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.

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

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.

• 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.

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

• 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

• 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.

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.

"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.

• 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”

As a student, what do you think are the "Must Improve" areas during 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.

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

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 themselvesMotivate

them to get ready for the future

Change the mindset of the students

Problem StatementA 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.