Tuesday, May 28, 2024
I’ve been thinking about new recruits and maximizing opportunities to attract young workers to our industry. Let me introduce you to a couple of terrific young people who are potentially interested in working in your business. Their recent experiences might cause you to rethink where you find new talent and how you engage with them. For today, we’ll call them Sophia and Carl.
Sophia and Carl are each high school seniors, bright and advanced kids, enrolled in college courses for credit. Sophia is a creative type with an interest in marketing; she has a real talent for it. Despite still being a teenager, Sophia has amassed impressive results in the field of social media. Carl is more of an analytical, numbers type guy. In their Business 101 college course, they each took advantage of the internship opportunity offered. Each went to work at a local business for the semester, for a few hours each day as their schedule allowed.
At the conclusion of their semester, the students gave a formal presentation to the class and guests, a compilation report of what they learned, how the experience went, and how it impacted their journey forward. Their parents and the employers in the program were invited to attend.
When it was Sophia’s turn to present, her employer was there to cheer her on. It turns out the learning wasn’t omni-directional, everyone benefited. The employer let everyone know what an asset Sophia had been to the company and highlighted some of the things Sophia’s work colleagues for a semester learned from her. Sophia’s presentation featured examples of marketing-centric work projects she had been given an opportunity to focus on, and in some cases run with. She talked about learning how to take input from others constructively, how to plan and execute a project through from idea to drawing board to existence to launch. In short, she learned key aspects of how to take a new product to market.
She proudly related how on two occasions she constructed and presented information to executives at her company, how nervous she was during the presentations, and how relieved she was when they were over and well received. Everyone at the company was thrilled to hear that Sophia wanted to stay on during the summer, part time, to continue the engagement and see some of her projects currently in-flight the rest of the way through. This was a win-win-win.
Carl, however, did not have a winning or beneficial experience. Carl went to a different employer for his internship. Despite participating in the program, maybe Carl’s employer hadn’t thought all the way through what meaningful engagement would look like. When Carl recounted his learning for the semester, it was all about document scanning. It seems Carl’s employer had a task that needed completed and found in Carl someone to do it. All semester long, Carl took old paper documents from dusty bankers boxes and processed them through a scanner. That’s it. That’s all. That was his job. You can imagine that Carl’s final presentation to the classroom left everyone feeling the disappointment he had shouldered for months. His employer did not even attend this end of semester presentation and celebration.
When I tell you this next part, your heart will sink a little bit more. Carl really likes the law and analyzing numbers. Carl likes insurance and thinks he might want to be on the underwriting or actuarial side of the business. What could you teach Carl during an internship? Wouldn’t you be turning cartwheels if you had 16 weeks with a kid like this in your business?
I find myself thinking of these two often. Sophia broadened and engaged, understanding that creativity and office work are not mutually exclusive. Teaching others at her workplace while also learning. It’s a kind of alchemy that benefits everyone.
And then Carl, who stuck it out despite the drudgery, has no new skills to show for it nor a positive experience to draw upon. The heck of it? I know there are many of you out there wishing you could find a kid just like Carl to introduce the basics of our business to, in hopes of attracting new and curious talent.
I hope you’re well into your own pay it forward phase of your career. If you are, I hope you’ll reach out to engage a Sophia or a Carl. If you plan and intentionally craft an experience like Sophia’s employer did, prepare to be delighted when you realize how much you gain from it too.
And please, whatever you do, don’t discourage another Carl. We need all the Carls we can get!
Until Next Time,
Mary Schuster
Chief Knowledge Officer
October Research, LLC