CAREERS LABLaboratorul de Cariere

IMPACT REPORT

Pilot edition - Cluj-Napoca - May 2015

program story

PROGRAM IMPACTIMPRESSIONS

target group

Contents

Unique pilot project based on immersion learning techniques mixed with experiential learning and exposure to role models. a complete, experience thanks to the many stakeholders.

66 Subscribers of which 38 participants completed the projectThe project was promoted online, via social networks and through students’ organizations to 2nd year students from 7 faculties from the Babes-Bolyai University, in Cluj-Napoca. Alexandra P. - trainer Scoala de Valori

“Being the first in your study year, doesn’t come with the certainty of a job. Unfortunately the students discover this only when they begin to go to job interviews. I think this is the biggest added-value that Careers Lab brings to the students: a wakeup call early enough to give them the opportunity to plan and do things differently.”

Vlad Sandu - participant“I discovered the requirements of the employers. I discovered that the German language is important. New perspectives that I have never taken into consideration. I wish that the program will continue to be developed in the future. It has been an incredible experience.”

At the end of the project, the expectations of 96 percent of the students have been metMost of the students joined the project to find out more about career opportunities, to know new people, to get a better picture of what their career path could be and to understand recruiters’ expectations. A significant percentage of the students who joined the project had no expectations.

All students were impressedIn the feedback forms, the participants appreciated that the project was professionally ran, the atmosphere and contexts were benefic and the leaders from the local companies were inspirational. As a result of the project they will start or continue to make a career plan, will set clear objectives for their professional future and will use what they learned to maximize the chances to find the job they want.

The correct positioning attracted the right target group from Babes-Bolyai University.

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Bogdan Balanean - participant“It was a unique experience. I feel really lucky that I had the chance to be among the 40 participants and I feel more informed and more powerful. I hope the program will expand!”next steps page 15

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Successful Novelty

programstoryA premiere in Romania. Mixing immersion learning with experiential learning and exposure to role models for a complete, life-changing experience.

The project was a major endevour involving corporate guest speakers, experiential workshops and visits in local companies where executive board members invested their time in developing the young generations through story sharing and tips and tricks.

The power ofengaged stakeholders

The first week consisted of experiential learning workshops on skills building. The major topics were: self-discovery, self-awareness, communication and presentation skills, CV making and interviewing skills. The second week covered mostly problem solving, entrepreneurship and decision making mixed with company visits, immersing the students in the work atmosphere of the host companies, and closing the program with the participants by making a clear individual career plan with goals for readiness to join the workforce in 2016.

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CONTEXT WORK MARKET REALITY

programoverviewCareer plan? What’s that? Career development, career choices, employment readyness, uncharted teritory.

With the changing educational trends, versatility in educational courses, availability of masses of qualified personnel, the competition for job acquisition and job sustainability is becoming tougher and tougher. To get an edge over the competitors, students are left with no choice but to add value to their hard skills with soft skills to exhibit their true potential.

Hard skills are academic skills, experience and level of expertise, while soft skills are self-developed, interactive, communication, human and transferable skills.

Literature suggests that hard skills

contribute to only 15% of one’s success while the remaining 85% is made by soft skills. Most employers these days want to hire, retain and promote persons who are dependable, resourceful, ethical, self directed, effective communicators, willing to work and learn and who have a positive attitude.

Careers Lab program is designed to engage students in the process of making informed career decisions, while also gaining an understanding and learning of decision-making, as well as getting a helicopter view on how their cultural and family values play a role in the career development process.

Careers Lab used non-formal and applied methods of instruction to stimulate cognitive and behavioral learning - such as peer-to-peer learning, experiential and immersion learning.

This course was designed to enhance the students’ employability and increase the likelihood of getting the jobs they want after finishing university in the summer of 2016. It also enabled students to develop the skills and insight to successfully navigate the current and future challenges they face when making career choices within a changing, global economy.

The purpose of the Careers Lab program was to engage students in a rigorous educational experience where one can learn about and apply career concepts, self-reflective analysis and career decision making principles.

As a result, each student left with a strategy to launch their career development. Individuals’ career strategies were clearly displayed in a portfolio that reflected the self assessment and exploration exercises of the group and defined career goals, objectives, and options.

This course provided students with strategies to anticipate and effectively deal with lifelong professional challenges such as work/life balance, career fulfillment, and/or career transitions.

career action plans - mobile phone

pictures from the presentations and exibition made by

the students in the last day of the

program.3

OVERVIEW PROGRAM PURPOSE

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eek 1W # 4-8 May workshops on soft skills & employability skills

The first week of the program consisted exclusively of class-based workshops. In the workshops the trainers from Scoala de Valori used mostly experiential and peer

to peer learning, study cases and sharing from experience, simulations and even an “in tray” exercise to prepare the future job candidates for assessment centers. The role the trainers had mostly, was that of the facilitator who creates learning contexts, assumes a neutral position and takes the participants out of their confort zone in order to improve the needed skills faster than using traditional methods. The workshops aimed to build a stronger self-awareness discussing about values and ethics, and to jump-start communication, persuasion, presentation skills as well as personal effectiveness and organizing skills.

“In Scoala de Valori we consider that in order to figure out what you want to become is very important that first you figure out who you are, what you value, what motivates you, what are you strengths and weaknesses and only then we can support you in the endevour to make an action plan for the future. Your plan needs to be aligned with who you are. And before you start with the first step, you need to learn some tools like decision making techniques and systemic thinking, that will make your journey easier. Thus, all the learning projects we design, start with a self-awareness module and then, before making a plan, we expose the participants to as many different learning methodologies and people as possible.” - Armina Sîrbu, Learning Strategist and trainer, Scoala de Valori.

“You were opened, told us about your personal life experiences and this helped me a lot. I liked the passion, motivation and your communication skills.” - Mariana Dragomir, participant

About the trainers

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Program Process

Step 1 : Understanding self

[skills, likes/dislikes and values]

Step 2: Employabilty soft skills

[develop soft skills & increase visibility]

Step 3: Exploring careers

[what options are out there]

Step 4: Making decisions

[comparing options, setting goals]

Step 5: Finding employment

[implementing your career plan]

It is said that whatever is your genetic baggage and whatever experience you gain, the quality of your life is determined by the personal vision of who you want to become, by the actions you make in order to get what you want and by taking full responsibility over your own future.

Well structured, with plenty of tips and inspirational examples, enabled by experienced leaders, the visits and sessions delivered by companies’ representatives, helped the students to either reshape their understanding of the needed skills for employability in the present economic context; or to start looking actively for internship opportunities within the local companies in order to complete their educational portfolio with hands-on experience, in sync with the current business requirements.

BCR, Bombardier, Arobs, Electrogrup, Tenaris Silcotub and Ax Perpetuum enabled the participants to better understand the current work market, to identify the criteria that employers use in talent recruitment and to absorb precious information about the development programs they offer to their employees.

I was positively impressed by the openess, interest and enthusiasm the business people transmitted, by the authentic support they showed and by their belief that offering value to the society through working for and with youth, is a real contribution to (re)building a healthy community where children become autonomous, have solid values, act responsibly and learn to produce positive changes. I am glad these people exist! :)

Silvia Bogdan Head of Corporare Engagement - Scoala de Valori

Our trainers and consultants developed a 5 step process for the Careers Lab program, with the company visits at step 3 as a catalyst for action:

week

1we

ek 1

week

2we

ek 2

week

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how useful did you find the presentations of the companies?

58,3 - very useful 41,7 - useful

Arobs open space offices, relaxation room for team building with boardgames and the story of the versatile economist who became a web developer.

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# 11-15 May guest speakers & company visits + hands-on skills workshops

eek 2WT

he second week of the program was a mixture of immersion learning with class-based workshops. The immersion happened by visiting 5 companies and

seeing first-hand what means to work in their offices: BCR. Bombardier, Arobs, Ax Perpetuum and Electrogrup. The companies selected cover different industries: banking, shared service center, IT, a local production entrepreneurial company and electricity. In the headquarters the students were welcomed by executive managers who shared stories from how they got their first job to what they look for in a candidate. The immersion learning was a catalyst that offered clarity and motivation to build onto during the last workshops on: emotional intelligence, adaptive decision making, systemic

thinking and the practical career action plan design and presentation final quest before the closing of the program.

“Many of them stepped behind the scenes in a company for the first time. They listened to the stories of the employees, they asked questions - they saw behind the curtain that covers the corporate world from the eyes of a student, breaking the spell and understanding that the managers of a company are human beings, too and that they used to be like them when they were students. They discovered the importance of authenticity and got the confirmation that they need to improve their skills continuously if they plan to grow.” - Bogdan Hotea, Project Manager, Scoala de Valori.

“The visits made me aware that: teamwork, communication, honesty, hospitality and passion for your profession are very important. Visiting these companies was a real immersion in their <natural habitat>. So when I will graduate, the <interior of a company> will not be a novelty for me. Now I know what to expect. I am sure this project will grow. I am sure it changed the lives of many students and their perspective about life and I am sure it will change even more.” - Florina Mihalache, participant

About the companies representatives

BCR building, the corporate sales team giving career tips in their office, the retail floor and the conference room. The general manager and his team shared their career path stories with the students and gave tips for job nterviews.

how useful did you find the visits to the companies?

66,7 - very useful 23,8 - useful 9,5 - a bit useful0 - very little useful, not useful

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Electrogrup building, the meeting room where we found out the company values, the professional path of each member of the board and the view from the rooftop caffee.

The program attracted students with above average results in school, from the 2nd year of study, who are interested in personal and professional developement and have no career plan yet. Indeed the majority of students who applied and were selected, when filling-in a self-assessment form at the beginning of the program, have described themselves as expecting to find out more about career opportunities, to meet new people and to get a better picture

of what their career path could be, as well as understand what the recruiters expect. The big majority has never done an internship or seen the inside of a company. During the program, several tests have been applied, such as the DiSC psychometric and the self-assessment questionnaire for skills of a successful young adult. From these we discovered, and discussing with the participants, they confirmed, that the big majority are not from Cluj-Napoca, live in the dorms, have a difficult family situation and though they could easily choose to get married and have kids and live in their home city/village, they constantly take themselves out of their confort zone, wanting to achieve more than what is expected from them by their close ones. Though most of them are introverted, they are aware they need to take action in order to accomplish their dreams, they want to dream big, but are not aware of the opportunities they have and the tools they could use. They are persistent once they find a purpose. Most of them aim to become independent and though family is important, earning their own money concerns them more and more.

Young adult success surveythe 5 categories of skills that were self-assessed at the start of the program: academic skills development, study and thinking skills, personal issues, planning for the future, rescources needed. on a scale from 1 to 40.

RESULTSThe survey is based on the international acclaimed “work skills 2020” research report done by The Institute for the Future (http://iftf.org) and covers 18 skills grouped in 5 major categories. In order to make the most of this tool, after assessment, we had an elaborate discussion about their results. The academic skills average per group was 31 (out of a maximum of 40), as well as the study and thinking skills. The personal issues (such as motivation, self-esteem, relationships, conflict resolution and health)

had an average of 31, meaning this is not a concern area, but there is room for improvement, especially in the health area as it seems the “eating healthy” education is lacking. The “planning for the future” skills category (includes time management, money management, personal purpose and career planning skills) had an average of 30 while “career planning” alone had an average of 26 - this being the lowest score of them all. In regards to the needed resources in order to become successful, they consider they do not have enough support and this category scored an average of 28.

37 percent of the students are studying economics and business management25 percent study history and philosophy 12 percent study biology and geologythe others studying chemistry, literature, psychology, law and politics.90 percent are girls

target group

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Program Impact

pilot impactExpectations surpassed. Both the students participating as well as the companies representatives, considered Careers Lab as a very useful initiative. Companies being interested to get involved in young adults’ development in the future, too.

At the end of the program we have allocated 2 hours to conduct a research that aimed to discover the opinions of the participants in regards to the impact

of the program, their view about what they learn in university, their perspective about non-formal education and how helpful were the presentations and visits to the companies. The local companies’ interventions (either presentations, discussions or speeches during the company visits), were very appreciated. The skills / competencies that are gained from both university and non-formal education are considered by most of the Careers Lab participants to be rather of general use, not specific to a profession. Therefore a question remains: from where do we get profession specific knowledge, skills and specialization nowadays? More details on pages 13-14.

q2: To what extent to you consider that the faculty you study offers you the competencies/ skills necessary to find a job?The participants from Careers Lab consider that the faculty they study currently offers them the necessary competencies/skills to find a job. Most of them consider the faculty as being the place where they can mostly gain general competencies (teamwork, critical thinking, time management, communication, money management), rather than gaining knowledge specific to a profession.

q1: Please tell us to what extent did participating in the Careers Lab help you to improve the following skills? It seems, participating in the project, has improved mostly the communication skills, decision making and CV writing skills.

q3: What type of skills/competencies does university develop?

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q4: According to your opinion, which of the following types of skills/ competencies can be gained/developed through non-formal education (volunteering, courses, internships, etc.)?

q5: Through what types of non-formal education do you consider that you can develop the skills/competencies that were specified in the previous 2 questions?

The same conclusion that goes for university, is valid for the types of skills and competencies that are gained from non-formal education. Most of the students consider non-formal education as a source for skills that can be used in a big array of different professions. Very few are the ones who consider that this type of education can offer or develop skills and

competencies that are specific to a field of interest or to a specific profession. Regarding the types of non-formal education that can offer or develop these categories of skills and competencies, the participants from Careers Lab consider that the trainings and volunteering are the most suitable, followed by internships, traineeships and participating in conferences, projects or programs. The categories of non-formal education with the smallest impact are considered to be courses and self-education methods such as reading books or watching educational videos of specific topics.

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next stepsWorking groups

A brainstorming session of the participants in working groups with 3 given questions (#1 - what was not in Careers Lab and it would have been useful? #2 - what common keywords / skills were mentioned by different employers and are not covered in school, wether or not were covered in Careers Lab workshops? #3 - what suggestions do you have regarding which

are the most suitable trainers to deliver this program, in general?) resulted in the following ideas:

One of the working groups’ resulting flipchart.

#1: Topics they would have liked included:Fashion sense; How to overcome failure; How to start a business; Keep the diversity of the fields (visits, company presentations); How to transform your passion into a career; More practical solutions; More public speaking; More persuasion skills; Organize it during summer or at the beginning of the university year; More company visits.

#2: Keywords different employers said, repeating most oftenly:Thinking, adapting, teamwork, communication, honesty, wish to learn, authenticity, courage, initiative, flexibility, not wanting to become a leader from the beginning; Critical and systemic thinking, priority setting, flexibility, practice (experience), determination; Passion, well written CV, perseverance, “everything can be learned”, minimal knowledge about the company and its values, wish to learn, motivation.

#3: Attitudes and characteristics Careers Lab trainers should have:To encourage participants to create a personal pitch, to share personal experiences, to be opened, not strict, fun, energetic, flexible. This edition “In the first week the trainers were well chosen, because they had to open the atmosphere with energy and enthusiasm. In the second week we learned useful information (theoretical and practical) and the trainers explained very well. They were well prepared in both the first and the second week.”

Online platform

Most oftenly mentioned advantage of having some of the Careers Lab sessions online, is accessibility, the opportunity to learn from the confort of your own

house, thus making the sessions accessible to the participants who didn’t have the possibility to join face-to-face meetings. On the other hand, the ones who consider that adding online sessions would bring added-value to the project, bring to our attention the impossibility of joining and actively participating in virtual meetings, the human interaction being, from their perspective, the key element in an efficient learning process. However, from the comments to the questions, a significant percentage of the participants consider “online sessions” to be rather an online platform of

the project where they can find resources at any time they want, made available by the program organizers. A quick conclusion on this topic would be that the participants have no knowledge about blended learning and the new technologies that give elearning so much potential in being dynamic and attractive thanks to multimedia advancements. Also considering their appetence for self-education, most probably the solution for this generation would be a blended learning program and not an exclusively online program. Another argument in this direction being the imense added-value that the participants recognized in the company visits and the use of interactive face-to-face workshops.

Impressions

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This project was probably the most important point in forming an opinion about what really means to be an employee in a multinational, the concept of teamwork, and what means to have a supervisor and to be responsible. I wish that you continue what you started, to develop and to hear more news in the future about this project. Success! - Larisa-Maria Moldovan, Participant Careers Lab

It helped me to orient myself regarding a job. I liked that those people made time for us. Before the visits I thought that these companies have a strict system and that their activities are strict, too, but it’s different. - Ramona Iurcea, Participant Careers Lab

Many of the students I interracted with during the program have expressed their regret regarding the fact that few of their colleagues will have the chance to have such an experience. I think it is important that the students are put in contact with the local business environment in order to have a good overview of the career options that could suit them. Each city has something specific and I think that expanding the program will benefit not only the students, but also the local companies, which will have the chance to get in contact with possible applicants for their future job openings. - Bogdan Hotea, Project Manager Careers Lab, Scoala de Valori

The biggest benefit the participants get from the trainings would be discovering more about themselves (through tests and interaction with their colleagues) and meeting more people of their age from different faculties. Being an environment which goes by the rules of authenticity and no judgement, in which team work is really valued, it enables the students to really open up, discover who they are and, most important, discover the ones around them - their strengths and common points. I believe most of what the lessons from Universities teach are out of fashion and do not apply to the working field. I remember studying and working at the same time and

how the infos clashed. Classes should benefit from talks or even design created with the help of the specialists who actively work in the field, experienced people from local companies, who know what is needed and stay up-to-date - this would make the information more relevant and more likely to be heard and absorbed. - Irina Ionescu, Trainer Careers Lab, Scoala de Valori

Photo by Alexandru Serban - www.alexserban.roDesigned by Rent eBrains - www.rentebrains.com

Program Partners

The „Babeș-Bolyai” (UBB) University from Cluj has as a main mission to promote a culture of competence in science, technology, organizations and citizenship, both at local and national and international level. The students from UBB are always encouraged to stay up to date with the work market and to capitalize on the knowledge gathered in any of the 21 faculties of the university. We were impressed by the warmth they welcomed us with and we knew right away that together we can make this project a success. UBB has last generation equipment they made available to us for this project.