College teaches students many different skills, but are the skills students learn useful for real world business?
The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) conducted a study, comparing the students’ supposed skill levels vs. the amount of skill level the students’ actually possessed. The results consistently showed that the students’ perception of their skill level was much higher than the amount of skill they actually had.
Students gave an answer on a 0 – 10 scale of how prepared they thought they were in different aspects of business, such as working in teams, critical and analytical thinking, oral communication skills, and many other areas. The employers also rated the preparedness of the students. Only 26 percent of employers rated students as well prepared (above an 8 on the scale), although 66 percent of students thought they were well prepared. The outcome of the study was grim: Students are not well prepared for the real world.
College Parents of America (collegeparents.org), describes college as “an idyllic bubble,” where students’ meals are already prepared and cleaned up afterward, the yard work for those in dorms or apartments is taken care of, their friends are always available to talk, and all the entertainment is free. Perhaps, College Parents worries, many students are so caught up in the mentality of “Everything is taken care of and/or free,” that they will not succeed in the real world.
While this sounds rather dire and almost as if college doesn’t really prepare students for the real world, Sinclair does their best to assist students with their transition to the real world. Barbara Tollinger, the Chair of the Business Information Systems (BIS) Department, explained how Sinclair stays in touch with companies that employ their students, giving them surveys to see how Sinclair can improve in their teaching, or if they’re “not hitting the mark,” she said.
The best way to prepare for a career is to make the best choice up front. Sinclair has a tool to help you identify things that you are most interested in and where your current skills lie. Career Coach is one of those services. Using Career Coach, students can search for a career and easily find information about the career, a degree one would need to succeed in said career, job postings, wages, and more. A student can also search through their degree. After selecting or entering their degree, Career Coach displays careers that would fit well with the degree.
Career Coach also has assessments students can use to find a job that would best suit them. A simple assessment pairs students’ personality traits into six categories: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. After the assessment, Career Coach gives the student ideas of a potential career based on their personality. If a student’s interests and personality match their career, they are more likely to succeed in said career. Using these tools, a student can best prepare themselves for a job they would enjoy working.
Students and employers both agree that Sinclair’s classes adequately prepare students for the real world. There is, however, one area that is challenging the preparation of students for the real world: knowledge of software specific to their employer’s office. For example, many business students start work in a doctor’s office, and the many different type of software, such as patient databases, phone systems and other types of patient management can be challenging to learn at Sinclair. While Sinclair programs do their best to provide these experiences, internships are most likely the best way to get the most business experience.
Since Sinclair teaches mostly with Microsoft Office, business students graduate Microsoft certified, which is a nationally recognized certification. While many employers do not see this as a requirement for hiring someone, it is a “Good feather in your cap,” Tollinger said.
If students complete their business degree, they are promised a job interview with a local company that has a partnership with Sinclair. While a job interview is not a job, it “Opens the door,” Tollinger said.
Nathaniel Glaze, a Sinclair student majoring in Architectural Technology, currently holds an internship with the architectural group. His job is to develop cost estimates for building owners for various design plans.
While Glaze agreed that there is some life experience he did not learn through Sinclair classes, though there was “Nothing major” he didn’t learn, “I wouldn’t be able to be in the internship without taking classes at Sinclair,” he said, “It wouldn’t be possible.”
Micah Karr
Reporter