A.M. Money's Talent Path Pt. 1
One of the core hypothesis at A.M. Money is that if we know what a student’s chances of success are, and more importantly what drives that success, then it follows that we can work with our students to do something about it. In this way it’s less about “analyzing” risk and more about eliminating that risk ahead of time. This philosophy influences not only our conversations with students, but the data that we track, and, as will be discussed, the resources and tools that we build. Through this approach, we have been able to produce outcomes that outperform those of elite colleges and universities, and put us in a position to scale this support to more students across the city and state.
Employment Outcomes for the Class of 2020, 6 Months After Graduation
| Undergraduate Institution | Type | % Accepting FT Employment |
|---|---|---|
| A.M. Money | - | 72% |
| Northwestern University | Private | 70% | Purdue University - Main Campus | Private | 65% |
| Marquette University | Private | 54% | University of Illinois at Springfield | State/Regional | 52% |
| University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | State/Regional | 48% | University of Wisconsin-Madison | State/Regional | 46% |
| Illinois Institute of Technology | Private | 38% |
Over the course of the summer, we will be detailing student stories, their successes and their trouble spots, in tandem with the tools that have been designed to help them overcome and advance. These tools, which focus on everything from resume reviews to individualized job databases to employer pipelines, are designed to ensure that students can better transition from college to career, and have been created in consultation with employers and students from across the Midwest.
In order for us to continue this work, we would love to have your feedback. If you know of any college students, or recent graduates who would like to tap into the resources discussed below, please have them sign-up to use our services:
Alternatively if you’re a hiring manager who has been hiring throughout this pandemic and would be interested in our pool of students, and/or would be interested in helping us improve our algorithms please reach out here.
Part 1 one of this series will explore the story of Tholang Mota and the importance of Resumes in a student’s journey. We hope you’ll read on and learn more about Tholang and our first employment resource: The Resume Tool.
The past year or so has been a tumultuous time for Tholang Mota (pictured left), and that would seem to be putting it lightly. Like all of the students from our first cohort, Tholang graduated into a pandemic that ground the global economy to a halt. “Over the past year, it’s been so hard to find any kind of quality jobs,” said Tholang, a proud member of DePaul University’s class of 2020. “I’d apply to jobs all the time, but wouldn’t know what I could do to progress myself through that process or improve my chances.”
Like Tholang, 83% of our 2020 graduating class is non-white and experiences many of the complex barriers that can exist between graduation and landing a job.
Our model is predicated on understanding this, and accounting for it in how we lend. However, our approach isn’t just about “analyzing'' this risk but, ultimately, changing it. If we know what a student’s chances of success are, and more importantly what drives it, then it follows that we can work with our students to do something about it.
So that’s just what we set out to do. We worked with our employment network to understand the employment journey from their perspective, and worked with our students to increase their probability of success. We then used our internal data to identify both opportunities and challenges for our students, and proactively worked with them to understand these things, and how to navigate them.
“The loan was huge, but the best support I feel that I got was when I was able to talk with your team about the problems I was having and what steps I could take to secure a job.” This, from Tholang, is really saying something when one considers that the Interdisciplinary Physics major with a 3.3 gpa was on the verge of being forced to drop out ahead of his last semester due to a funding gap. “Without A.M. stepping in and helping, I’d probably be working a triple shift at Target right now just trying to earn enough money to be able to get back into school.” Our loan provided Tholang with a reprieve, a chance to finish his degree, and a gateway to opportunity, and STILL it comes in second place behind the employment support and resources? This, of course, begs the question: Is this support really worth this kind of hype? Well, as noted in the table above, our employment results so far do tend to speak for themselves.
In light of this success, we’ve been working hard to make our tools and processes public so that not only our students, but students across the country can access this support while navigating the transition from college to career. Throughout this series, we’ll profile students who have found success as well as the products and services that helped them get there.
So, where to start? As we embarked on our journey to better understand the pitfalls and roadblocks that exist for students on this path, the first and most obvious step was to further examine the resume. Resumes act as more or less the gatekeepers for many of the roles that our students aspire to have, and thus have the ability to either open or close doors quickly.
Our tool guides students through this process by providing them with a grade on their current resume. This grade stems from an algorithm that we have created in tandem with employers and experienced recruiters. Thanks to this group’s feedback and insight, we have been able to build out dozens of rules which we know to be critical to improving a student’s chances of success. Below the grade is a list of ways, some small, others more challenging, in which a student can improve their resume and better compete for opportunities.
From there, we can utilize their edited resume and better identify what employers and positions are a fit for their profile.
One of the first students to benefit from this support was Tholang! “Just seeing the ways in which I could improve my resume and qualify for more jobs was incredible, and I think my prospective employers really enjoyed knowing more about me.” After better understand Tholang’s profile, we quickly discovered that he was a great fit for a local company’s Associate Analyst role and encouraged him to apply. A few weeks later, and Tholang had completed his turnaround from a near drop-out at DePaul to a full-time employee with a great company. “I just accepted a job offer from Eligo Energy and I couldn’t be more excited!”
Tholang’s success story doesn’t end with him just getting through the door. He’s continued to thrive, and was recently applauded by Eligo Energy’s CEO, Ken Pedotto, “Tholang has been a tremendous asset to our team. He is driven, enthusiastic, and a hard worker. I'm glad we were able to work with A.M. Money to find him. He's been a great hire.”
You can hear more from Tholang by checking out our interview with him here:
To utilize this tool yourself, or for any college students that you might know, please check out the link below and let us know what you think!
Tholang’s story is just one of the many that we are excited to share this summer, and our resume tool is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of our support. Please stay tuned for more posts and never hesitate to reach out to us with any questions or comments.