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| 4/1/2008 |
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Are Graduates Ready to Work?
02/01/2008
Are Graduates Ready To Work?
By John Bendt
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What does the future hold for today's youth? Are they learning the skills they need to succeed? Are They Really Ready to Work?, a report released by The Conference Board (a business membership and research organization), shows there is an alarming trend in the United States for many of today's entry level workers, even those with a four-year degree, to lack critical workplace skills needed to succeed on the job.
The Conference Board, along with The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Corporate Voices for Working Families, and the Society for Human Resource Management, conducted a survey in 2007 of more than 400 employers across the United States to identify skill sets that new workplace entrants will need to succeed. A key finding of the survey is that the "Three Rs" alone are not sufficient to succeed on the job, and applied or soft skills are essential for success. Among the most important soft skills needed by entrants into today's workforce are:
Professionalism / Work Ethic
Communications (Written & Oral)
Teamwork / Collaboration
Critical Thinking / Problem Solving
Employers' assessment of new workforce entrants' readiness on these important skills is alarming. A report card shows serious skill deficiencies for high school and two-year college/technical school graduates, and low levels of skill excellence for four-year college graduates. For example, the majority of employers rated high school graduate entrants deficient in all of the most important soft skills. A significant percent rated two-year college or technical school graduates deficient in communication and problem solving skills. And although four-year college graduates were rated mostly adequate, with the exception of written communication skills, only 25 percent of the employers rated them excellent on three of the five most important soft skills. The full report is available online at http://www.conference-board.org/.
Part of this problem can be attributed to the fact that most high school students put little effort into exploring what they want to do upon graduation, have little understanding or experience with the requirements of the work world, and have no action plan in place to prepare for their future, other than some plan to go to college. It's paradoxical that college bound students and their parents put lots of energy into selecting and gaining admission into college, but minimal thought and effort into selecting an occupation and learning the skills it will take to compete successfully in today's competitive global world. As a result many enter college with little direction, often require extra time to graduate, and most importantly, fail to hone critical workplace skills.
Pointing Students in the Right Direction
What can teachers, counselors and parents do to help students better prepare for their future in the workforce? Following are three actions that can make a difference:
Make the case to students that preparing for their future work life should be a high priority, because success in their work life depends on the ability to provide skills an employer will value. Students experience competition in sports, class work, and other extra curricular activities. Most, however, don't fully grasp the role competition will play in their work life, and that their ability to compete is the single most important factor in determining the success they will experience. Help students understand that the way to successfully compete in the workplace is to create skill advantages and to start preparing while in high school.
Bring the work world to students through exploration of occupations. Encourage students to use career center tools to identify and explore occupational interests and learn which hard and soft skills are needed to achieve success in the occupations. Most importantly teach them how to find and interview someone working in the occupation so they gain a realistic understanding of the work and requirements for success. Arming students with an agenda, such as Information Interviews, can alleviate anxiety caused by the uncertainty of what questions to ask. Student interactions with the professionals they interview can often lead to valuable mentor relationships.
Show students how they can learn and practice important workplace skills in their extra curricular activities and part time jobs. Opportunities to practice skillslike leadership, teamwork and communication abound if one participates in sports, school clubs and volunteer activities. Verbal skills can be sharpened by joining the debate or forensics teams, or writing skills can be improved by working on the school newspaper, or yearbook. Part-time jobs provide the opportunity to practice professionalism by demonstrating responsibility, dependability, initiative, ability to work under pressure and self confidence. Interpersonal skills can also be practiced in dealing with co-workers. Encourage students to keep a journal of how they practiced important workplace soft skills in their extra curricular activities and part time jobs. This documentation of skill use will assist the student in mastering the skill, and will be a very valuable record when the time comes to demonstrate one's skills when competing for a job.
The Road To Success
Despite the alarming news from the Conference Board report, there is hope. Counselors, educators and parents can make a major difference by encouraging students to be proactive in preparing for their future. With effective guidance students will gain a better understanding of the big picture and will enter the workforce armed with the soft skills necessary to compete.
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| 3/1/2008 |
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First Jobs Kindle Careers
Do you remember your first job? Working in a restaurant? Helping out with a family business? Even if the memory is vague or one you'd prefer not to relive, do not look disdainfully upon that early experience. Despite a potentially menial nature and likely low pay, there is great value to be derived from this formative experience. Successful professionals from all walks of life learn valuable lessons, acquire lifelong skills, and benefit from ethical lessons gleaned during these initial jobs. You and your clients likely learned more than you think at that first job!
Transferable Skills: From the Cafeteria to Computers
In the work world, the most important skills are often transferable. Therefore working at a McDonalds doesn't consign you to a career in the food industry. Young Leslie Haynes' first paying job? As a cashier in a cafeteria-style restaurant. Each morning patrons ordered and paid Leslie before arriving and receiving their food. Daily, upon opening, one customer from a local corporate office arrived with a detailed order including a dozen beverages for her co-workers: "ice teac/no lemon;" "ice tea with lots of ice;" "coke with a little 7-Up;" "Coke with no ice;" etc. Other employees hid when they saw this customer coming because they would ususally get the order wrong! To serve this customer better, Leslie began personally taking the woman's order. And she always got it right..
One day, the woman handed Leslie a business card and explained that her manager wanted Leslie to interview with their company. He reasoned, "anyone who an be that efficient should work for us." And that's how Leslie got her first corporate job, using computers, handling paralegal work for Mead Data Central, Lexus/Nexus in Dayton, Ohio. She's since been a computer operator for a major database company, before becoming a registered certified dietitian. Today's Leslie is working with one of the nation's lead research hospitals in Bethesda, Maryland. Her cafeteria ability to organizae, prioritize and handle complicated tasks, from both customers and patients, has helped her win many jobs and promotions throughout her career.
Nuts and Bolts Training
For Charles Schwab, growing up in Yolo County, California afforded him the opportunity to become entrepreneurial at an early age. His first paying job? Picking up walnuts, sacking and then selling them for $5 per 100-pound bag. Schwab learned early that "the only way you could make a go of any enterprise was first, to find a profitable business concept; then begin to take practical steps to put the concept into action; and finally putting in the extra hours to turn a profit." Some friends who picked with him thought he was nuts when times got hard and sales slowed. yet Charles kept picking. Some bolted; Schwab persevered. "I quickly learned that if I kept at it and plowed right through the rejections I'd eventually get somebody to buy my wares."
Today San Francisco-based Charles Schwab & Co. brokerage services employ 12,400 and manage approximately $1.3 trillion. Whether picking nuts or stocks, hard work and perseverance pays off!
Little Things Make the Difference: The Difference is No Little Thing
For George Zimmer, President of The Men's Wearhouse, little things make the difference. Mr. Zimmer's first paying job: working for a newspaper, collecting fees from the delivery boys and helping them collect from their customers. He handled an area that had approximately 25 delivery boys. According to Zimmer, "the most important lesson I learned was that the devil is in the details."
Years later The Men's Wearhouse is known for their attention to detail. At over 1,269 stores throughout North America, customers' sizes and measurements are kept on file in a national database. They also regularly call back customers within 14 days of a purchase to insure their satisfaction. Furthermore, they remain ever ready to sew loose buttons and press slacks, blazers and suits whenever customers have a need, even when they are traveling away from home. As you can see, attention to detail is a quality that transcends occupations; something that Zimmer developed through that first job as a paperboy.
All of these intriguing stories validate the concept that career foundations are truly laid one skill "brick" at a time, beginning with our client's earliest and perhaps most seemingly menial jobs. These examples also help to illuminate the value of looking at the bigger picture when helping our clients to trace their career histories; we must teach them the language of transferable skills and focus on the positive learning outcomes and skill development that has occurred, especially if they cannot see these important aspects on their own. The following tips provide guidance for how to facilitate this process in career counseling:
RULES OF TRANSFERENCE
1. Always introduce the concept of Transferable Skills to your clients define this term and give relevant examples (perhaps taken from this article!). Help them realize that they are constantly utilizing and developing the basic skill sets they very likely gained from their earliest jobs!
2. Have your client describe the tasks and responsibilities of their first jobs to you as you jot down the skills and abilities that you recognize. Then ask them to identify what they think are the important skills and learning experiences from that job and share some of your own observations. Encourage clients to put aside negative judgments about these early jobs (if present), focusing on skills, not interests or the lack thereof.
3. The beauty of transferable skills is their ability to cross fields and professions. They may be traveling undercover, so we must elicit detailed stories and play "detective". One field's "people skills" may be another's "bedside manner". Think creatively and help our clients package themselves in the most effective way based on the needs and jargon of their targeted industry. This step is critical in all aspects of the job search process, especially resume/cover letter writing and professional interviewing.
A First For KnowledgeTransfer Ahead
One never knows where a job will lead. First jobs are a right of passage, teaching us valuable, memorable lessons to apply to future jobs throughout our careers. Sometimes the true lessons aren't readily apparent nor appreciated until years later, when we look back and can we see clearly what we learned and how we've applied it. No experience is wasted! What's your strategy? Apply these concepts to yourself and your work with clients: To learn as much as you can in each job you take; focusing on professional development, the use of new tools and technology, and on showing commitment to your co-workers, company and customers. The more you know the more you grow. As you rise (and help your clients rise) on the ladder of success, periodically look back at that first job and appreciate the lasting impressions it has made on you.
Craig Harrison's first paid job, at the age of eleven, was going door-to-door selling used jokes to his neighbors in Berkeley. Today he is a speaker, trainer, consultant and coach who founded Expressions of Excellence! to help professionals express their sales, service and communication excellence.
Contact him at (510) 547-0664, browse ExpressionsOfExcellence.com or send e-mail to mailto:excellence@craigspeaks.com for more information.
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| 2/1/2008 |
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Top Jobs for the Future
How would you feel if the job you've been doing for most of your life just moved offshore without any warning? What if you just spent several years getting an education for a job that was no longer in high demand? By understanding the major trends that are affecting our lives, you will be able to play an active role in planning and directing your career. By understanding these trends you will have a better chance of seeing the big changes before they hit.
Trend Spotting. Trends are like waves on the ocean. Some are very big, some are very small. Some trends last only a few years like the DOT COM trend, while others go on seemingly forever. The trends we are interested in may be as short as a few years or as long as 20+ years. Just like waves, trends move and change everything they come in contact with. If you aren't prepared for the big wave, it will wash over you, tumbling you like a toy in the ocean.
Initially, trends start off so small that most people don't notice them. Eventually trends build up to a crescendo. Somewhere in between they make the evening news. The trick is to spot trends just as they begin, so that you have time to take action and change your life. An even better trick would be to predict the trends before they start.
To get a feel for job trends, let's look at a few that have come and gone. Probably the most prevalent trend in our time has been that of technological innovation.
Revolutions in technology continue to cause rapid, almost un-predictable changes in career demand. Changes in technology can obsolete your job causing you to be laid off, downsized, right sized, and just plain inconvenienced.
Here are a few examples of jobs which were once in great demand but are now declining or totally extinct, at least in North America and Europe:
Typesetting - has been replaced by the first Apple computers and the advent of desktop publishing. Typesetting began in the 1400's with the first printing presses. The trend away from typesetting to desktop publishing started in the early 1980's and was completed by the mid 1990's. Thousands of people had their careers upset by this trend.
Secretarial Dictation - has been replaced by individuals doing their own word processing, starting in the 1980's as the cost of personal computers came down.
IBM Punch Card Operator - was obsoleted along with IBM punch cards by ~ 1985. Prior to that, punch card data entry employed tens of thousands.
Telex (TWX) Operator - was obsoleted by the advent of the FAX machine ~ 1980.
FAX Machine Operator - once the cost of FAX machines came down, most people handled their own faxes rather than having an assistant do it. Finally, most but not all faxes gave way to e-mail. 1980 to 1995.
Telephone Operatos - once a premier job, demand was reduced significantly by touch tone systems and then later by voice recognition technology.
Drafting Technician - manual drafting using pencil and ruler was replaced by Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) in the 1980's.
Drivers of the Trends. Trends are about change and every change has at its core, a "driver". To predict or spot a new trend, look for these basic forms of drivers.
~ The need to save time.
~ The need to reduce cost.
~ The need to do things faster.
~ The need to make things easier to use.
~ The need to improve safety and reliability.
~ The need to lessen the impact on the environment.
We have only seen the first wave of automation in our lives. The effect so far has been to eliminate jobs involving highly repetitive tasks. The net effect has been fewer "unskilled" jobs.
Automation is the result of the need to reduce cost which in turn is driven by a company's need to become more competitive, to be able to grow market share, and to generate higher earnings for investors. Automation, one of the first methods for reducing cost, had been a big trend between 1950 and 2000.
Jobs that are not easily mechanized, such as many manufacturing jobs, have already been moved to countries where the cost of labor is cheaper. Most of these jobs have been relocated to Mexico, Taiwan, India and China. Ten years from now, as the labor costs in those countries rise, the jobs may move to Africa or North Korea.
The next phase of automation will not occur in the factory, but in our homes, in our lives, and in the information that we use.
What are the next opportunities to save time in the home: Preparing meals, Cleaning the house, Acquiring groceries, Helping children with homework, Educating the children, Ironing the clothes, Making the bed.
Say Goodbye to data entry, programming, tech support and customer service jobs.
A new trend which became obvious in ~1998 is for entry level "knowledge worker" jobs such as programming, customer service, tech support, and accounting to be moved to countries with English speaking lower cost workers. This trend is getting started and it could hollow out the English speaking economies of North America and Europe.
A large portion of programming, tech support, data entry, and accounting jobs can be handled remotely from countries such as India where they speak perfectly polite Queen's English, and where they have excellent educational systems. This puts many lucrative jobs at risk.
Even extremely high tech, high skill jobs such as Analog Integrated Circuit Designers have started moving offshore to India and China. Taiwan already has several home grown integrated circuit design houses. Eventually, Silicon Valley companies will no longer be willing to pay high prices for local circuit design talent, they will use talent in China and India whenever possible.
Unless the government intervenes, English speaking countries with low labor costs and well-educated people will pull high paying jobs out of the United States and Europe.
What does this mean for someone just now planning a career? Proximity and creativity are the key. You really have two choices: 1) Look for a career that requires a very high level of skill or creativity such as a being a writer, designer, musician, inventory, marketing strategist, or film actor; or 2) learn a trade or skill that requires hands on presence such as a carpenter, nurse, physician, dental hygienst, or hair stylist. Combining proximity with creativity in a career gives you added security.
Does this mean you should panic and get out of software development or any other high tech, high paying job? It depends.
The first projects to move offshore are usually the most simple, low risk projects. Adding distance and cultural differences almost always adds time and complexity to any development project. The types of projects that will stay onshore: need to be done very quickly, are very complex, require lots of face to face interaction, are tough to define and highly ambiguous. Projects that represent low risk to management, such as making minor upgrades to a product, or copying someone else's product, will most certainly be moved offshore.
For more articles by Michael T. Robinson, please visit www.CareerPlanner.com, Inc.
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| 1/1/2008 |
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Faith and Career Development
As a professional director of career services, who also leads a youth program in a religious community, I have found several points of congruence common both to career development and to faith-based, purpose-driven youth programming. These concepts are crucial in developing individuals who are not only equipped professionally, but are also fulfilled in their careers and life. Valid arguments have been made that career development and religious faith do not mix; yet I have discovered that they can at least be complimentary. An individual's belief system can be a powerful motivator in developing career fulfillment.
Several concepts intertwine between career development and religious youth programming that can help individuals discover their potential and move toward fulfillment in life. These include Purpose, Guidance and Affirmation.
1. Purpose. Regardless of age, gender, or ethnic identity, finding purpose for living is foundational to the ability to develop dreams, and further, fulfillment. Many of today's teens seem to aimlessly sift through many complexities while pursuing education, career, and life in general. Faith community leaders hold up finding purpose as a goal for youth. Yet, finding purpose can be difficult for individuals in a world that is full of contradictions and confusion.
Self-actualization is a typical goal for an individual trying to discover career potential; but "purpose" involves much more than just self-actualization. Purpose is not just concerned with finding one's self; it is also about fulfilling over-arching goals that involve others. Purpose is inward expression of who we are, not what we are. If purpose is found in materialism or position, take away the position and materials and you only end up with purposeless living. I remember asking a retired Veteran what his dreams and aspirations were, and he stated that he had none. He had gone through life with no purpose, just surviving. How often have we heard tragic statements like his? How often could we help avert such tragedy?
Teens model what they have been exposed to in their lives. So teens need leaders and mentors who not only speak about purpose and fulfillment, but demonstrate these realities themselves. In career development, counselors have the same goal. Many of us as counselors ask, "What is your dream job and what does it look like? A good leading question, but how can the client identify a dream job if he or she is unable to identify a larger life purpose? When coaching for career development I often ask, "How do your abilities align with what you believe your purpose in life may be? And how can you articulate your purpose?
Guidance. One of the aspects I experienced in my own development as a teen was parental guidance. Adults can have profound influences upon a teenager when modeling dream-making and dream-fulfilling. Teens often witness dreams as only distant fantasies that don't come true. As youth programming leaders, however, we have the privilege of guiding teenagers toward modest but achievable dreams. Guidance isn't about educating individuals toward their potentials as much as it is giving opportunities for discovery.
I have coached many teenagers in finding purpose and dreams through various volunteer experiences. Opening doors of opportunity for positive discovery helps the teenager grow intellectually, spiritually, and vocationally. These doors could be as small as volunteering at a food-kitchen, or simply helping clean up after youth events. These opportunities are valuable when developing a portfolio or resume precisely because they evidence an individual with the ability to envision and to act in ways that create positive change. The experiences gained through volunteering are easily transferable into skills that employers seek in qualified employees.
Yet guidance also involves educating teenagers about the process toward their life's goals and knowing how to appreciate the necessary steps. Delegating responsibilities for character development, introducing them to people in their fields of interest, and taking them to observe mentors at work are ideas that cost nothing except a person's time.
Affirmation. Affirmation is one of the most powerful tools for helping teens develop into "world changers". Affirmation isn't about agreeing with a teenager's beliefs, as much as it is directing individuals toward wholesome and satisfying dreams that benefit both the pursuer and others. I remember a particular teenager telling me she knew what not to do because parents were clear about her boundaries. "Yet, what am I suppose to do within those boundaries?" Simply knowing when you are doing wrong does not move a person toward purposeful living. Parents, mentors, and youth programming leaders can generate positive change in teens by affirming them when they do things that are beneficial for themselves and others. This is true both in faith development and in career development. Individuals often tell me they know what not to do on a resume or in an interview, but seem not to grasp what to do. Affirmation is a process of discovery that enables individuals to grasp concepts that develop both professionalism and character.
Roger Wilcoxen serves as a youth pastor in Kansas City and is Director of Career Services at Pinnacle Career Institute in Lawrence, KS. Return to top |
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