Supporting youth on their education-to-employment transition
Implemented by Zorig Foundation | 2019-ongoing
The problem
Every year, thousands of Mongolian students graduate from university and step into a job market that does not recognise them. They have degrees, but not the skills, confidence or experience employers are looking for. Many spend months, sometimes years, applying for jobs they are qualified for on paper but unable to secure in practice.
The gap begins long before graduation. Universities enrol three in five young people, yet lack the career services, employer connections and practical training needed to prepare students for jobs — leaving graduates at risk of prolonged unemployment, discouragement and inactivity.
The solution
Our portfolio partner Zorig Foundation, a leading youth-focused nonprofit in Mongolia, started with direct support for unemployed graduates and has since moved upstream, now partnering with the largest public university to strengthen career services and help students successfully transition into employment.
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Enhancing career services, including one-on-one counselling, skills workshops, internships, while supporting the university’s capacity to sustain them.
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Developing and promoting an adaptable framework for career services that can be adopted by other universities.
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Raising awareness among students, universities and employers about the importance of graduate employability.
Results so far
1,403
Students supported with career services.
Career support as a formal service
Career services integrated into NUM’s core student development offering.
Improving graduate outcome tracking
Graduate Employment Tracer Survey methodology was revised and formally approved by NUM.
“I struggled for two years to find a job, even though I had successfully graduated.”
Bayanbaatar was one of many young people in Mongolia who experience a bumpy education-to-employment transition. But he successfully secured a job at one of the biggest retail companies in Mongolia after graduating from Zorig Foundation’s “Sustainable Employment for Youth” programme.