“Imagine you have a student that gets the good grades, the internships, has the extra curriculum, does the mock interviews, builds the résumé and finally gets the job,” he said. “Then six months later they quit and move back in with their parents.”
Mintz said this is not as uncommon as you would expect. “It’s not that they’re not prepared but they just didn’t know that wasn’t what they wanted to do.” Mintz said.
That is the type of thing that inspired him to start Ambition in Motion. Mintz said one of AIM’s primary goals is to help students become more prepared for post-college life by developing skills a lot of employers believe many ?graduates lack.
“It’s not necessarily that it’s not taught in the University,” Mintz said. “Soft skills and emotional intelligence are really hard to measure, and it really depends on your motivation and want to actively develop the skills because they are tough to grade.”
Oxford English Dictionary defines soft skills as the “personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people.”
Mintz describes emotional intelligence as “self-awareness, introspection, knowing about yourself and what ?you want.”
To join AIM, students must first visit www.ambition-in-motion.com to apply. After an interview, the student is enrolled in a monthlong curriculum used to identify the student’s wants, desires and personality type. Afterward, that student is connected with a mentor. If the arrangement ends in a job, there is a fee of $50 to be paid to AIM.
Mintz said he believes more students should consider a corporation’s culture and how they like to work before accepting a job.
“If you’re a person who really likes autonomy, a job where they give you a project and say come back in a week and have this completed might be a better job for you,” he said. “Or maybe you like structure and someone giving you feedback. I think you as an individual should know what you’re getting into at the end of the day.”
When Mintz reached out to Bloomington professionals to be potential mentors, he said he was met with an overwhelmingly positive response.
Today, AIM has more than 120 individuals ready to mentor students about what it is like to be in the professional working world.
Mintz said he estimates his rejection rate is less than ?10 percent.
“It’s an opportunity for them to pay it forward and give back to students and mentor students just like they had a mentor in college,” ?he said.
Andrew Lambert is one of the mentors who has been working with students through AIM.
Lambert is the owner of the company Lambert Consulting and teaches at Ivy Tech’s School of Business. He has worked with one student so far through AIM as a?mentor.
Lambert met Mintz almost a year ago through a mutual friend. He became one of AIM’s first mentors and said he believes in AIM’s mission.
“It’s something that more colleges need, not someone who will give you homework but will give you guidance,” ?he said.
Lambert said one thing he teaches his students is the importance of selling yourself.
“You are a wonderful walking ad for yourself,” he said. “In today’s marketplace, you’re selling yourself before anything else. People want to believe in you before they believe in the product or service you’re selling.”
Maggie Batsford, a graduate assistant working with the IU Career Development Center, said she believes connecting with a mentor is one of the best things you can do for yourself.
“You don’t really know what it’s like to be in that role unless you have physically done it,” she said. “At least job shadowing, which is one of the most noncommittal ways to test it out.”
Batsford said the Career Development Center serves the University Division students who have not yet ?chosen a major.
The CDC helps by offering classes, mock interviews, résumé and cover letter help, and helping with exploring majors, finding interviews and jobs. The CDC also has drop-in advising when any student at IU, regardless of major, can meet with an adviser like ?Batsford.
Batsford said like AIM, the CDC also understands the importance of developing soft skills and emotional ?intelligence.
The CDC works to develop what they call “VIPS,” which stands for Values, Interests, Personality and Skills. Batsford said VIPS relate to soft skills, knowing one’s self and using that knowledge to choose a career path and ?major.
Connor Cole, a freshman at IU and one of the first students to join AIM, said he believes getting involved in AIM was a great move.
“It opened my eyes,” ?he said.
Cole said his mentor, a woman selling advertisement for Comcast Spotlight, gave him the opportunity to network with people in the business and better understand what the job requires.
Today, Cole has been offered a paid summer internship with his mentor and, through a connection he made with one of her clients, now works for the Indiana Daily Student selling ?advertisements.
Mintz said AIM has been working to get their message out by word of mouth, and they are growing. With plenty of eager mentors, they are currently accepting applications.
