Who's Lying?
We’ve all read the headlines regarding the lack of jobs for college grad these last few years. I wonder how many of those reporters bothered to check in with the college placement offices to get their take.
I had an interesting conversation this morning with the college placement director of a prestigious college. The conversation was flowing until she mentioned that she had 18 employers lined up for an upcoming job fair and expected to have a total of 80 by the date of the career fair. My jaw dropped and I found myself speechless. I kept saying, “Really???” I went on to ask, “How can this be so, when there are no jobs for college grads?”
“Aha!” she exclaimed. “That couldn’t be further than the truth.” She then went on to tell me that what kept her awake at night, was worrying if enough students would show up at the fair. Silence again on my end of the phone followed by another “Really???” Followed by, “Don’t these kids know how difficult it is to find jobs, especially when there are no jobs?” She went on to tell me how few students connect with the college placement offices these days. Their parents, who have just invested $250K in their education, do little to encourage them to do so.
I receive calls all the time from parents asking me to consider working with their children in my Job Search Program. These are the same kids who never made it to the college placement office. If you are a parent reading this, I would suggest the following. Make a pact with your child when he or she begins college and get thee to the college placement office. Make sure the office knows who your kid is. Be sure your child shows up when the college placement office has an event. You control the purse strings. No show, no allowance. It’s that simple.
So who’s lying? Are the newspapers lying? Are there really jobs? Are the kids lying when they tell their parents there are no jobs? Or are the people at the college placement offices lying?
What do you think?
