— Original publication date: Jully 29, 2016
OK…how many more times do we need to hear that the current Higher Education system is broken?…or that it is going to be disrupted? We get it, so let’s quickly explore HOW…
JOBS, JOBS, JOBS…let’s start there. Then let’s add in the following thoughts:
- Those under 30 years old expect instant everything…like NOW!
- They want to align their careers with the causes they are passionate about: Environment, Health/Fitness, Wealth, Animals, Faith, Food, Art…
- And they want to start as CEO’s…they expect to get paid as much as possible.
- So far…not too different from my generation, but they actually are successfully performing these objectives…we tried, but most of us caved to the path of least resistance. Here is where they begin to behave differently…
- They are more determined than my generation, more focused when deciding to get focused, and they have the ability to process huge amounts of data while cross-processing…a result of their being Inhabitants of the Internet, unlike me…an Immigrant.
- They have been “learning” via their mobile devices at a rate unprecedented in human history; when I was a freshman in high school, we had to take a typing class. We had to type 30 WPM to pass. The average eight-year-old can type 100 WPM…and Google is their teacher& library…instantly!
The New Education Model: FlipIt
Denise is starting her senior year at high school. Her parents want her to go to college…she asks why? They shrug without being able to show how it helped them one way or another. She checks out the cost of even a medium ranked school…and Geeezzzz–four maybe five years…a lifetime. Plus Denise has been told that debt is a bad way to live…so why now?
Her high school counselor informs her of all the “fun” she will have meeting new people. Hmmm…she already has a social network of 400 Friends on social media…and “party”? Not interested.
She reads about how all the cool new companies that she loves need more trained people to hire…she digs in. Wow! She loves the ocean…here is a non-profit dedicated to preserving the ocean that needs a web developer…she really wants to work at that kind of place.
Denise enrolls in a web development boot camp. In 12-weeks she graduates. Her parents wrote a $12,000 check, and 60 days after graduation she got a $70,000 job at a company that shares HER values…with full benefits, including paying for her Bachelors Degree. How many 19-year olds do you know that are making $70k+ with full benefits six months out of High School?
No longer “College to Work” but “Work to College”
Colleges and Universities should offer a 12-week program that places students in jobs, then let them continue their BA’s. THIS IS THE NEW RECRUITING FEEDER SYSTEM!
Every Company Needs Tech People
The Immersive Accelerated Learning model empowers people to laser target jobs they are passionate about in the city where they want to live. And it will not just be Tech jobs, although every company needs these skills…now.
Just about any skill that offers pay of up to $80,000 can now be taught in this Immersive online format…Hospitality, Healthcare, Manufacturing…12 to 20 weeks of intense, focused single-skill learning produces a valuable marketable “get paycheck now” outcome.
Savvy University Presidents will “get” that this is the new digital vocational school…the automotive, construction, or plumbing careers of today…and all the companies that need these immediate skills will pay for the employee to continue to get their BA. Employers WANT Liberal Arts grads but they need the skills deployed first.
Steve Jobs stated, “Apple is the intersection of Liberal Arts and Technology.”
Currently Employed Working Adults?
Worried that you might be laid off? …or no more raises in sight? …or bored? Research the human capital needs in your company…websites, coding, project management, design, data analytics…
“Find a Need and Fill it”
Then boldly approach your boss to sponsor your making a laterally-upward skills jump via a 12-week Immersive. You will be surprised at the positive response.
If you are managing people…it is much better in every metric to retrain existing employees via these highly-customized Immersives.
PREDICTION: HR Directors will partner with Immersive Educators to customize retraining programs that will offer companies huge Human Capital ROI…the 12-week On-The-Job Immersive will be highly effective in helping companies pivot to profit centers while maintaining culture.
What began in garages of entrepreneurial software engineers known as Boot Camps is rapidly changing Higher Education as well as the way companies increase ROI via nurturing their most important assets:
