Category — After College

There are many opinions proposed, many surveys taken, much research done regarding what employers want and expect from college graduates.  The answers may vary over the years, and may vary depending on profession or field of study.  Some skills may be very specific and others more broad.

College students often do not consider the actual skills that employers want.  Students may be thinking in terms of all-college requirements, requirements in their major, and possibly a minor, and what they need to do to graduate.  They often miss the connections between what they are doing in college and what they will need to do once they graduate – especially regarding those courses outside of their major.

As a college parent, you may want to talk with your student about what he is learning.  Ask him about the skills he is gaining in his classes.  Ask him about internships and real world application of his learning. Help him explore connections between his learning and his goals.  Help him explore the meaning of a Liberal Education. The more that your student, and you, understand and consider the meaning of his college education, the more easily he will be able to apply his learning to his life.

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Of course, the best answer to the question of how your college student feels about his first job is to ask him.  Every student is different.  Every student has different goals and ambitions, different strategies, different needs.  Hopefully, as your student has maneuvered his way through his college career, you’ve had opportunities to talk about his dreams and ambitions, and about the realities he will face when he hits the job market.

In spite of all of the individual differences, however, there are trends today in college graduates’ attitudes and approaches toward their first post-college job.  If you haven’t already had some conversations with your college student about his career thinking, some of the following information may be a good beginning point for discussion.  This information comes from the 2010 annual survey of college students conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).  Between February and April of 2010, NACE surveyed more than 12,000 graduating seniors at over 400 colleges throughout the United States.  Here are some of the things that they found.

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It probably seems like only yesterday that you and your college student were worrying about Freshman Orientation, Move-in Day, understanding the world of college, and getting started in the right direction.  Now your college student is approaching the end of his college career.  Hopefully, you’ve watched him grow and blossom throughout his college years, and he’s now managing more on his own.  However, you likely still worry at times, and wonder how he will fare in his new transition to come.

Although for many seniors graduation still seems a long way off, there are some important things that your student can and should do in the fall to prepare for a successful finale in the spring.  It may be helpful for you to have some conversations with your senior now to help her get on track.  Here are some things that you might suggest to your student.

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Students have participated in internships for years.  Apprenticeships or on-the-job training are tried and true methods of mentoring and teaching students or workers a new trade or profession.  In recent years, however, the number of college students participating in internship opportunities continues to grow as more and more schools offer structured programs and more and more employers expect graduates to have real world experience.  As a college parent, it is important that you understand, and help your student to understand, the importance of experiencing an internship while he is in school.

What exactly is an internship?

Not all jobs qualify as internships.  Although internships may take many forms, the purpose of an internship is to provide a meaningful learning experience for the student.  It is possible that the work done during an internship may still be menial, but it should be meaningful in helping the student understand the job, profession, or field.  An internship may take place during the academic year or during the summer.  Some students may even apply for an internship after graduation.

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Almost every college or university has an office dedicated to helping students find a career in which they are interested and to getting a job after college.  Whether the office is called the Career Center, Career Services Office, Career Placement Office, or some other variation of the title, the function is similar everywhere.  The variety of services offered by these offices is usually wide-ranging.  Unfortunately, many students think of the Career Office as a place they should visit during that last semester of senior year as graduation looms and they realize that they won’t be returning to school in the fall.  Students who learn early that the Career Office can help them, and who visit often at various stages of their college experience, are able to take full advantage of what this department has to offer.

What do Career Offices do?

Most Career Offices offer a variety of services for students.  Some of these services are specifically designed to help students early in their college experiences as they work to decide on their interests, strengths, and abilities and to choose a major.

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For many college students and their parents, the finish line is in sight.  Commencement is just around the corner.  Students have worked hard to reach this final moment.  Parents have been patient (most of the time), have supported, have worried, have encouraged (or downright scolded), have paid tuition again and again, and have possibly had moments when they wondered if this time would ever come.

But the season of Commencement is finally here, with all of the ceremony and pomp and circumstance that accompany it.  Most college students have experienced a high school graduation, which may or may not have been as formal as college Commencement.  Some students, and their parents, may be wondering what to expect, and what the experience will be like.

The format of commencement may vary according to the nature of the school, the size of the class, the weather, the location, or the particular traditions of the institution.  However, many factors may be similar no matter where the ceremony occurs.  Commencement is seen as the capstone experience of the student’s academic career.  It is a dignified, formal occasion and marks the formal action of conferring and receiving academic degrees.  Degrees are conferred on the candidates by the presiding officer (usually the college president) after they have been recommended or presented by another official (often a dean or provost).

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You know that the transition to college during the first year is going to be stressful for both your college student and for you.  You work hard to give your student the independence that he needs and wants.  You have both survived the experience and your student is thriving.  Then your student needs to move back home.  This might be due to a change of plans during college – either because of a transfer to a school closer to home, for financial reasons, or some other reason.  Or this might happen once your student graduates.  In these difficult economic times more and more students are returning home after college until they can find a job and get their bearings.

You may be delighted to have your student return home, or you may be concerned about how things will proceed.  Having your student home again may be a mixed blessing as your empty nest becomes repopulated.  Every family will be different.  Every parent’s reaction will be different.  But there are some things that you can do to help the process go more smoothly.

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