A Strategy for Increasing the Employment Rate of Graduates Using a Compact Module

Abstract

The aim is to increase the higher education employment rate in the first six months after graduation at Istanbul Technical University. The paper involves different systems and techniques used, such as; ITU Career and Skill Management System (KAYS), which is an internship- and job-seeking platform for Istanbul Technical University students, annual Career Summit performance analysis, workshops, interview simulations, company network, and mentoring modules. Initially, the process of determining the contents of the Career and Skill Management System platform has been addressed with a Management Engineering approach. In this process, the platform at hand was observed, and the details of the inner workings of the system were noted. Secondly, user groups of the system were interviewed, performance questionnaires of different activities from different user groups were analyzed, and the methodology has been determined. New strategies have been set according to the results, and the student employment rate has been recalculated after six months, which showed an acceptable increase in the new graduate employment rate.