The Kind of Education College Students REALLY Need

I really enjoying mentoring young people, so as the owner of my own business for more than eight years now, I’ve really looked forward to bringing in college interns and interviewing recent college grads. I?ve even managed to snag a few great new employees along the way.

Sadly, more often than not, I find that despite a solid scholastic education most college grads simply seem ill-prepared for “the real world” (and I hardly mean the television show). The skills I’m looking for have less to do with technical aptitude and more to do with traits they don’t teach at school?and which are hard to nurture in someone who doesn’t have them by the time this person graduates from college: a solid work ethic, a sense of ownership of and responsibility for one’s work, and face-to-face interpersonal skills.

When I talk about work ethic, I don?t mean simply showing up for work each day prepared to exchange an honest day?s work for an honest day?s pay. I welcome honesty, don’t get me wrong, but a strong work ethic is so much more than that. It’s about pride in one’s work and giving 200 percent effort while on the job. Give me a candidate with less skill but this work ethic and a positive attitude any day, because I can more easily teach them what they need to know than to instill a strong work ethic. I?ll bet I?m not alone.

I have no tolerance for a newcomer who expects everything to go his or her way, particularly if this person delivers less on the job than they’re expecting to get. I’m excited by the person who comes into a position and immediately takes charge of each assignment as if it were his own little business. That means seeing it through from start to finish, not relying on others to follow-up or find flaws that could have been avoided by more careful execution, and being able to clearly communicate with other members of the team so everyone knows what’s going on with the project at any given time.

Today?s generation of college grads have, in my opinion, lost communication skills by depersonalizing their activities too much. Sure, because of instant messenger (IM), email and online classes they can write. In fact, sometimes I find that all too often this generation of grads hides behind their writing, but once inside an office with face-to-face dealings, many have difficulty articulating such things as their strengths, their career goals, where they need help, and where they want their apron strings cut. I actually wonder if years of IM’ing or hours spent trolling and posting to sites like Facebook or MySpace isn?t ruining young people’s fundamental ability to communicate professionally in a work place environment (not to mention compromising proper spelling and grammar abilities). Give me a college grad who can maintain eye contact, speak like a professional and who, despite paying lip service to the fact that they want to work hard, actually does.

So if you?re a recent college graduate still searching for that first job, stop resting on your transcript, and instead focus on demonstrating to future employers that you’re a responsible, conscientious and committed candidate who?d rather miss a long lunch date than a deadline. If what you seek from your boss is trust and respect, you truly must earn it.

 back to top