Ready OR NOT, Here the Real World Comes!
By Cheyanne Crisman
Do you feel prepared for the real world and your future career?
Every day you hear college students say they are “ready” to be done with classes, but are they truly ready for the workplace? Over time professionals have admitted that many students who obtain a college degree often lack other necessary skills for the workforce.
These qualities include:
● Self-discipline
● Timeliness
● Problem Solving
● Responsibility
● Multitasking
● Motivation
● Critical Thinking
These skills can easily be worked into your daily routine and within the classroom. Other skills that can be utilized to prepare yourself are considered “soft skills.'' These are the behaviors and attitudes that can help you surpass your goals.
Soft Skills:
● Motivation
● Commitment
● Ambition
● Enthusiasm
● Optimism
Now think, how often do you use these skills in your everyday life? Or are you sitting there cheating yourself out of learning experiences everyday? These are not only skills that will “get you by” they are guaranteed to help you throughout the rest of your life.
Why are college graduates lacking these skills when they start their new career? It leads back to classroom performance, how well students hold themselves accountable for their work and professors following through with their guidelines.
A message to students: Many of you reading this probably think that it is not a big deal if your assignments are turned in on time or that showing up to class anytime is just as good as showing up on time. Little do you know that these are key steps to your job performance after you leave college.
- Yes I understand that things DO happen and we cannot avoid everything!
Making sure you get your assignments done by the due date, following rules, and showing up for class on time really does help you in the long run. Not only are you holding yourself accountable but showing responsibility. Trying to do your homework last minute or trying to find a peer who will hand off their answers isn’t the way to go either. Our classes are made to help us and to inspire students to use critical thinking and skill building.
- So yes, that “dumb” general education class you took did try to teach some lessons.
The majority of college graduates feel anxiety and uncertainty when leaving college to start their new career. Using college to gain these basic skills may not take away all of that feeling but it will lessen it.
What can professors and students do to accomplish these tasks? There are many things that can be done.
A message to professors: Throughout the last few years how many times have you let your students turn in their assignments late, not only once but maybe a few times. Have you let an unlimited number of students show up late to class without a consequence? Or what about creating class projects that demonstrate real life situations?
- These are a few key areas to focus on with students to help them succeed outside of college.
One simple way to hold your students accountable would be to limit the amount of assignments that can be turned in late, especially without consequences. Some students are taking full advantage that they can wiggle their way through a passing grade with turning in late assignments, therefore putting the least amount of effort. The same goes with limiting absenteeism or tardiness.
- Yes, there can be adjustments made later if a student truly shows a reason other than pure laziness.
Other ways to help your students include giving them tasks that may be requested upon a job offer, such as resume building, service-learning projects, or reports. Many students haven’t made any of the listed material and once they are asked to create one they are lost.
- I know I appreciated my classes that have provided me the opportunity to have real life experience.
After reading this, you should double check that you are using your skills to your FULL advantage.
Resources
Bauer-Wolf, J. (February, 2018). Overconfident students, dubious employers. Retrieved from: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/02/23/study-students-believe-they-are-prepared-workplace-employers-disagree
Zao-Sanders, M. & Palmer, K. (September, 2019). Why even new grads need to reskill for the future. Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2019/09/why-even-new-grads-need-to-reskill-for-the-future