There ought to be a second graduation speech just for parents, in the afternoon,
after the celebratory lunch, while the kids are off whooping it up. It should go like this:
We know you have a great kid. We also know that, as amazing as she is, she may not
have a job lined up, and that this fact is eating away at you.
Oh, sure you may have heard that hiring on college campuses is up more than ten percent
from the past few economically horrendous years, but you’ve also heard that there are
still over 30 applicants for every job and a backlog of unemployed young people milling
round out there. You want to hear a speech full of practical advice about how you can
help your kid land a job. Here it is:
Three years of high recent graduate employment have convinced senior leaders in colleges and universities that they must pay greater attention to preparing their students for the future. Increasingly, that means re-visioning the role of the career director and her department.
Many long-term career directors have recently observed significant increases in their 403B accounts and are choosing to retire. That means colleges now have the opportunity to go from vision to action.
Deans and vice presidents embrace the idea of finding new career leaders who think broadly and strategically about their role inside and outside of their institutions. They are excited by prospect of finding candidates who are “connectors”—leaders who are adept at bringing many parts of their institution together to support student career development, whether that development happens as part of a course, through internships, study abroad or leadership on the athletics field. And, senior leaders increasingly recognize that their career directors will be doing work that directly affects institutional strategic objectives.
Sadly, hiring managers often find their applicant pools lacking in appropriate candidates.
In July, 2011, newly minted young college grads faced an unwelcome pinnacle: at 13.1%, the unemployment rate for bachelor’s degree graduates under the age of 25 was the highest on record.
Since the past summer, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data show several months of relative improvement in the job outlook for young grads. But, statistics from 2007-2011 provide plenty of reasons why optimism should be tempered with caution.
For the past three years, the average unemployment rate for bachelor’s degree grads under 25 has remained stubbornly rooted around 9%.
In 2008, Brittany Haas left college with a newly minted degree in Apparel Design. A few months later, the stock market took a nose dive, leading to years of double-digit unemployment for young college grads. Hit worst have been those with degrees in art and design and liberal arts. But this is not another story of doom and gloom. At age 24, Brittany is US Retail Planner for a world-renowned fashion house, managing a multi-million dollar budget—along with her own business.
When students return to college, or set foot on campus for the first time, it's normal for parents to have conflicting emotions. One of those emotions is frequently anxiety about the cost of education and the value of that education in the real world. But such concerns are likely to be brushed away by the assumption that as long as their sons and daughters take it easy on the partying and pay attention to their studies, they'll be rewarded with a good job at graduation. At a time when the unemployment rate for recent bachelor's grads is at an all-time high (13.1%) it's essential to question this assumption. The path from college to a good career is not automatic; it takes considerable work on the student's part, starting early in their time at college.
Too many of our new graduates are not getting jobs—or at least the kind of jobs that put them on a career path and provide sufficient compensation to pay back loans.
For three years, high unemployment rates have plagued some of our most talented young people. Colleges cannot change the economy or force companies to hire. But they can do a better job preparing their students to compete for available positions.
Graduation used to mark the end of a college’s responsibility to its students. But many institutions have come to realize that they need to pay attention to their graduates—however long they’ve been out of school. Nowhere is there more pressure than in the area of career services, judged by alumni as one of the key areas where they need help.
There are compelling reasons for colleges to respond to alumni needs: When graduates can’t find jobs, get laid off, or fail to find even the bottom rung of the career ladder, their misfortune now directly affects the colleges they attended.
According to the June 2011, report from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the unemployment rate for young graduates with bachelor’s degrees was a staggering 12%--substantially higher than for any other graduate cohort. But, as most college careers offices and development offices can tell you, the recent recession has also adversely affected large numbers of their alumni. The term “jobless recovery” is apt.
The statistics tell a troubling story for anyone hoping for a quick turnaround in career prospects. There are clear reasons for pessimism:
The government’s June statistics contained an unpleasant surprise for the Class of 2011: a ten percent rise in the unemployment rate compared to June, 2010. Twelve percent of college graduates under the age of 25 had no work at all in June, 2011—not even a part-time or low-level job.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. After two years of unemployment rates above ten percent, there were signs of improved prospects for college seniors. The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) reported in March that 53% of employers planned to hire more college seniors from the Class of 2011 than the Class of 2010. And, colleges across the country attested to increased participation from employers in fall career fairs.
When the employment situation is bleak, thousands of students gravitate towards subjects like business, communications, or economics, turning their backs on liberal arts subjects. Many do so because they perceive it to be the safest way to avoid unemployment at graduation. Few have made the case to students that the pursuit of a broad academic education may be a more effective strategy to achieve the desired result. So it was with great interest that I read a discussion of this topic on my alma mater’s LinkedIn site (Durham University Alumni). The specific question asked was how graduates used subjects like history, science or languages in their day-to-day work.
I found one answer particularly helpful, because it clearly articulated how the author’s knowledge of multiple subjects influenced his success in writing and designing video games
