After a fun-filled weekend with the family, the dreaded “after-college” question never fails to come up.
For four, five or even six years, we live in a pre-real-world state during college.
Sure — we have a job, we live on our own, but our parents still support us.
Soon December graduates will hang their gowns up and enter the job market.
According to Career and Counseling Services Director Denese Skinner, 96.8 percent of WTAMU graduates have a job a year after they graduate.
Although that statistic is reassuring, a year is a long time to be sitting on mom’s couch.
What about three months after graduation?
The national average for college grads to be in the job market ranges by their pre-graduation tactics.
For students who made the leap into job searching without interning, making a resume or gaining career experience, they could potentially be waiting 18 months for a call from an employer.
For those who have interned, the wait is cut in half to only 9 months.
Finally, if a student has made the commitment to go to career workshops, taken an internship, started job searching and networked, he/she may only wait 3 months.
Many college students assume college guarantees a job, although that is not always the case.
Four years of hard work may only be half the battle.
During a student’s junior or senior year, skills such as resume making, interviewing and effective job searching suddenly become important.
At WT, Career and Counseling offers many programs to help students such as job fairs, resume building workshops and mock interviews.
Unfortunately that’s on our own personal time.
WT needs to add a career planning class into its curriculum. Maybe give us the choice between Life Wellness and Career Builder 101?
We’d much rather take a class that gives us the opportunity to build a solid resume than a class that teaches us the components of the food pyramid.
