Recent college graduates are facing even more challenges than their predecessors when it comes to finding a job after completing their education.
A recent survey of more than 800 hiring managers has found that nearly 38% are avoiding hiring recent college graduates and instead opting for older candidates to fill empty positions.
When it comes to why recent graduates are being passed over, the poll conducted by Intelligent.com found that 58% of hiring managers said they are unprepared for the workforce.
Diane Gayeski, a professor of strategic communications at Ithaca College’s Roy H. Park School of Communications, reviewed the results of the survey and spoke with WTOP about the findings.
She noted that recent graduates are simply not prepared for the interviews that they receive.
“People bringing their parents to job interviews. They are not dressed appropriately,” Gayeski said. “They are unprepared to behave in ways that people expect in interviews, such as lack of eye contact. Inappropriate kinds of informality, like starting an email with ‘Hey.’”
Among those who do get hired, not many end up staying around for long, as the poll found that almost half of the managers interviewed reported having to fire a recent college graduate.
This could be a result of employers who have worked with recent college graduates saying they are late to work (61%), missed deadlines (59%), and couldn’t handle their workload (63%).
Faced with pandemic lockdowns at the start of their higher education, remote learning and little to no personal interaction have resulted in the new generation of workers picking up bad habits that haven’t prepared them for life after school.
“College campuses were not bringing in guest speakers, places were not taking in interns, clubs were not as active, there were still a lot of restrictions on athletics. So our students haven’t had the exposure and experiences that many previous generations did,” Gayeski said.
Other findings showed that Gen-Zers have unrealistic expectations when it comes to salary, job titles, workplace accommodations, working schedules, and vacation time.
Gayseki says the reason for these expectations starts in the classroom.
“About 20% of students are receiving some kind of accommodations, like flexible attendance, or being able to eat or drink in class, or having more relaxed deadlines, or not making presentations in front of large groups, or taking exams in a private setting,” Gayeski said.