The Class of 2015 Isn’t Ready to Join the Workforce

The Class of 2015 Isn’t Ready to Join the Workforce

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By Beth Braverman

The improving economy means that more employers are offering decent jobs to the Class of 2015, but many of those new graduates don’t feel ready to join the working world.

Only 35 percent of students believe that college was effective in preparing them for a job, and even fewer — 20 percent — feel very prepared to enter the workforce, according to the 2015 Workforce Readiness Survey by McGraw Hill Education.

More than half of students surveyed said they never learned to write a resume in college or how to conduct themselves in a job interview. Nearly 60 percent said they didn’t know how to network or search for a job.

Related: Why the Class of 2015 May Actually Get Good Jobs

The job market has loosened up this year — employers expect to hire nearly 10 percent more new college graduates this year than last year, according ot a study released last month by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Still, the best gigs remain very competitive, and students who don’t know how to navigate the job search process may find themselves at a disadvantage. 

Two-thirds of those surveyed said that they wanted to get more internships or professional experience while in school, and about 60 percent wanted more time to focus on career prep.

Colleges regularly tout their career services departments, but the students surveyed for this report gave those offices poor marks. Only a third thought that their school’s career services department was effective, and a quarter had never used career services.

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