gesture for employers

Why
gesture?

gesture was built around a simple belief: doing well in school is not always the same as being ready for work. For more than a decade, we have stayed in close conversation with employers to better understand what it takes for students to move beyond the logic of school and begin contributing in professional settings.

What we hear consistently is that early-career success depends on far more than knowledge alone. Employers are looking for people who can keep learning, respond to feedback, navigate ambiguity, communicate clearly, and create value for others. As AI reshapes how work gets done, those capacities matter even more.

We partner with employers because that relationship keeps our work grounded in the realities students will face after college. It also gives employers a chance to share insight, shape how students understand meaningful contribution, and connect with emerging talent learning to think beyond the assignment.

We work with employers in a few different ways, from sharing insight to engaging directly with students.

Be a guest on the UNHIREABLE podcast

Sit down for a recorded conversation where you can share how you actually think about early-career talent: what stands out, what gets overlooked, and what students often misunderstand. We also invite you to share your own path and what has shaped your perspective along the way. For students, these conversations offer a rare behind-the-scenes look at how careers unfold, how employers think, and how expectations are changing in an AI-shaped world. We keep the format flexible, with room to follow the experiences, questions, and themes that feel most meaningful to you.

Watch employer episodes

Partner on a workshop

Join a workshop where students are refining how they talk about who they are, what they have done, and the value they bring. These sessions often focus on helping students turn real experiences into stories that resonate while gaining a clearer sense of who they are professionally. Your role might be to respond to that work by sharing how their stories land from an employer's point of view. For many students, that kind of perspective is the most valuable part. We also build workshops collaboratively, with room to shape the experience around your goals and the kind of insight you want to offer students.

Co-design a challenge, sprint, or case study

Bring a real question or problem into a student project and let students work through it. These experiences are grounded in mission: students are working on problems that matter to someone beyond themselves, not just completing an assignment. Depending on your goals, this might be a lightweight prompt or a more structured sprint in which students test ideas, make decisions, and often use AI to support their thinking. Your role can be as simple as sharing context at the start or offering feedback at the end. Along the way, you get a window into how students think through messy, ambiguous problems in real time.

How we
approach partnership

We want working with gesture to feel thoughtful, responsive, and worth your time. Whether you join us for one conversation or a more involved partnership, our goal is to make the experience useful to you and meaningful for students.

connect with us

If you are interested in joining the podcast, contributing to a workshop, or exploring a larger collaboration, we would love to hear from you. We are happy to start with a conversation and find the right level of engagement.

gesture@uw.edu

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Connecting in the Age of AI

AI is going to handle the data, but these skills will be the premium differentiator for Gen Z professionals. Kevin and Matt sit down with Tracie Meier, a corporate executive with a history of leadership across Fortune 100 companies.

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Partnerships that prepare students for real work.