We Taught Grads to Shrink Themselves
No one should have to shrink themselves to get hired. The skills grads build through work, school and life deserve to be seen.
Gina Jeneroux ·
Before most people land their first 'real' job, they've already done plenty of real work. If you spent weekends behind a coffee counter, you learned how to settle a customer who was having a terrible day. A season as team captain taught you to rally people when the score turned against you. Some of you helped raise younger siblings and quietly became the person the whole household counted on.
Then it came time to write your resume, and you likely left most of it out.
I've been thinking a lot about this since I saw the recent UCLA research, indicating there is NO clear AI-driven spike in unemployment among recent college grads. Although this is a relief, it doesn't explain why so many young people feel stuck. The New York Fed fills in the picture: 42% of recent graduates are underemployed, working in jobs that ask far less than they can offer.
Here's what I think is happening. For decades, the talent market taught all of us to fit into a mold. We were told to be reductive, squeezing our lives into one page, framed by a degree and a set of job titles. Grads were encouraged to edit out the experiences that showed what they could DO, because nobody told them these things actually counted.
Employers can't see skills that never made it onto the page.
The encouraging news is that schools are starting to change the script. For example, International Business University, where I'm Professor of Practice in Future Work & Skills, recently launched the IBU Signal. It's a comprehensive skills record that validates what a graduate brings to the table. It's IBU's response to growing calls from employers to develop graduates who are workforce-ready.
California's Community Colleges are pushing in a similar direction. The Chancellor's Office is spearheading a bold goal, to have at least 250,000 students earn college credit for their prior experience by 2030. This shifts the focus from earning credit for prior learning to getting credit for prior work, school and life, accelerating both time-to-degree and employability.
Employers have work to do to develop greater skills insights, too, but that's a story for another post.
When it comes to helping talented people find jobs, here's where I'm committed to driving change:
No one should have to shrink themselves to get hired.
The visibility of skills is a big part of what we do at AETHEON. We work with schools and employers to help grads understand, value and create impact through their skills, and we help individuals find the space and confidence to show up as their whole selves.
What would YOUR skills look like, if you didn't shrink yourself?