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Episode 122

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Published on:

28th Aug 2024

122: Matt Wilkerson — Bridging the Gap Between Education and Employment with Externships

Matt Wilkerson is the CEO and co-founder of Extern, a company on a mission to help anyone discover and launch their career through real professional experiences. Extern has created externships for leading companies such as AT&T, HSBC, Meta, PwC, Home Depot, and National Geographic, serving more than 35,000 students and career switchers.

In this episode, I talk with Matt about the externship model and its impact. Matt shares his journey from growing up in Atlanta, to attending MIT, and eventually founding Extern. He discusses the challenges students face in gaining practical work experience, particularly in the current landscape where traditional internships are becoming more scarce. We also discuss broader issues in higher education, such as the misalignment between academic training and real-world job requirements, and how Extern’s model seeks to reimagine the pathway from education to employment. 


In this episode:

  • (00:00) - Introduction to Extern’s vision
  • (01:05) - Meet Matt Wilkerson
  • (01:49) - Matt’s early life and career aspirations
  • (03:02) - Entrepreneurial beginnings
  • (05:33) - The journey to MIT and beyond
  • (09:15) - Founding Extern
  • (15:15) - Challenges in higher education and employment
  • (25:11) - Skills-based hiring
  • (26:24) - Challenges in internship programs
  • (29:30) - Introducing the externship model
  • (30:36) - Scaling externships for broader impact
  • (41:06) - Measuring success and future plans
  • (45:38) - Final thoughts and advice for graduates


Get full show notes and links at https://mindful.money. 

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MindfulMoney.



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About the Podcast

Mindful Money
Do you struggle with money? You’re not alone.
Money is a means, not an end. It’s a necessity of life for sure, but more money does not always guarantee a “good life”. Money enables many aspects of modern life, but as a dominant consideration it becomes destructive. 
The paradox is that more time and energy spent on personal finance does NOT create better outcomes. Unlike many other parts of life, we can’t create better outcomes by being smarter, spending more time, or putting in more effort.
Join Mindful Money author and experienced 40-year investor Jonathan DeYoe as he shares stories from artists, authors, entrepreneurs, and other advisors about how they mindfully minimize their need to think about money and get more out of life.
If you aren’t happy with your finances, feel like money takes more time that it should, or want to place your financial decisions into the broader context of your life, this show is for you. 
Each episode will draw the line between the “enough” activities that the academics tell us are additive to family outcomes, and those “little bit more” efforts that take time and sap energy, but do NOT improve outcomes.

About your host

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Jonathan DeYoe

Jonathan DeYoe is a best-selling author, speaker, financial advisor and angel investor. He is a husband, father and a practicing Buddhist. His simple underlying message brings a welcomed sense of order to financial chaos and restores a calm center to your financial life.