The Difference You Can Make in a Recent Grad’s Career

You're listening to Women at Work from Harvard Business Review. I'm Amy Gallo. Think back to your first job out of college. Mine was working as a program manager for a small nonprofit. And while I was incredibly organized and good at moving work forward, a skill I'd honed as an undergrad in those torturous group projects, I was also overconfident and unaware of the more nuanced skills I needed. Like how to write an email that would get people to do what I wanted them to, or how to relay a decision the executive director had made to my peers. I didn't have the interpersonal skills that undoubtedly would have made me much happier and more effective in that job. I mean, why didn't I learn in college that getting the feedback I needed, building trust, setting boundaries, are all part and parcel of success and advancement. Why weren't those skills in the curriculum? With academia's fixation on career readiness, why are colleges still graduating students who employers say fall short of their expectations in areas like ability to communicate and think critically? That's what the Association of American Colleges and Universities found when it surveyed executives and hiring managers in 2023. And when NACE, the National Association of Colleges and Employers surveyed HR directors and managers in 2024, they had similar findings. If professors and career counselors and experienced professionals like you and me don't clue students into the realities of work, we risk losing future leaders before they even get started, which is why when the organizers of South by Southwest EDU, the innovation conference focused on the education sector invited women at work to host a session, we decided to talk about how to address these gaps. Whether you're teaching college students, parenting one, or managing someone who just landed their first job, I hope this episode gives you a clearer picture of what early career women are up against in those first few make or break years of work and how you can help. After all, we all have a powerful role to play in making those years more navigable, equitable, and empowering for young women. This conversation you're about to hear was taped live in Austin at South by Southwest e d u. Hi, y'all. How's everyone doing? Good. Good. So I'm excited to be joined by two guests who think a lot about this phase of young women's lives and what they need to thrive when they enter their careers. My two guests are both Texas based. Go Texas. Neda Naruzi is an architecture professor at the University of Texas, San Antonio, and she helped create a student led organization in architecture, the department that she is part of. Amy Lawn is the director of the Texas Women's University Career Connection Center and, again, thinks a lot about how do we prepare women for today's workforce. I'm gonna start with Neda and Amy. And I wanna ask, what is a skill that you …