Most Wanted

The current generation is given the chance to start college early in life.  Then there are some students who decide not to attend college and obtain a certification instead.  Obtaining a college degree and certifications along the way is the best overall solution to success.  As employers are very selective when hiring any college graduates.  Although, as the years progress the percentage of college graduates hired by employers has increased.  A Forbes leadership web journal article posted in April of 2015 by Susan Adams discusses the change in these statistics and more.

As the reader can clearly see, Susan Adams utilizes surveys from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) to show the percentage rate of employers planning to hire recent college graduates.  Considering this article was written in 2015, the percentages used were from the previous two years 2013 and 2014.  Within a year, the percentage of employers hiring graduates increased by a whopping 1%, but they did not hit their mark of 2.1% as promised.  Although this may seem astonishing, I can understand the issues employers may have had during the hiring process of recent graduates.

There are many groups that can assist recent college graduates with their path towards employment.  Such as the university students attended can provide career services.  These services can help the student with their resume, prepare for interviews, and even help them locate employment opportunities within a given field.  Another place of which recent college graduates can find assistance with job placement is non-profit groups or recruiting agencies.  One specific non-profit group that was linked with NACE matches these placement offices with potential employers.

Between a non-profit location in Bethlehem, PA and NACE, the two companies worked together to combine survey all of their current employer members.  The questionnaire’s main purpose was to find the employers ratings of degrees, that they would target when hiring recent college graduates.  Quite a few members responded and the highest-ranking degree was engineering.  The next in rank was business majors, followed by the computer science degrees, which left all the other degrees at the bottom.

Another portion of the survey rated skills that employers would value the greatest in a college graduate new hire.  Companies stated that these college graduate candidates should be able to think critically and utilize problem solving skills.  Followed in ratings is teamwork, then professionalism while demonstrating a strong work ethic.  Other skills that employers expect within a new hire is, oral and written communication skills, information technology applications, leadership, and career management.  All of the listed skills can be obtained along with a college degree and are extremely important to become a successful employee.

Any recent college graduate that notices they are having trouble finding a job within their field, should ensure they have worked with career services at their university, and start to market themselves.  In order for a recent college graduate to become marketable within their major’s field they should start networking with other students and graduates who already work in the industry.  Depending on the field internships may be available and even extra-curricular activities or volunteer work can be interesting to employers when reviewing candidates. 

Overall, the reason many of the skills discussed in Susan Adams article, are beneficial for any recent college graduate as they would become a well-rounded employee.  An employee without a majority of these skills can become problematic and even cause an entire department to crumble with issues.  The ability to critically think while on the job and problem solve will help them to rectify many obstacles along the way.  Strong work ethic and maintaining a professional demeanor can allow an employee to excel and maintain a reputation.  The expertise gained within a college graduate’s major is important, but life lessons and all of the mentioned skills are extremely useful to succeed in a career.

References

Adams, S. (2015). The college degrees and skills employers most want in 2015. Forbes.