Anyone who’s tried to find a job lately knows how tough the market is. Employers only want to recruit people who tick all the boxes, including prior industry experience. This poses a significant problem for graduates.
So what can universities and community colleges do to help their students become successful job applicants once they graduate?
A growing number of course instructors and business schools are combating this problem through implementing business simulators in their courses. This teaching method bridges the gap between theory and practice, giving students the opportunity to develop real-life business skills and experiences.
Professor Darl Kolb shares how the MikesBikes Business Simulation gives his students genuine confidence and workforce readiness:
How do business simulation games improve student employability?
Here are three ways:
1. They bring the real world into the classroom
Rote learning is a thing of the past. Business simulation games are the future of education. Business simulations provide a safe environment for students to run their own business without any of the financial risks. This affords them invaluable insights and experiences in the real world of business, giving them a leg up on the employability ladder.
One of the key benefits of business simulations is they are designed with an employability focus. The right business simulator will help students develop practical knowledge and to use outside of the classroom. This gives students genuine confidence in job interviews.
2. They provide relevant learning outcomes
Business simulations make room for more focused, work-related learning outcomes. Some of the relevant skills students will pick up include:
- Market analysis
- Strategy development
- How to read and interpret market and financial reports
- Problem solving skills
- Working as a team to achieve common goals
- Communication skills
- Business decision-making
- Sales and marketing strategy
- A general understanding of finance
- Goal setting
- Time management
- Conflict resolution
- Cross-functional decision making
- Interpersonal skills
Being able to showcase a genuine business experience and list these pragmatic skills in a student’s resume CV can provide students with the edge to reach the job interview stage. Not only that, but once they are in the interview they can share the very real examples and stories from their genuine business experience.
3. They enable experiential and reflective learning
Business simulation games allow students to take a step back and reflect as they learn, giving them the chance to improve and remedy mistakes. To learn by experiencing the consequences of their actions and trialing new strategies to determine better outcomes. Experiential learning improves work readiness and the rate of student employability. It is a teaching method which is both engaging and challenging, making for an exciting way for both students to learn and instructors to teach.
Want to know more about the benefits of Business Simulations?
If you would like to offer your students a realistic business experience and give them genuine learning outcomes, please get in touch with us. Smartsims have a range of business simulations, each tailored for a specific course and level. Contact us to talk with one of our team and/or to schedule a live online demo.