Friday, June 12, 2009

Grads Facing Dim Job Prospects

By Ted Gee

As a former executive from corporate America who works with colleges and universities to assist students with being better prepared for corporate America or entrepreneurial opportunities we are noticing a large problem that is being overshadowed by the foreclosures and the failures of the auto and banking industries.

College graduates in 2009 and the foreseeable future will have a bleak job outlook due to the bad economy. With the mounting job losses continuing to rise, the impact to college graduates not being able to secure employment will be higher. This is the worst job situation we've seen in a very long time. With the shortage of jobs, those that will get the small number of opportunities will need to be prepared to offer value day one. These students will need to have specific leadership skills, and some required system navigation skills that are essential for their survival.

Many colleges and universities will have to continue to have curriculums that are flexible enough to reflect the customers needs. In many cases the customer is corporate America, or small business. We need to begin teaching the leadership continuum as a process and include more practical applications with the traditional philosophy and theory of management being taught in most institutions. This process should begin with incoming freshman and be integrated through the seniors in their last year. With the continued failures of many companies we must ensure that the college graduates entering the workforce are better prepared to perform in the roles and responsibilities they seek and have the skills to lead the companies in the US to better conditions than we are experiencing today.

There will be some students who will pursue graduate degrees or other opportunities however we need to focus on this key issue as many high school graduates prepare for their college freshman year in the fall.

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