Impactful Synergy: The American University in Cairo School of Business Career Readiness Assessment powered by PwC
The AUC School of Business has a well-established culture of continuous improvement. The cornerstone of this culture is assessment. The periodically reviewed assessment plan of the school captures the extent to which the school attains school-level and program-level learning goals. This exercise ensures a consistently high level of quality among students in terms of skills and knowledge relevant to their professional success and development. One of the main school-level learning goals is Career Readiness, which captures the extent to which students’ education and training prepare them for a professional career.
"Our students are the core of this partnership with PwC. We are providing them with a great opportunity to reflect on their areas of strengths those requiring development while experiencing realistic recruitment process. Our ultimate objective is to ensure that their skills and knowledge competitively match the rapidly changing market needs."
“PwC supports this initiative because young talent is the future of our firm. We are fully invested in attracting the best, diverse talent in our region.”
The assessment of Career Readiness was historically conducted in-house through the Office of Student Services and Development (OSSD) as a pilot project for 35 students who sat for a mock interview then they carried out multiple internationally recognized assessments to measure their cognitive ability, grit, resilience, critical thinking, and numerical reasoning. Finally, a scale was developed to indicate students' level of competency and specific areas of development. With the start of the new assessment plan 2019-2022, the School aimed at adopting a more scalable and sustainable model based on specialized technical expertise in the areas of human resources and talent acquisition.
Given the historically strong collaborative relationship between the School of Business and PwC, its status as a prominent international professional services provider, and its well-established recruitment process the “Career Readiness Assessment powered by PwC” initiative was launched in fall 2019 as a pilot. The school has recently started recruitment for the second cohort with the goal of increasing the number of participating undergraduate students for 2020-2021. The assessment utilizes the non-technical portion of PwC Middle East’s actual recruitment process and therefore is suitable for students of all majors. There are two parts to this assessment. First, two online SHL aptitude tests (Numerical reasoning and Inductive reasoning). Second, a live interactive assessment where groups of six students collectively solve a generic business case while being observed by PwC specialized recruiting professionals. A new addition for this cohort is a mock video interview which will include a set of questions that students will have to answer in a short video and send back to PwC for evaluation.
“The Career Readiness Assessment Powered by PwC gave me a very realistic recruitment experience and we were also given the results of all tests so we can work on our identified weaknesses. My advice to all Business School students interested in this career path is to go through this experience as it really adds to your knowledge when it comes to recruitment.”
“Career Readiness of graduates is important for PwC because we’re a people-business and we’re only as good as the people we have. We are committed to developing young graduates to their full potential through different programs. Being one of the largest employers of graduates in the Middle East Region, supporting individuals to grow and make an impact for people, quality, and value means everything.”
This is a ‘win-win-win’ model for PwC Middle East, the students, and the School. PwC Middle East has direct and quick access to a diversified and highly qualified talent pool from which it could withdraw recruits. For students, they experience a mock yet exceptionally realistic hiring process at one of the leading global professional services providers. Also, they receive personalized assessment results which give them the opportunity to know their areas of strength and those which need development. Finally, the School of Business ensures a sustainable, consistent, and technically accurate assessment of its students. The annual results of the assessment are used by the School for continuous improvement with the ultimate objective of enhancing students’ career readiness and in turn their employability. Overall, this collaboration enforces the long-lasting relationship between the School and PwC, and is another testament to PwC Middle East’s support of higher education, a form of educational Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
“Career readiness of graduates is very important for us in PwC, building people's capabilities is a cornerstone to make sure that they are ready for business. Our purpose in PwC is to build trust in society and solve important problem, therefore career readiness is always a challenge, students have to know where they stand to get ready for the future.”
“The pilot assessment attained very satisfactory results and I encourage all students presented with this opportunity to be part of it.”
AUC School of Business Career Readiness Assessment powered by PwC
