The Guardian gave some gruesome statistics on graduate employment and without being alarmist, it will continue to get worse towards the middle of next year. However, you can either see this as a time of difficulty or a time of change and opportunity. The rules for the economy are yet to be written and the leaders yet to be decided- so why not capitalize on what graduates do best …. CREATE IDEAS?
As John Lennon said once in an interview ‘there is nothing rock n roll about doing what some else has done’. This new era of economy will be driven by uncommon ideas, creativity, and innovation. Many industries are desperate for them as a matter of fact, which puts young fresh minds at a total advantage. Graduates who respond to these needs will have the competitive edge.
Stop waiting for someone to hand you an opportunity or to ‘learn on the job first,’ Just get out there and do it.
5 Things Graduates should be doing
Create new industries
Yes, instead of waiting for one to come along and capitalize on all of your newfound knowledge, start one of your own. Think Facebook (social networks). One of the next industries will be collaborative software. There are many software developers creating new online tools to help entrepreneurs communicate and share ideas. There is also coworking spaces, which will be the future of working and networking. What other industry can you start?
Create Think Tanks with other Graduates
Right now your network of people is at its tightest, so use that to start something. Form a diverse and interesting group of people and really push diversity, the last thing that you want is a room full of the same people thinking the same thing. Push away from your comfort zone to a create a group of people that will make for interesting ideas. Meet up every week and start thinking, observing, creating, prototyping, and discussing.
Create Partnerships
Once your ideas have flowed, start to create partnerships with other Graduates and start an enterprise. Create something that is lean and can be implemented straight away. That way you will not need to rely on investment or resources. You can bootstrap your way through. The best resource you will have will be the strength of your idea and the people that you have partnered with.
Turn your industry upside down
If you are entering a saturated industry then look for its failures and short comings. What are others not doing? Where are they failing their clients? Could the industry perform better as a hybrid? Does your industry need to pivot in a new direction? Are there new markets that your industry needs to reach?
Move away from the crowd
Leadership never occurs from moving with the crowd. Observe what all other people are doing and move away. Too many are going through graduate training programs, dead-end internships, or simply sitting in isolated rooms sending one faceless CV after another.
The Idea Engineering team is currently helping to develop Incube8. It is a program that helps graduates become proficient in receiving briefs from clients and being able to create an innovative result. The program will teach the core values of Idea Engineering to help the graduates build on their experiences.