Empathize and Define. Conducted user studies and did analysis of the interviews. Included my insights with the same.

1. Empathize and Define
By: Kirti Kanitkar
Course: ‘Design Thinking Action Lab’ – Assignment 2

2. Overview
¡ I Interviewed Students who are studying and would be graduating
soon.
¡ Few who have graduated and are looking out for jobs.
¡ Conducted short interviews and also posted a questionnaire as few
students couldn't’t meet me face to face.
¡ In next slides you can view the different empathy map sections given
in various slides.

3. ‘Say’
¡ Has a goal of going in industry, to get a good job, and want to utilize
the skills that he posses.
¡ Has a job experience of a year and thought that the transition from
school to job was painful.
¡ From his prior experience, of job hunting, he explained he created a
'Resume' and got it evaluated from his friends. He kept on improving
the resume based on the inputs/ feedback he received from his
friends over the email. He must have connected twice/ thrice with his
friends for the same. Friends typically mentioned him to use "Catchy
words" in resume that would help his resume stand up in crowd.
¡ He remembers he had visited the 'Career center' for assistance on his
own. He also attended the "Career Fair" free sessions where the
students were given tips on creating their Resume, Job search,
orientation for OPT students and the process of applying for the same.
¡ At Career centers - resume building tips were given to the students
and the mock interviews were also conducted that helped students to
give an overview of the job/ interview scenario.

4. ‘Say’
¡ He has been hearing about the traditional pattern of going to school,
taking a degree and then doing a job and thus have got a willingness
to do so. He explained that it's a one and only thing that everyone is
looking forward to, to earn a living by doing a job.
¡ Students have been doing Internships / Co-op projects and thus are
pretty much sure about how the work culture is and are aware of the
same.
¡ Internships make the school to job transition very smooth.
¡ He explained not doing Internship and going directly to the job, is like
not having any assignments back in school and directly giving an
exam.
¡ He still has not began creating a resume. He says he would first update
his ’XYZWEB' profile, which he feels helps a lot, to reach out to
maximum employers or companies (1000's of them) and it is a more
interactive job networking site, compared to the ‘ABC’ or any others.
There are friends networks through which we can connect with lot of
people.

5. ‘Say’
¡ No stipulated time for job search. Few people search job within 2/3
months or few might take years to find a job.
¡ The streams or fields you belong to, affects the job market and also the
process of getting a job.
¡ In schools students are trained for doing work/ tasks or assignments, if
one has interest he or she can go to academia or be an entrepreneur.
They are not trained to do so in schools.
¡ There are placements in schools, but being entrepreneur is 'on its own
will'.
¡ There are extra credit courses or subjects like 'Education research' or
'Education Engineering' that encourages students to go into fields of
academia. However students themselves should opt for these courses
if they are interested. There is also assistance provided by Professors in
universities where students are guided to enter into academia.

6. ‘Say’
¡ He feels he can take help of ‘XYZWEB’, in job seeking and promoting
himself or else, finding a job becomes frustrating and depressing
experience rather than fun it's a shock to be in state where one has to
find job directly after being in school trained to finish the tasks and
assignments and suddenly begin a job search and fall into a state of
shock.
¡ Students even after doing Internships, don’t get exactly same
experience as that of a normal job. There would be variations and
one cannot know each and everything
¡ One has to observe and learn so for example, when the students are
invited for face to face interview they can learn by seeing, or during
internships, interviews etc.
¡ Job is finalized only when one likes the job profile. There is also a new
learning involved while one works.
¡ During schooling, there is no hands on experience of how products are
built, tested and manufactured or how issues are resolved.

7. ‘Do’
¡ He stated the importance of ‘Resume building’ but though he is few
months away from graduation, he has still not began the process of
‘resume making’ or ‘applying’.
¡ Mentioned that ‘Internships prove to be very helpful’ but never did
Internship till date.
¡ I myself visited the ‘Career center’ but did not find any students there,
though the graduation happened very recently. It was mentioned that
very few student appointments were scheduled.

8. ‘Think and Feel’
¡ People generally resume to traditional way of thinking - getting
education, stepping in industry, getting a good job and utilizing the
skills that they have.
¡ Students have multiple tasks / formalities to complete on the last day,
that makes the transition a bit difficult.
¡ People connect with peers/ friends and try to get feedback and
create/ build upon their resume.
¡ Schools have 'career centers' or 'career fairs' to encourage students to
get acquainted with the application process and jobs scenarios. But
students are not much aware of the same, or figure out about it, on
their own.
¡ Traditionally students are trained to get a degree from school and start
earning a living.

9. ‘Think and Feel’
¡ Taking a work experience while in school gives hands on experience to
the students to do very well in the future in Industry.
¡ These days the first step towards job application is considered to be
creating presence on social network site and not on resume building.
¡ People resume to and trust in social networks to connect with many
people at once.
¡ Social networks are seen as fastest way of communication and now-a
days a method of promoting oneself.
¡ Lack of direction and time management may discourage job seekers.
¡ Going in academia or being an entrepreneur is not much promoted
at school level. The students require to have their inner instincts to
flourish or excel in such professions.

10. ‘Think and Feel’
¡ Education system can provide an overview of how important all these
professions are and not just provide a list of job opportunities, but
fellowships, scholarships etc. should be given equal importance so that
incubators for newer projects is provided.
¡ Job search is considered to be a frustrating and depressing
experience.
¡ People perceive social networking as fun and easy way to promote
and connect with masses.
¡ People get to learn a lot in their job experience. That becomes a new
learning phase followed by the school learning.
¡ Holistic industrial approach and experience is lacking in today’s
academic trends and methods.

11. Problem Statement
¡ A curious, ambitious and knowledgeable student needs a system
which can support him to be placed in a best environment in which
he can adapt efficiently.