Ideation – Alan Rojas

Problem Statement

High potential, career-driven,

ambitious, talented Nelly

Evaluate & decide on available jobopportunities, before the job

interview

She wants to applyand land her first

entry-level job in themarket; one that best

matches her careerexpectations of: salary, schedule,

learningopportunities, job

relevance, and organizational culture

& climate.

Needs a way to

because

Note to the reader re: your feedback

• I appreciate the time you take to read mywork.

• I would appreciate it even more if, instead of writing that my work is great you told me yourthinking about my work. I’d enjoy reading yourideas, suggestions. By reading yourperspective I bring myself to think deeper. Please help me by telling me what you think.

• Be as specific as possible. Thank you.

3 selected solutions:

• Practical idea: #5

– Create simple system to evaluate, with macros, on an excel spreadsheet. In the end, it would show a list of companiesevaluated based on a set of criteria on a lickert scale. Info would come from online research and interviews among mynetwork of contacts.

• Most disruptive: #15

– Launch a segmentation research to define the top 10 or top 100 companies offering the best learning environment to theirinterns. Such companies would be awarded a distinction prize that leverages on their employer brand.

– Information on this top 10 list would be promoted amongst media and colleges to position the brands and attract talent tothem.

– A search engine would be created , where students would look up for apprenticeships there and apply through the platform.

– Students would be pre-screened before accessing the database, to allow for only the best students. Then, they would be matched.

– Platform & program costs would be subsidized by advertising of university graduate programs.

– A consulting service to companies would be offered to ensure that companies create high quality apprenticeships. Suchapprenticeships would be avaliable through the platform. Initially, the patform would focus on a certain background of majors and eventually, more backgrounds would be targeted.

• Favorite idea: #20

– Create a search engine where companies offer their apprenticeships , indicating job features & learning experience offered. Students would be matched through the platform. Once recruited, students would be offered incentives (discounts) toevaluate their learning experience at those companes.. That way, students would write reviews of companies. In a way, former apprentices would guide future apprentices/users of these companies.: Social fedback.

Obvious solutions I

1. Review Linkedin.com to check if anyonelaunched a good job offer there.

2. I’ll check my college work opportunities

3. Ask people in your network (friends & family) for references –– send them an email

– Post on facebook (in company’s fan page)

4. Use work search engines(laborum, monster, etc) and manually assessthe job offers

Obvious solutions II

5. Create my own excel spreadsheet, withpunctuations. Make a list of job offers and grade them based on the info/opinions I find and obtain from my sources (interviewing people).

6. Ask my teachers at college

7. I’ll check online (social media, forums, blogs) ifsomeone is bitching about the company I am interested in.

8. I would attend a career fair and ask questionsthere.

5 year-old solving the problem

9. Ask your mom and dad: they will know, they are old.– They can tap into their own professional networks and

introduce you to someone.

10. Go to the interview and say you’re good and state youwant an awesome job. Ask the interviewer to tell youwhy that company is a good offer for you.

11. Guess.12. Apply and play with them for a while. If you don’t like

them, you leave and find other people to be with.13. Ask your questions during the interview and look

them in the eye. If they lie, you will know. My momalways knows when I lie!

Unlimited budget

14. I’d interview Ss to create a pool of candidates, then sell access to thisdatabase to companies, so that they advertise their apprenticeshipsthere.

15. I’d run a research among top 100 or 500 companies to assess which onesoffer the best learning environment . I would offer an award at the endof the year to the “most creative learning environment” amongstemployers willing to invest in their employer brand. I would sell this infoto the media. I would create a search engine where students could find“apprenticeships” among these top brands. Students would be alsoscreened. Screening costs would be subsidized partially by participatingcompanies and also by media and universities willing to advertise theirgraduate programs among top talented young professionals across thecountry. We would consult in companies to create high-qualityapprenticeships, that they would offer in our website. Students wouldpay a low fee to access the database, companies would pay higher. Initially, we would work with students from a specific background and progressively offer apprenticeships in diverse backgrounds.

Unlimited power on laws of nature I

16. I’ll read the minds of HR managers to figure out the trends of needsamongst companies and recruit young talented individuals that meetsuch criteria. Then, I would sell to companies access to this database.

17. I would be invisible, sneak into companies, to observe the organization’spractices of culture and climate, take pictures or film them, see whetherpeople learn things there or not. Based on these observations I woulddecide if they meet our standard of a good learning environment.

18. I would brainwash the managers to create apprenticeships where peoplenecessarilly learn something there while working, through a structuredprocess… and persuade them to pay me a fine if they do not deliver ontheir promise of learning.

19. I would read in my magic ball predictions of certain companies’ futurescenario. I would show others scenes/snapshots so that they can assessif the experience within those companies suit them or not.

Unlimited power on laws of nature II

20. Create a web where companies fill forms of what theyoffer in terms of job features/experience they offer. They, they would recruit young professionals and young professionals would get somehow paid somemoney (perhaps discounts) to fill out questionnairesevaluating their experience in their respectivecompanies. That way, students themselves would be validating and assessing what the company actuallyoffers: social feedback, from real users for futureusers of these companies.

21. Every company profile in the platform would includegood and bad reviews of its current/formerapprentices.

Without money

22.Go to your college, use their wi-fi or laboratoriesto go online and research job offers.

23.Research and create own list of Best Place toWork of the last 5 years and apply to thesecompanies. Apply through their own websites.

24.Call their HR department, claim to be representing a university and ask for the HR manager email and send CV there.

25.Buy newspaper on Sunday to find a job Readand assess there if position is interesting.

Worst idea Make it work somehow

26.Apprentice: I’ll accept a trail period of engagement. If the work is good I’ll speak goodof you online, writing a good review of thisapprenticeship and after that I’ll sign anextension. If not, you let me go and I’ll speak illof your job. Your employer brand needs me, treat me well. Apprentices assessing theirown experience through the platform and guiding future apprentices: Bringing employerbrand management into apprentices hands.

Completely ridiculous solution

27.Make a video of you, upload it on youtubeand tell why a company would hire. Send ittogether with your CV to certain job offers, as a hook. Once they answer, ask themquestions and play hard to get.

28.Call company. State you’re an outstandingstudent and ask them to tell you why youshould apply there and not to anothercompany instead.