In this episode of Work in Progress, I’m joined by Jane Swift, president of Education of Work, for a discussion on the importance of work-based learning in preparing college students for careers and how the national nonprofit is championing the mission.

Recent grads trying to launch their careers sometimes find they don’t have the experience that employers are looking for to fill their open jobs, even entry-level jobs. Education at Work is trying to bridge that gap between academics and the workforce by connecting college students with top employers to give them valuable work experience.

Swift explains that Education at Work is hired by these employers to fill specific roles and are given a certain number of hours to cover. She says there are other organizations out there providing contract workers, but “the real magic happens because we are one of the few, maybe the only provider who is doing this at scale with college students in a part-time role.

“Our students actually prefer the times that many full-time employees do not want to work. We’ll work on weekends. We will work evenings, and the definition of evenings is even different for our students. That also allows us to schedule them in hours that don’t conflict with their academic responsibilities.”

Swift says that while some employers have been initially hesitant to hire young adults in college, but they are persuaded by the data that shows these college students are exceptional employees.

“We have super ambitious, hardworking students and that I think is a surprise to them. We can show them that ‘yes, you can use college students in a part-time role to fill a job, you’re already struggling to fill with a full-time worker.’

“And having that data is really why we think we’re growing so fast right now because folks are like, ‘Whoa. Your students perform better than seven other outsourced providers who are using the traditional model.”

Swift says this model has been shown to help students, many of whom are from underrepresented backgrounds, develop the skills and experience needed to secure good first jobs after graduation.

Listen to the entire podcast to learn about the types of jobs these college students are working in, and how Education at Work is working to support students holistically to help them navigate their transition to the professional world.

You can listen to the podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find our podcasts on the Work in Progress YouTube channel.

Episode 356: Jane Swift, President, Education at Work
Host & Executive Producer: Ramona Schindelheim, Editor-in-Chief, WorkingNation
Producer: Larry Buhl
Theme Music: Composed by Lee Rosevere and licensed under CC by 4
Transcript: Download the transcript for this episode here
Work in Progress Podcast: Catch up on previous episodes here