What Employers

Want Most and Get Least

from Grads

Barnaby Dorfman / PayScale.com

Kristen Hamilton / Koru

Tony Wagner / Expert-in-Residence, Harvard Innovation Lab

Zachary First / The Drucker Institute

For nearly 100 years, the path to employment in the United States has been simple.

Attend a great college. Get a great job.

Work Gets More Specialized

Trends in U.S. Job Task Content 1960 - 2012

After the Great Recession,

the Economy is Improving

of companies anticipate improved financial performance in 2015

of companies report plans to add staff in 2015

73%

50%

Source: PayScale’s Compensation Best Practices Report 2015

But Grads Aren’t Reaping

the Benefits

of employers don’t expect to change their compensation strategies to accommodate millennials

of millennials say they are underemployed

53%

46%

Source: PayScale.com

Grads Don’t Have Skills

Employers Want

of employers report a lack of skills causes “significant problems in terms of cost, quality, and time” or worse

36%

Source: McKinsey

But They Do Have Debt

Janet YellenChair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

“The debt loads certainly are high enough that they may play a role in, for example, making it hard for people to buy first homes, to build a down payment…”

“We’re just beginning to understand how the millennials are behaving,” she said. “They’re certainly waiting longer to buy houses, to get married, they have a lot of student debt, they seem quite worried about housing as an investment, they’ve had a tough time in the job market.”

“

”

Today, that path is anything but simple for

Job seekers like Monica

I worked hard to earn adegree in sociology, racked up

$70,000 in debt, and now EMPLOYERS TELL ME I HAVE NO

APPLICABLE SKILLS.

Disconnected from employers’ needs52%

unemployed /underemployed $150B70%

non-applieddegrees

“

”

Talent managers like Laszlo

Laszlo BockSr. VP of People Operations

Google

Today, that path is anything but simple for

G.P.A.’s ARE WORTHLESS AS A CRITERIA FOR HIRING

[…] we found that they don’t predict anything.

$60B250

resumes per job opening53%

can’t find qualifiedcandidates

$8-12Kper employee hire

20-30%are bad hires

“

”

Why Don’t Students Have

These Qualities?

In a world where knowledge has become a free commodity…

The capacity to innovate – to solve problems creatively or to bring new possibilities to life –

is the single most important competitive advantage for individuals and organizations

The Culture of School vs.

The Culture of Innovation

• Individual Achievement versus Collaboration

• Compartmentalized Knowledge & Specialization versus Problem-based, Multi-disciplinary Problem Solving

• Compliance versus Engagement

• Risk Avoidance versus Trial and Error

– The resilience and self-confidence that comes from learning from mistakes and surviving “failure”

• Extrinsic versus Intrinsic Motivation

– Play, Passion, and Purpose = perseverance

Pensions: A Great Measure of

Loyalty Has Come and Gone

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2008

Percent of U.S. private-sector workers covered by defined-benefit plans

Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute

Learning to Be Engaged at Work

It’s not “where you go,” it’s “how you do it”

The Six Collegiate Determinants

of Being Engaged at Work1. Having a professor who cares about you as a

person

2. Having a professor who makes you excited about learning

3. Having a professor who encourages you to pursue your dreams

4. Having an internship or job where you can apply what you are learning in the classroom

5. Being actively involved in extracurricular activities and organizations

6. Working on projects that take a semester or more to complete

Having 1-3 together

doubles one’s odds of being engaged at

work.

Having 4-6 together

doubles one’s odds of being engaged at

work.

Source: 2014 Gallup-Purdue Index Report

These Determinants Are Rare

strongly agree they had all 6 of these experiences during college

strongly agree they had 4, 5 and 6

strongly agree they had 1, 2 and 314%

6%

3

%

out of 30,000 graduates…

Source: 2014 Gallup-Purdue Index Report

The KORU7

GRIT RIGOR POLISHIMPACT CURIOSITY

TEAMWORK OWNERSHIP

Relevant skills

Real work experience

Access to networks

Better signal

Fresh talent pool

Evidence of readiness

Marketplace Needs