Feature Article: The Workforce Conundrum and You

I find the struggles of the modern teenager mind-boggling at times. First, you have this incredibly challenging high school curriculum to tackle (if you are a serious student and have high-achieving college goals in mind) consisting of honors, AP and/or IB courses that you take in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. You study your brains out, learning how to take challenging tests like the SAT, ACT, AP exams, and the like, knowing even a few mistakes on a three-to-four-hour exam can be detrimental to your future aims. Then you tackle the ever-confusing and diverse college applications process. There are now some schools that require as many as 11 different essay questions just to complete their application alone (thanks a lot, Stanford)!

Then you get in! And throw a party! And then the parents get the bill and nearly keel over because the cost of college has gotten out of whack in recent years. But you and your family pull out all the stops and finance the child’s education. And she manages to bust her butt and graduate…on time! Surely the pain is over, and the Brinks truck is going to be backed up to your house, full of gold bricks, right? Not so fast, Lonestar.

So, you have graduated, on time, and have to start paying back those pesky student loans…but there’s a problem – where’s the job that is supposed to help us make that payment (six months after we graduate)? You start looking feverishly for jobs…well, at least there are jobs to be had, right? The U.S. unemployment rate has never been lower. But there’s something you keep running across in the job descriptions: “3 years professional work experience required.” “5 years tangible work experience strongly recommended.” Uh oh. When was I supposed to get work experience? I was in college, full-time, for the past four years?!

The newest roadblock? HR departments all across the land. Some have developed blind inflation credentials (if you are not from a top 25 school or you don’t have a Master’s degree, you are not hirable) and others who use job posting programs with algorithms that block out qualified and knowledgeable candidates, simply because they lack experience.

What makes things worse is that there is an expectation, by the family, that because you now have this Bachelor’s degree, you should be able to get not just a job, but a really good, high paying job, right out of college. The reality is this: the BA/BS degree is setting us up for the third job, and less the first one.

So, is there anything we can do about this? I would like to believe the answer is a resounding ‘yes’. I think we should be doing a better job of seeking out schools that give students tangible work experience, or at least, hands-on learning opportunities, as part of the Bachelor’s curriculum/program.

Co-Op programs are probably my favorite avenue to explore. Co-Op, or cooperative education programs, are

A method of combining classroom education with practical work experience. It usually provides academic credit for structured job experience, which is frequently paid experience too!

A close second would be a structured internship program, which provides students with a learning opportunity that may be paid or unpaid, usually in a work or research setting.

A handful of schools that have notable Co-Op or internship programs include: Babson College, Bentley University, Butler University, Claremont McKenna College, Creighton University, Drexel University, Elon University, Georgia Tech, Kettering University, Northeastern University, Purdue University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Being able to say that you have six months to eighteen months of field or work experience in the career area you are interested in pursuing can make a tremendous difference in landing that first strong-paying job…which could mean getting out from student loan debt faster…which could mean raising your credit score quicker…which could mean buying your first home faster. Do you see where this is going? Making informed and well-reasoned decisions is what we help families do. I hope you will reach out and ask your questions while time is still on your side.