The Conversation US’ Post

This article underscores the vital role internships play in helping students transition into the workforce. A key takeaway for employers is the call to offer paid internships, ensuring equitable opportunities for all college students. Let’s keep pushing for fair access and support the next generation of talent! 🌟

One of the most rewarding and impactful activities that faculty can undertake is to provide career guidance, when students ask for it. This cannot replace the professional services that dedicated career centers offer to students, but it can support and enrich those efforts. Students facing difficult career choices benefit from getting direct input from their professors as trusted sources who have relevant experiences and expertise. It can also broaden students' horizons as they explore careers that might be better aligned with their traits, skills, and goals in life. Sadly, though, faculty are not always keen to provide career advice. They respond to their own academic career progression incentives that rarely, if ever, reward time-consuming and hard to quantify interactions with students, such as ‘career chats’ outside the classroom. These interactions also have a very long horizon to manifest any recognizable impact, making it less rewarding in the short run. I was lucky enough to have transformative conversations with a few of my professors in the engineering and business schools that I attended. These ‘career chats’ invariably altered the course of my career and life in positive ways. I am thankful to those dedicated and inspiring professors who took the time to have a cup of coffee with me and who broadened my perspective on career options with invaluable advice. I try to pay it forward by taking the time to chat with my students when they seek that kind of career and life advice from me. I think more students should seek this kind of important and potentially impactful advice from the professors whom they might have personally connected with. And more professors should take the time to offer guidance to their students on one of the most important decisions in their lives.

As a dedicated professional in Career Services, I'm thrilled to see the latest findings from the National Association for Colleges and Employers underscore the invaluable role of faculty in guiding students toward successful career paths. This study reaffirms what we've long known: that faculty members serve as crucial allies in our collective mission to support students' career development. The statistics are telling: with 92% of faculty being approached for career advice by students within their discipline, it's clear that our educators play a pivotal role beyond the classroom. Moreover, the significant outreach from alumni seeking career assistance further emphasizes the enduring impact of faculty-student relationships. One key takeaway that resonates deeply with me is the importance of collaboration across campus sectors. While Career Services plays a vital role, true success in equipping students with the skills and confidence to thrive post-graduation requires a holistic approach. By partnering with faculty, we can ensure that career readiness is seamlessly integrated into the academic experience, empowering students at every stage of their journey.

Based on self-assessment programs, Checking Out Career Paths with Chaz offers detailed information about specific jobs found on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, so that students can see if certain occupations would be a good match for them. #DesiredCareer #choosecareer #checkingoutcareerpaths

24% of Gen Z are unemployable according to a new study. This emphasizes the need for more systematic hiring to expose the posers, and a change needed in American education and families. Our families and educational system should be developing people of good character who know how to discern truth, are responsible, and have healthy relationships with others. (A longer discussion, but very important.) Here's the study: https://lnkd.in/ef59MjVZ

What we're reading: an interesting article in the Business Insider. The call to move towards skill-based hiring, in theory, creates pathways toward more equity in the workplace. Based on a recent study by Harvard Business School however, "we’re seeing that in practice, a college degree still plays a major role in recruitment." This is why our combined focus on workplace AND college success is invaluable to opening doors to young adults who aspire to break into professional sectors that offer higher-paying jobs. #workplaceequality #skillsdevelopment #workplaceculture https://lnkd.in/ezzWhMT9

"Many major employers have dropped their long-held degree requirements, meanwhile, recruiters globally are now five times more likely to search for new hires by skills over higher education. Even LinkedIn has echoed that the hottest skills to land a job right now can’t be learned in a textbook." For a select group a college degree is a prerequisite that their intended career must include. Psychiatrist. Medical doctor. CPA. Lawyer. But for the majority, a 4-year college degree today is a waste of time and money. Better to choose what you want to learn and either attend a 2-year community college, or find the resources online, some of which may be entirely free. https://lnkd.in/gPTUVhes

New policies may support workers without degrees, but higher education remains influential in hiring and pay decisions. Experts predict that degrees will continue to impact career opportunities and salary prospects. Stay informed about the evolving landscape of education and employment to navigate these changes effectively. https://lnkd.in/gJ9mGrnk #HigherEducation #CareerOpportunities #WorkforceTrends #EmploymentOutlook

🌍 **It’s Time to End Discrimination Between Public and Private Universities in the Job Market** Students protest against the Government job quota system. Let's start the change to the private job as well. In the job market, a candidate’s skills, experience, and achievements should be the primary criteria for evaluation—not the name of their institution. Whether a candidate graduates from a public or private university should not determine the opportunities available to them. We must ensure that recruitment practices focus on merit and provide equal opportunities, so that every candidate is judged based on their qualifications. Employers need to shift their perspectives and recognize the value of educational diversity. A fair and inclusive job market must value all educational institutions, whether public or private, equally. If we want to build a future that is free from discrimination and full of opportunities, we need to start making these changes today. Let’s work together to create a society where every qualified candidate has an equal chance to succeed, beyond the name of their educational institution. 💼 #EqualOpportunities #DiversityInRecruitment #ReformBangladesh

More employers now say they’re willing to hire workers without a college degree. But is that playing out? Since the great resignation had ended, far past the Covid pandemic, it seems that employers are struggling more than ever to fill out job vacancies as the need to find qualified job applicants to fill in-demand positions is becoming a difficult obstacle for Talent Acquisition recruiters and hiring managers across the United States. For some time, there have been talks of how companies can implement newer strategies to source, attract, and give non-degree applicants opportunities in the workforce without having a college degree, or even an advanced degree. Call me old school, but I thought that working hard, sacrificing, and setting objectives in college, would eventually have one graduate successfully, and secure a potential career with a great startup, or an established branded organization in a very competitive market that is dominated by many hard-working students that are doing the traditional route. I read this article and tried to be both objective and non-biased in both my thinking and perspectives, by showing some empathy. Have employers considered changing this concept to implement other means to allow the non-degree applicant to gain some sort of competitive advantage with so many college graduates who have worked so hard to get an opportunity at success? I do see inconsistencies in the job market right now as recruiters and hiring managers make it impossible for job applicants to showcase their strengths and abilities on a CV, only to be quickly scanned in 35 seconds by a recruiter, before being scanned again by ATS - Applicant Training Software algorithm making it impossible and having candidates jumping through hoops just to get their resumes and opportunities past a gatekeeper, to the next round. I am seeing consulting companies implementing strategies to introduce skills-based training such as the company Applied which wants to kill the resume and CV and focus more on skill-based interviews and opportunities for candidates to showcase their technical talents that a resume would not properly show one's hidden talents. I would support this but to completely give up on all college degrees by organizations today just to re-introduce a large pipeline of job applicants just to satisfy the numbers is complete garbage. Maybe you agree with me on this article, especially where you have worked hard to get your college degree, your MBA, Master's, or any advanced degree. Maybe you feel that a change needs to be implemented to bring recruitment and hiring fairness and strategies to the table. Everyone is entitled to their opinion on this. Please take an opportunity to read the article, and to share your opinions on this. Thank you.