Spotlight for Career Services Professionals
Spotlight for Recruiting Professionals

By 2021, the traditional learning setting will have completed a transition that is currently taking place, according to Matt Meltzer, founder and CEO of Sage Corps.

"Experience is the new classroom," Meltzer explains. "We're already witnessing this shift. By 2021, universities will award course credit for substantive internships. Experiential learning will receive the academic recognition and value it deserves. Why? Because it will raise the employment rate for our graduates."

Sage Corps works with early-stage startups all over the world that host college students as consultants for two to three months.

"In a world where the corporate cubicle is rapidly disappearing and leaner agile companies are emerging, large training programs will vanish," Meltzer says. "Startups have little use for students with zero experience. They need students who can tackle a learning curve and minimize it. Time is money, and startups need solutions yesterday. In 2021, most students will step out of their classrooms, leave their university research labs, and start experimenting in real-world commercial settings."

He adds that the 2021 college student will need to graduate with two to three substantive professional experiences if he or she wants to secure an entry-level job.

"Resting on good grades and maybe a fraternity or sorority leadership position won't cut it," Meltzer says. "Companies won't care about college majors. They will care about college experiences and career missions.

"To prepare for the 2021 student, we need to start asking today's students, 'What's your career mission and what problems do you want to solve?' Then we can help our students find experiential opportunities to solve these problems."

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Are you willing to share your outlook on and insights into the profession in 2021? Contact Kevin Gray.