"Young people aged 18 to 34 have struggled with double-digit unemployment and account for half of the 10.9 million unemployed Americans, according to government figures." E.g., unprepared—"Companies say candidates are lacking in motivation, interpersonal skills, appearance, punctuality and flexibility." The Surprising Reason College Grads Can
A few years back we hired a recent graduate as a temp in HR. He was a train wreck. He was with us for six months. His attire was always inappropriate for the situation. He constantly was found texting (often while walking through the office). He would give executives a head toss and a "'sup" when passing them in the hallway. Mistakes in his work were prevalent. E-mails were unprofessional. Honestly, I was incredibly mad that my staffing specialist hired him as I could not imagine he pulled it together for an interview much better. I had to call him in multiple times a week to basically try to modify all of his workplace inappropriate behaviors. After a few weeks, I realized this was an opportunity for everyone. I set up a recurring weekly meeting and I turned it into a mentoring opportunity. He drastically improved himself, his work and his workplace skills. He came to us talking about how he was thinking of either going to law school or driving to Portland to join his friend's band (the strangest dichotomy I've ever encountered). He left six months later to take a job as a benefits specialist at a university with 1/3 of his CEBS designation completed. The problem is that had I interviewed him, I would not have hired him. I would never have chosen to take on the job of teaching a 22/23 year old that talking about how "wasted" you got over the weekend is not an appropriate topic of conversation when the VP of HR stops you in the hall to ask you how your weekend went (sadly, a true story). I want people who can get right to work. A certain amount of skill, professionalism and experience is presumed even for entry level positions. Internships are an OK way to work some of this out provided the internship is something more than an attempt to recruit temporary office slaves. Temp jobs can be a good way to learn the ropes. But mentorship is really important for an individual to learn how to navigate the corporate world. At some companies they have the program in place to pair you up with a more experienced person. Most companies just assume you're coming in as an adult ready to work a real-life adult job. I think the colleges that prepare these opportunities definitely put their graduates at an advantage. But it isn't a role that a college necessarily has to fill. If you're a parent and know that your college age child has zero experience in the working world and is eyeing a job at Goldman Sachs you should probably step in and try to ensure that they are putting their life on track. If you are a student and literally everyone around you is earning the exact same piece of paper you should probably consider ways to differentiate yourself in the workplace and who might serve as a mentor for you.
