As a nation, we are aware of the disappointing educational system that has been majorly developed for financial gain. College in America is expensive, includes irrelevant classes, and often a lack of career oriented assistance for students. The average American has no control over this pressing issue, as humans are not always in control of our own decisions. Yes, every morning we can choose the color of our socks and what type of coffee we would like. However, emerging employees are not in control of the “default” life they are pressured to have. It is a complex issue that has had both positive and negative impacts on individuals (whether or not someone enjoys a certain lifestyle), but is overall a forced educational system that consequently affects many human resource departments.
Let’s break this “default” life down. Adolescents are urged to attend college in high school, even if they do not know what they would study. Parents, counselors, and universities pressure students with that decision, rarely allowing them other options. Therefore, students do not educate themselves on the alternatives, such as technical school, entrepreneurship, entering the workforce, ect. It is easier to resort to the default.
Then, students attend college either with a chosen major or undecided. Students have been painted a picture of independence, in addition to finally getting to study something relevant to their passion. But this doesn't happen; students need to enter two more years of general education. Students can not opt out of this decision, as it is necessary for them to graduate. Best case scenario, a student with a chosen major has a positive general education experience, does not change their mind, graduates on time, and with a job. That is an extremely rare scenario, one that students pay tens of thousands of dollars for. However, it is not a realistic goal for what students are purchasing. In reality, many students are undecided or change their major. People tell them this is not a big deal, as it is an intense expectation to ask a teenager what they would like to do with the rest of their life. This makes sense, but you can not simply change your major because you will most likely be added a year due to extra classes. Consider that this does not happen and the student sticks to their intended path. They earn decent grades, are involved, get an internship, and graduate. Are they definitely going to get a job? No, they are not because a university can not guarantee that.
This lack of societal control is what human resource employees should try to consider when deciding on new employees. If students rarely have a choice of what college they attended, how long it took them to complete their courses, or the availability of internships, then how can businesses possibly consider these educational components when hiring? Think less about what applicants can not control, and more about what they can.
Hannah Smolicz is currently an undergrad student and was previously a “client” of ours. She reached out to us four years ago for assistance with developing an e-Commerce presentation for her DECA competition. Now, as she continues her educational journey, Hannah is back as a guest content writer, with a goal of developing her portfolio and providing relevant content and interesting perspectives to our clients.
Learn More About Hannah’s Story Here: https://www.danieljamesconsulting.com/post/daniel-james-llc-assists-ct-high-school-student-hannah-smolicz-in-securing-deca-officer-position
___________________________________________ Daniel James Consulting is a Full-Service Business Consulting Firm based in New York that designs solutions tailored specifically to the needs of your business in order to ensure you achieve continued success by designing, developing and implementing plans, metrics and platforms, be it a one-man operation, non-profit, startup or large organization. Our packaged solutions or a la carte selections include Website Design, Marketing & Advertising, Search Engine Positioning, and Graphic Design. Business Management Solutions are also available for companies of all sizes. For more information please visit: www.danieljamesconsulting.com
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