On the Job Training: A Case Study on Using Consulting Experiences to Enhance Students' Employability

摘要

One university program piloted and implemented a novel approach to addressing ABET's requirement that students are prepared and meet the engineering community's needs. Graduate students participate in a required, immersive, three-week, team consulting engagement with various non-profit and for-profit organizations. This 1.5-credit course attempts to marry students' development of technical management skills with practical application of non-technical or soft skills, including communication, ethics, strategic analysis, and teamwork, to better positioning them for the work environment's broad and diverse needs. This paper describes the approach, methodology and implementation of the program, as well as data on its success, so other schools can explore implementation.