Employers are saying colleges are only doing a fair to poor job of preparing good employees. Even at this time of high unemployment, employers are having a hard time finding qualified employees.
What are employers looking for, and are colleges providing it?
Here are some skills that make a good job candidate:
- Communications skills: being prepared to interview, being able to answer questions with specifics, and being able to support what you are talking about with real detail
- Basics abilities: being able to adapt to different situations, being able to problem solve, being able to make thought-out decisions
- Writing: The ability to write a business document
- Comprehension of history and philosophy: mostly in order to organize ideas
- And, the number one thing employers are looking for: having had an internship, which is better than what college you attended, what you majored in, and what grades your received!
The advice from the above is to get your science and technology and other job-specific education, but not be too focused or narrow. Liberal arts education and being well-rounded are also important. Students shouldn’t expect to learn every thing from college; they also must get out on their own, acquire experience, learn to converse, get training in job-seeking and interviewing skills, and read widely.
