A high cumulative grade point average, multiple majors, impressive summer internships, and extensive study and travel abroad no longer guarantee an entry-level job after college graduation. According to a recent study by Intelligent, corporations are hiring fewer recent graduates, believing they are unprepared for the workforce. Unfortunately, a college record that sounds impressive on a resume and makes parents proud doesn’t always translate to a job offer these days. What happened?
Companies struggle to understand how to manage a new generation of graduates who COVID-19 isolated in high school and their early college years, robbed of traditional communication skills by technology and social media, and overprotected by helicopter parents and even helicopter universities adding to their crippling anxiety and fear of failure. Today’s college graduates don’t fit the traditional mold of corporate America. These new graduates seek independence from those trying to manage their lives, and they display survivor instincts sharpened during the pandemic. Their mindset is entrepreneurial, not team-focused.
Three of my students, each enrolled in a senior independent study under my supervision this past spring semester, helped me better understand how to effectively manage this emerging cohort of graduates who don’t quite fit into modern companies. When unencumbered by the traditional classroom structure, these three seniors were impressive. They each selected a topic and, over a 15-week semester, pursued their interests like enthusiastic small business owners.
One student designed a new line of pajamas, found a manufacturer to create prototypes, and created a pitch deck for investors that incorporated a buy one, give one strategy so patients at cancer centers undergoing therapy could receive a free pair. The second student from Ukraine developed a digital fundraising campaign to support children in her home country. As an accomplished pianist, she produced multiple social media posts featuring herself playing piano pieces by Ukrainian composers, asking for donations for the children. A third student decided to develop a plan for the university business school to improve its perception on campus. She passionately conducted research with students on campus, where she was a third-generation legacy. She found useful insights incorporated into a plan reviewed by the dean.
These three students were motivated and enthusiastic the entire semester. I met with them weekly to discuss progress, but I never told them what to do, how to proceed on their projects, or ever required them to meet as a team. Occasionally, they would display signs of anxiety, but I could quickly identify those symptoms since I’m around uptight college students all day. Providing positive direction coupled with upbeat comments quickly put them back on track.
The experience of working on these student projects helped me better understand why today’s corporations are struggling to manage recent college graduates. They would not work well with mid-level, upbeat, and team-oriented millennial managers. These managers would be dismayed by their independence, and they would be baffled by why a 22-year-old employee with few responsibilities is so overwrought with stress and fear.
Unfortunately, recent college graduates are drawn to big companies because they view these firms as prestigious and successful. They think working at one of these companies will cure their high level of anxiety and that securing an entry-level job will provide a badge of success after graduation. When their online applications are ignored or rejected after interviewing, it only reinforces their angst.
Based on my experience teaching recent college graduates, rising juniors, and seniors, very few possess the skills or temperament to succeed in large companies. Instead, their life experiences make them more suited to independence. Unsurprisingly, many new graduates bypass corporate experience and jump straight into entrepreneurship. According to a recent American Express survey, one in five Gen Z and Millennials started their own businesses straight out of school.
While big corporations might have given up hiring recent college graduates, the rest of us shouldn’t give up on them. They are different than graduates, even those who are a year or two older. Their motivation can be misinterpreted due to underdeveloped communication skills and high levels of anxiety. However, my recent experiences with them suggest that if their talents for being self-sufficient are encouraged and their stress is recognized and managed, they are impressive overachievers with the entrepreneurial skills to change the face of business.
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