• College Students Mistakenly Believe They're Ready for the Workplace in a survey
    100 replies, posted
[quote]As more students have struggled to find a place in a depressed job market and questions about the employment value of a college degree have intensified, so too has concern that new graduates are not equipped to function in the work place and are not meeting employers’ expectations. A new survey reaffirms that quandary, but the group that commissioned it hopes the findings actually teach students something. “We’re going to go directly to students and help them understand what this gap is,” said Dan Rosensweig, president of the learning company and textbook rental giant Chegg, which runs a service connecting graduating high school students with colleges and scholarships. “We appreciate the fact that this dialogue is going on right now. We thought, however, that somebody really needed to frame what the issues really are and what is addressable, and help figure out the best way to address it.” In the report, "Bridge That Gap: Analyzing the Student Skill Index," only half of college students said they felt very or completely prepared for a job in their field of study. But even fewer employers – 39 percent of those surveyed – said the same about the recent graduates they’d interviewed in the past two years. Even wider gaps of varying size emerge when the survey zeroes in on about a dozen different skills. Students and employers consistently disagreed on how prepared new graduates were to employ a dozen different “business basics.” Those include “creating a budget or financial goal” and “writing to communicate ideas or explain information clearly” (each show a 22 percentage-point gap), and “organization” (25 percentage points). In the widest gap, at 27 percentage points, 77 percent of students but only half of hiring managers reported preparation for “prioritizing work.” Students fared the best at “making a decision without having all the facts.” About 47 percent of students said they were prepared to do that, and 37 percent of hiring managers said the same of recent graduates. [/quote] Read more: [url]http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/29/more-data-show-students-unprepared-work-what-do-about-it#ixzz2j8kARZy5[/url] Its true, shitload of people thought Internship was nothing, and then when they go through it they complained about low pay.
It's not as if they're thinking their ready, it's just the fact that now a degree is mandatory but since so many people have them, since it's mandatory, pay for jobs has lapsed unless you're at the top.
A degree doesn't mean fuck all, if you have knowledge and experience who gives a fuck how brainy you think you are. Years studying or years in a job, I chose the job route after A Levels and im doing fucking dandy.
i think less people need to get degrees. getting a bachelor's shouldn't be mandatory, it should be something that people get because they have such a passion in a specific field that they feel the need to explore the subject. or instead of teaching calculus in high school they should scrap the higher math/science learning requirements and simply have people graduate high school with a bachelors. [editline]29th October 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Flem;42688631]A degree doesn't mean fuck all, if you have knowledge and experience who gives a fuck how brainy you think you are. Years studying or years in a job, I chose the job route after A Levels and im doing fucking dandy.[/QUOTE] knowledge and experience are the only necessary components to almost every creative endeavor out there. degrees are useful for accountants, scientists, and engineers. other than finances and science, you should just learn your trade on your own accord and then find people who need that work done. bit harder but you don't become a debt slave and you end up being in more control of your educational and professional experience.
tbh this sounds cunty, but this is kind of amusing to me since a lot of the dudes and dudettes going to uni in my social circle have a very toffee nosed attitude about it, because basically they are still living like they are in high school - i.e no real risk (or sense of gain for that matter) financially, their parents still pay for them whenever they need it, they spend more time focusing on their social lives than they do their education, all while having this facile attitude that they will be guaranteed a "great" job once they leave uni because of their degrees (if they complete them ofc) Meanwhile good friend of mine they gave shit about leaving school early is a diesel fitter and is laughing all the way to the bank because at 21 he's earning the kind of money they probably won't be earning for 5+ years assuming they do get good jobs out of it. I knew i should've listened to that old dude saying get a trade because they are going to be in demand in the future.
It doesn't matter if you're ready or not you tell the employer you are or else they won't consider your application.
[QUOTE=Flem;42688631]A degree doesn't mean fuck all, if you have knowledge and experience who gives a fuck how brainy you think you are. Years studying or years in a job, I chose the job route after A Levels and im doing fucking dandy.[/QUOTE] Both routes can work, but say you're applying for a job along with dozens of other applicants. The person who has to read the resumes and make the picks for interviews is gonna have to do some sort of basic elimination and one of the easiest things to look at is education. If some of the applicants don't have college degrees but the rest do, who do you think are gonna get eliminated from the pick first? You can have all the experience and knowledge in the world but for most job applications the first thing recruiters look at is education. It's unfair but its reality.
[QUOTE=Flem;42688631]A degree doesn't mean fuck all, if you have knowledge and experience who gives a fuck how brainy you think you are. Years studying or years in a job, I chose the job route after A Levels and im doing fucking dandy.[/QUOTE] A degree will get your foot in the door at a lot of places.
[QUOTE=Flem;42688631]A degree doesn't mean fuck all, if you have knowledge and experience who gives a fuck how brainy you think you are. Years studying or years in a job, I chose the job route after A Levels and im doing fucking dandy.[/QUOTE] Along with everything else a degree grants you way more money from the job. Yeah, you can be, let's say, an IT-support guy without a degree if you can prove that you know the ropes. If you are and IT-support guy who knows the ropes AND has a degree, well more money to you sir.
[QUOTE=chipset;42689637]Both routes can work, but say you're applying for a job along with dozens of other applicants. The person who has to read the resumes and make the picks for interviews is gonna have to do some sort of basic elimination and one of the easiest things to look at is education. If some of the applicants don't have college degrees but the rest do, who do you think are gonna get eliminated from the pick first? You can have all the experience and knowledge in the world but for most job applications the first thing recruiters look at is education. It's unfair but its reality.[/QUOTE] experience in the industry is WAY more valuable to employers than education.
[QUOTE=Flem;42688631]A degree doesn't mean fuck all, if you have knowledge and experience who gives a fuck how brainy you think you are. Years studying or years in a job, I chose the job route after A Levels and im doing fucking dandy.[/QUOTE] Except having no degrees will pretty much cap you at a certain point in terms of salary and job position and you won't be able to move out of it without a proper degree. You might think you're doing fine as of now, but people with a proper degree and education in the right field will be able to work in much higher end positions when combined with the same amount of work experiance as you. You need both experience and education to receive premium salary.
[QUOTE=B!N4RY;42689799]Except having no degrees will pretty much cap you at a certain point in terms of salary and job position and you won't be able to move out of it without a proper degree. You might think you're doing fine as of now, but people with a proper degree and education in the right field will be able to work in much higher end positions when combined with the same amount of work experiance as you. You need both experience and education to receive premium salary.[/QUOTE] a lot of companies will pay for(or at least subsidize) further education if you show potential and they want to move you up "the ladder".
[QUOTE=yawmwen;42689879]a lot of companies will pay for(or at least subsidize) further education if you show potential and they want to move you up "the ladder".[/QUOTE] This only happens if you truly are a prodigy and not a delusional one like what most of people think of themselves as. In reality, the occurrence of it happening is so low that I would only consider it as an extremely rare exception.
[QUOTE=yawmwen;42689879]a lot of companies will pay for(or at least subsidize) further education if you show potential and they want to move you up "the ladder".[/QUOTE] But still, most companies see you just as cheap labor.
[QUOTE=Crazy;42689947]But still, most companies see you just as cheap labor.[/QUOTE] if that's the case why go into debt to try and please them?
[QUOTE=yawmwen;42689980]if that's the case why go into debt to try and please them?[/QUOTE] Well if we look from the american point of view then yeah, education is pretty shitty deal when you think about it, but if we look a place that doesn't have a completely fucked up education system, it's only a win-win situation to get a degree.
Have no experience on the job? good luck getting a job in that path.
[QUOTE=Crazy;42690016]Well if we look from the american point of view then yeah, education is pretty shitty deal when you think about it, but if we look a place that doesn't have a completely fucked up education system, it's only a win-win situation to get a degree.[/QUOTE] my perspective is american since i'v never lived in another country. keep that in mind.
the problem is since the recession companies have gotten more and more greedy about what they want students to be able to do, while at the same time the jobs they want them to do have gotten more and more menial. i was looking at BP for chemical engineering co-ops, they want only the best of the best chemical engineering students....to go into a managerial program........... 5+ years of engineering school.....to do what a business degree could do in 3....only because they want an engineer to run the day to day operations instead of anybody else, which makes sense somewhat but your not going to find too many young engineering students who want to go straight into management, and the older engineers are starting to drop out of the workforce
[QUOTE=yawmwen;42690059]my perspective is american since i'v never lived in another country. keep that in mind.[/QUOTE] I'm finishing my bachelor's degree and I have taken a whopping 2,700€ in student loan in total. How much on average would similar degree "cost" in the US?
[QUOTE=Crazy;42690114]I'm finishing my bachelor's degree and I have taken a whopping 2,700€ in student loan in total. How much on average would similar degree "cost" in the US?[/QUOTE] depends, whats your degree in, where did you go to school, and what connections did you get out of your college/university to help you along
If I could get a job as an engineer without having to bust my ass to get this degree, I would be ecstatic.
3000euros sounds like you went to a community college or something and didn't go to anything like engineering school or pre-med
[QUOTE=Crazy;42690114]I'm finishing my bachelor's degree and I have taken a whopping 2,700€ in student loan in total. How much on average would similar degree "cost" in the US?[/QUOTE] Depends on the school, but tuition for 4 year state universities typically run around $15-20k per year without scholarships. [editline]29th October 2013[/editline] 2 year community colleges are around that price, though.
And it's a 3,5 year degree. [editline]29th October 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Sableye;42690133]depends, whats your degree in, where did you go to school, and what connections did you get out of your college/university to help you along[/QUOTE] IT, university of applied sciences (google translate), connections? what do you mean? MOst students here also get student aid which is about 450€/month.
[QUOTE=Crazy;42690114]I'm finishing my bachelor's degree and I have taken a whopping 2,700€ in student loan in total. How much on average would similar degree "cost" in the US?[/QUOTE] depends on luck, grades, and your initial financial situation. i am in debt ~$30,000 for ONE year at school. this is was a "private" school and i got no scholarships. if i went to a uni i might get a degree for $20,000. if i went to a community college i would get paid to go there, essentially.
[QUOTE=yawmwen;42690405]depends on luck, grades, and your initial financial situation. i am in debt ~$30,000 for ONE year at school. this is was a "private" school and i got no scholarships. if i went to a uni i might get a degree for $20,000. if i went to a community college i would get paid to go there, essentially.[/QUOTE] Yeah, I'm currently at a community college working on a transfer degree to go to a private university and finish my bachelor's. Last year, my family got back in tax returns practically the entire cost of my tuition there. It's just a shame that I can't finish my degree for that price.
I always feel like a lot of people dont understand how jobs work, there are a ton of people I see around my college that are barely passing on a business degree and think they will be set for life. If your view point is "C's" get degrees and you dont do anything outside of the standard curriculum to prepare yourself you probably are in trouble.
There are MANY fields in which you need a degree. Knowledge in the fields of science, technology, and medicine are not just things you pick up on accident. I feel it's an insult that I even need to remind some of you of that.
I'm pretty glad I didn't bother going to uni. I'm lazy as fuck, I basically had a gap year because I didn't know what I wanted to do and then I got offered a job as a trainee web developer. Already feel more experienced than I ever did coming out of school and eventually I'll have enough experience that a lack of a degree is going to mean squat.
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