How to transition from school to work

Many recent college graduates continue to face a challenging job market, but do they know how to effectively locate and acquire a job?

With 53.6 percent of bachelor’s degree-holders under the age of 25 underemployed or unemployed, the nation’s young people are unfortunately less prepared than they think.

According to a new national survey, 48 percent of college career center directors felt students were not well prepared for the career landscape — noting a lack of motivation and understanding about the job search process as major barriers to successfully landing a job. The survey, “Effectively Counseling Graduating Students,” was conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers on behalf of the Career Advisory Board, established by DeVry University.

Career center directors cited that, overall, students have a poor understanding of the effort required to search for and secure employment. More than 77 percent of college career center directors felt the greatest obstacle in counseling students to enter the job market was getting them to understand the effort required to successfully search and compete for a job. These factors contribute to students not utilizing their school’s career center or skipping this resource altogether, which could prolong the job search process. Fifty-six percent of career center directors felt students did not have résumés ready to show employers. Eighty percent of the career center directors surveyed believe individual student career coaching is the most effective resource available for students.