|
Leaders Can Step Up for Young Adults Now
By: Bob DiMeo, Chief Executive Officer
| |
Imagine it’s early February of this year, you are a junior in college and you feel pretty good about life. Classes are as interesting as ever, you enjoy the social side of school and perhaps most important to your future, you lined up a sweet summer internship that most certainly will help you land a job before graduating next year. Then in a scene no one could have imagined, the pandemic yanks the rug out from under you.
Yes, sheltering at home crimps social life and you struggle a bit adjusting to online learning, but all that is temporary and perhaps even useful in grooming your ability to adapt. What is not temporary and very well may negatively impact you – for two decades or more – is the loss of that internship. According to one study, young people graduating from college during a recession earn 17.5 percent less annually compared to peers entering better labor markets… and the lower wage effect can persist for nearly 20 years (Kahn 2010).
Fast forward to the beginning of your final semester, Spring 2021, when (hopefully) the pandemic is mostly behind us and companies are once again hiring. You’ve persevered, maintained good grades and even secured an interview at a firm where you’d love to begin your career. But all that progress comes to a screeching halt when you are asked about relevant experience, particularly over the past year, and you have no response.
| |
Leaders can make a difference even without hiring
| |
Landing a job during an economic downturn is always difficult, though think of how great the challenge for rising college seniors or recent grads who, through no fault of their own, are unable to obtain on-the-job learning experience. The impact on BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) communities with less access to business professionals could be devastating. “The quickest way to stop a bullet is with a job” says my friend and former leader of Year Up Chicago, Jack Crowe.
Early one morning just several weeks ago, the potential human toll of this weighed on me as I pondered whether it was possible to step up and positively alter the perilous future for many rising college seniors. Unfortunately, like most companies, DiMeo Schneider put hiring on hold. It then occurred to me that we could develop a twist on the typical internship (the kind most companies cancelled). What if we were able to enroll 50 young adults, create a dozen or so learning modules (investment research, compliance, marketing, HR, etc.), assign each participant a mentor, complete the program by mid-August (before students return to school), and keep things efficient, both in our delivery and how students would engage.
| |
That morning, I shared the idea with my wife over breakfast (she’s credited with the name) and soon after with our amazing HR team, partners and other colleagues. Everyone loved the concept and jumped in to help. In fact, when I communicated the initiative to DiMeo Schneider’s 180 professionals and mentioned we’d need 50 mentors, we had 57 volunteers in just one business day!
So here we are full steam ahead and the numbers are heartwarming:
| |
• Accepted Participants: 123
| |
o 73 percent Minority
o 100 percent with no job or summer internship
| |
• Colleges / Universities Represented: 54
| |
o Coast-to-coast including city colleges, Ivy League and beyond
| |
Some skeptics suggest this wouldn’t gain traction unless participants are paid. I countered with the fact that it is not a job but rather an educational enrichment program. The objective is to provide engagement, learning, relationship building and more, especially for those without a job or opportunity. Our university clients are enthusiastic as are many other nonprofits we serve. This may not be perfect but I’m confident it will provide dozens of young adults – many from communities in need – with an experience they can proudly speak of when interviewing for that big job.
| |
I am incredibly proud of my colleagues for their interest, effort and creativity. I also am also completely impressed with our inTURNs who are demonstrating an enormous appetite to learn and engage.
If you’re an employer and this tugs at your heart, we’d love to help you replicate our efforts. I encourage you to take action and help TURN things toward positive for these young, deserving adults.
You can learn more here DiMeo Schneider inTURNship 2020 or by contacting me or any of our professionals.
| |
| This report is intended for the exclusive use of clients or prospective clients of DiMeo Schneider & Associates, L.L.C. Content is privileged and confidential. Any dissemination or distribution is strictly prohibited. Information has been obtained from a variety of sources which are believed though not guaranteed to be accurate. Information has been obtained from a variety of sources believed to be reliable though not independently verified. Past performance does not indicate future performance. This paper does not represent a specific investment recommendation. Please consult with your advisor, attorney and accountant, as appropriate, regarding specific advice.
| |
|
|
