Faisal Wasili
ELI 072
4/19/16
In the article, “From Student to Employee: A Difficult Transition,” author Mina Alonso gives some suggestions to many recent graduates who are not ready for today’s workplace challenges. The author suggests that students have problems switching from school to work after they finish their degree. The first difficulty is that school is predictable and work is more spontaneous. For example, students usually know what is going to happen in class, but in the workplace unexpected situations are more common. Next, many students aren’t ready for the type of thinking that is required for the workplace due to the school’s methods of instruction. Alonso says that schools should spend less time on testing and spend more
People can attend trade schools or community colleges to obtain the knowledge needed in a short period of time to join the workforce sooner. While the salary for these occupations do not pay as well as a doctor , lawyer or teacher, they can still help you to be more successful. This option also isn’t as costly as obtaining four or two-year degrees . “Professor Lerman, the American University economist, said some high school graduates would be better served by being taught how to behave and communicate in the workplace”(Steinberg, 2010). Switching from a school environment to a workplace can be an issue for many graduates. Due to college and graduate schools being pushed to the forefront of focus there is a lack of preparation provided to the students who choose to go straight into the workforce after graduating high school. In some cases this results in poor work ethic, the ability to work well with others,professionalism and handling issues in a work environment. “Yet despite the need, vocational school programs, which might teach such skills, have been one casualty in the push for national education
Richard Rodriguez?s essay, Hunger of Memory, narrates the course of his educational career. Rodriguez tells of the unenthusiastic and disheartening factors that he had to endure along with his education such as isolation and lack of innovation. It becomes apparent that Rodriguez believes that only a select few go through the awful experiences that he underwent. But actually the contrary is true. The majority of students do go through the ?long, unglamorous, and demeaning process? of education, but for different reasons (Rodriguez, 68). Instead of pursuing education for the sake of learning, they pursue education for the sake of job placement.
Cofounder and executive chairman of LinkedIn Reid Hoffman calls for the broadened acceptance of alternative routes to higher education. He states, “there are an expanding number of ways to acquire specific skills and knowledge faster and less expensively than one can manage through a traditional four-year degree program” (Hoffman 1). Siemens and similar manufacturers have kickstarted programs that use real life experience in factories and other entry level jobs to build advanced skills in recent high school graduates. The employees are given the opportunity to earn their way up within the company, eliminating the need for a diploma. Although these programs exist, the underlying issue is most employers’ outlook; to employers, a four year bachelor’s degree signals a multitude of positive attributes: commitment, proficiency in at least one subject area, and self-sufficiency. However, the completion of a training program demonstrates these same qualities and is a more fiscally responsible route to preparedness for a job. Furthermore, expendable courses taken to fulfill the mandatory amount of credit hours for graduation waste time and money. School administrations impose such standards to ensure a sizeable profit, and students in turn are being forced to hand over the majority of their savings for knowledge not relevant to their
A young person’s path is strongly influenced by their education from day one. Starting in kindergarten, they are asked what they want to be when they grow up, which is usually limited to the options of astronaut, doctor, police officer, fireman, or veterinarian. In his essay, “Preparing Minds for Markets,” Jonathan Kozol addresses the issue of limiting people’s options at a very young age, often based on their race. He uses the phrase “school-to-work” to refer to the goal of schools that do not promote the pursuit of higher education and instead prepare their students to enter the corporate world immediately after they reach their minimum education requirement (Kozol 307). The idea of preparing students for the work world is not detrimental
"Education is the movement from darkness to light". In The Closing Of The American Mind, by Allan Bloom, Bloom argues that higher education has been drastically modified over the years and has ruined the psyche of today 's students. Once upon a time Americans dreamed of a better and brighter future, one that could transport them into a perfect utopia of societal bliss. Higher Education was the enthralling stepping stone for happiness. It inspired students to find their voice, while drawing from the past. It was a place where they could make mistakes and change their major once or twice. Today, higher education has become more about the career path and how it is more necessary than before. Higher education is no longer an adventure that allows the student to embark upon a journey of discovery and self-expression as it once was. This is due to the vigorous demands of the general society and how students today are required to maintain focus on a career that is valuable and not adventurous. Basically, we have lost touch with what makes this country so great; the impossible becoming reality. The creativity is gone. The belief that our imagination can grant us happiness if we work hard enough and believe is nonexistent. Higher education has separated the extraordinary and left us with dedicated, intelligent drones working towards the path that pays the most and will always have job security.
He observed that each blue collar occupation requires different kinds of intelligence and skills in addition to quick decision making and large quantities of mental capacity in order to fulfill each person’s duty. Rose argues that in doing so, the worker becomes tuned to solving problems “that both enhances knowledge and informs perception” (280). While it may not seem apparent, blue collar workers actually use a wide range of skills that are difficult to find in other occupations, specifically in white collar
As the world of work becomes more complex, many workers need training to avoid losing their jobs or being passed over for promotion. Consequently, many who would not have considered college 20 or even 15 years ago are finding themselves back in school. As adults become students, employers, colleges, and workers are changing old notions about how to go about pursuing higher learning.
We spend four years of our lives attending high school. Going through high school is supposed to prepare us for college and “the real world.” Throughout these four years we begin to better understand our choices for college majors, but we don’t get presented with the financial and time struggle that we will face. College costs money, along with everyday living. When attending college we become more independent and are faced with the problem of coming up with money and finding a balance between time for work and school. Though it may seem like working through high school is a bad idea, it could better prepare students for “the real world.”
Worker today have to be more visible than ever because a highly competitive job market. To test the effectiveness of using this book as a guide for finding employment the college plans to survey all graduates within one year of graduation. The survey will also include questions for students already in the workforce to find out about any promotions, and other types of job recognition. It is the wish of the college that all graduates have successful careers.
the real world. Finding a career after earning a college degree is challenging, and “it’s true that 2017 graduates are having a hard time finding jobs.”.(Callahan, paragraph 9) This came to light during a presidential debate, when a college student asked “How can you make it possible for me to be absolutely sure I can get a job with my degree?”, this kind of instability shows that college isn’t necessary for any kind of success.
In the competitive world today, having a college degree might not benefit a student as much as before, thus opening up numerous questions concerning its necessity. Not only is the number of students desperately trying to enroll in college increasing, but the tuition shoots up as well. However, will college enrollment necessarily be enough to increase your chances of attaining job security? The answer is hotly debated amongst adults and students alike, which opens up the second option for students, that is, joining the work force. Although this option is generally shunned by the new generation, the tough economy and slow restoration makes it quite a desirable choice at the moment. Joining the work force is a hard decision to make as it
Colleges are struggling to adapt to society’s changing requirements for adults entering the work force. John Fawell laments this change and states that humans intrinsically desire to learn more for the purpose of knowing more. However, the focus has shifted away from this and has become more career-oriented. This shift is not well supported in the current college system. The education system is aware of this change and some have modified their programs, but they are too narrow and a broad college education is lost. Even though it has become almost mandatory in society, a college degree does not prepare students for a real-world work environment and is not necessary for most occupations. Many, such as lawyers or doctors, do require further education and a system that instructs them while also training the majority of the workforce would be an improvement.
Furthermore, Nicholson and West (1990) argue that ‘in spite of research showing that moving from education to employment is typically not traumatic, it is probably the case that, on average, young people making a first transition from (full-time) education to (full-time) employment will have more learning to do than more experienced job-changers.’ (Arnold, 1997 pp.167-168.) Therefore, they have developed a ‘Transition Cycle,’ which involves four phases:
Just right after graduate, some students might have hard time to find a professional position as an engineer. During the interview, this engineer suggests that from the different perspectives, the students should get employed first, then, think about their career. In “Your First Job Doesn’t (Really) Matter,” Jodi Glickman, a contributor to the Harvard Business Review, describes the pre-job training and knowledge that people learn should not be all for their professional learning. Indeed, she says what she did do is “learn a whole lot about myself, about relating to others, about adjusting expectations and managing difficult workplace environments” (Glickman). Same as what Glickman describes, Mr. King did not suggest that student should immediately get into their professional working when they get their first job or do not be too concerned about whether their first job is related to their major. For them, the most
After high school, a choice that many students have to make is whether to go to college or not. There are many factors that go into one’s decision. There are pros and cons to going to college and also there are pros and cons for not going to college. But the decision that will give someone the better opportunity to have a more successful life is to go to college. The money that one will earn after getting a college degree will be more than the money a person will make without getting a college degree. As our society has continued to evolve, education has become the optimal route to professional success: pursuing a degree is the best way to receive training, to gain expertise in a given field, and even to guide you and help you make choices