With graduation fast approaching for many Idaho State University students, the time to prepare for finding a job or career after college has arrived.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) released their 2013 Job Outlook in November.
The Job Outlook survey, as described by NACE, “is a forecast of hiring intentions of employers as they relate to new college graduates.”
The information held in the survey is relevant to not only those graduating immediately but to all college students looking to succeed in their career aspirations.
“[The report] puts a little more weight behind things we say [at the career center], said Troy Kase, director of the ISU Career Center, referring to a section talking about skills and characteristics employers look for.
The report lists the top attributes employers are looking for in prospective employees. In order, they are: “Has held leadership position, major, high GPA (3.0 or above), has been involved in extracurricular activities (clubs, sports, student government, etc.), school attended, has done volunteer work, is fluent in a foreign language, has studied abroad.”
Kase explained that students have often developed a lot of the skills employers are looking for through class work and other experiences. The hard part is knowing how to communicate that either on a resume or in an interview with potential employers.
“A student could carefully pick their minor to add some of these qualities,” said Kase. “There are certain things students can do to set them apart from other candidates.”
The NACE survey also lists verbal communication as the top skill rated by employers followed by the ability to work in a team structure.
“A lot of our professors here are really good about, you know, doing group work,” said Kase. “I know students don’t always like doing group work [but] there’s a really good reason behind that. It’s developing the communication skills, it’s developing leadership skills.
“Leadership is not necessarily being the head of the group, it’s also being a follower, too,” he added.
While Kase noted that for many jobs such as nursing or accounting, a specific degree is required, he said, “In many situations, [employers] are looking for the characteristics and qualities as much or maybe even more than [what] degree you have.”
Many students are intimidated or fearful of life after graduation due to the state of the economy now and in recent years, however, the survey shows a steady rise in jobs available since 2010 as well as 47.5 percent of employers increasing hiring of new graduates. This number is higher than it has been in the past few years.
“We’re seeing the job market, it’s right in line with the slow and steady building of the economy,” said Kase.
Kase explained that there is a slow and steady rise in jobs and in companies or businesses participating in career fairs as the economy builds back up.
He said that although things aren’t as good as they were in 2007, they aren’t as bad as they were in 2009, either, which is demonstrated in the survey.
Kase’s advice to new graduates looking for work is to be patient.
“Be willing to start at the bottom. I can tell you that this is a frustration echoed by employers all the time,” said Kase. “You’ve got to be willing to start at the bottom and you will not be CEO in five years.
“When somebody asks you [in an interview] where you’ll be in five years, the wrong answer is to say ‘I will be your boss in five years,’” explained Kase. “That’s a good way to lose the second interview right there.”
Kase explained that new graduates must be willing to put in the time and work to achieve higher positions.
ISU and the Career Center have “a ton of jobs listed” on their database, Bengal Jobs, to help students according to Kase.
Kase did a quick search on Bengal Jobs for full-time jobs and found that there were 157 jobs listed. This number doesn’t include part-time jobs, work-study jobs, internships or jobs not posted on the database.
“I really want to direct students towards this system,” said Kase. “This, for an ISU student, is the best system they could be using.”
When asked what upcoming spring graduates should do to improve their hire-ability, he listed volunteering and internships as two of the top options.
He also advised students to utilize the Career Center on campus.
“[Students] need to get some practice doing some of this job search stuff. They need to have us help them with their resume and have us help them with their interviewing,” said Kase.
“I guarantee them that we can help them, absolutely guarantee them. They will interview better after coming to see us, they will have a better resume after coming to see us. Everyone has room for improvement.
“In that rare case that we find a student who hasn’t worked any jobs prior to graduation, it might be time to start talking about volunteering somewhere, just getting your foot in the door somewhere,” said Kase.
“Employers are much more receptive to post-graduate interns than I have ever seen them before,” explained Kase who said an internship may be a good option, especially for graduates without any work experience.
