College students may feel job-ready post-graduation, but a large portion of hiring managers believe they are lacking in important areas.
A study released by PayScale, conducted at the beginning of the year using roughly 76,000 participants, showed that nearly 90% of recent college graduates considered themselves well prepared for jobs. The study found only half the hiring managers agreed, with 60% of companies surveyed saying recent graduates lacked critical thinking skills and attention to detail.
“We hear all the time about the ‘skills gap,’ the gap between the skills needed to succeed in the professional world and the skills with which young professionals leave college,” said Katie Bardaro, vice president of data analytics at PayScale, in a news release.” The data we’ve collected show that even though their education may make recent college graduates feel prepared to enter the workforce, only half of hiring managers agree with them; managers feel crucial skills in recent graduates are frequently lacking or absent.”
A study recently done for CareerBuilder by Harris Poll asked hiring managers and human resource professionals about their concerns with hiring recent graduates. The largest concerns were:
Too much emphasis on book learning instead of real-world learning
Need workers with a blend of technical skills and those skills gained from liberal arts
Entry-level roles within their organization are more complex today
Not enough focus on internships
Technology is changing too quickly for an academic environment to keep up
Not enough students are graduating with the degrees their company needs
The good news for post-grad job-seekers, however, is that 67% of employers surveyed by CareerBuilder say they will hire recent graduates this year.
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