Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Letter of Transmittal
Date: April 15, 2014
To: Mr. Ferguson
From: Peter Betto, Anthony Dascenza, Joshua Siemon, Amanda Shelton, Ashley Tomasello
Subject: The Changing Job Market
Todays job market is not an easy thing to navigate. Many college graduates are finding it very
confusing. Many are unable to find jobs, and do not know exactly what they should be doing to
promote themselves. They do not have a good feel for what they are should be doing.
Most people feel that getting a job is not about what you know but whom you know. It turns out
in the end that both are rather important. Many people feel that because of this that an internship
or prior work experience are just a waste of time since they do not have any connections. Little
do they know this helps them look good, and ultimately helps them in the networking area. Of
course with networking comes the idea of communication, and if students have the skill needed
to effectively communicate with others in order to get a job. Communication skills are also
shown on a resume and through cover letters. Can a student project his or herself well on paper?
Are they able to communicate effectively in person? Then questions arise on education. Was high
school helpful at all? Does your college education ultimately determine a students status in the
work place?
Our report focus on the areas mentioned above and how a student can improve them. It also
assures a student that they have the means necessary to find a job. That this job market is not as
scary and misleading as it may be and with a little hard work it is possible to find the job a
student may be looking for.
Sincerely,
Peter Betto, Anthony Dascenza, Joshua Siemon, Amanda Shelton, Ashley Tomasello
Enclosure: Report
Table of Contents
Introduction i
Who and What You Know or:
The Difference between Employment and Unemployment
The Benefits of Internship: Why Students are Not Wasting Their Time.7
The Benefits7
Is This Career the Right Fit?............................................................................................7
Networking.....7
Hands-on Experience.....8
Future Employment Opportunities..8
Rsums and the Interview Process:
The Keys to Securing Employment Post-College....9
The Power of a Detailed Rsum..9
A Successful Job Interview Leads to a Successful Job.10
The Development and Requirement of Communication in the Workplace...12
The Importance of a Degree12
Children Then and Now..12
Communication in Interviews.13
High School: Does it Prepare You Enough for College?..........................................................14
Is High School Enough....14
What Does it Mean to Have a Degree....15
Summary.......................................................................................................................................17
Appendix...18
Works Cited..19
2
References.21
List of Illustrations
FIGURES
Figure 1: Resume Do's and Don'ts.............................................................................................11
Figure 2: Process of Obtaining a Job.........................................................................................11
Figure 3: Classroom Survey Results..........................................................................................15
Introduction
Statement of Problem
The rapid growth of the job market deems it difficult for college graduates to determine their
placing in the changing market. Students have a very unsteady and unstable feel for what
employers are looking for.
Background
Children were initially considered to be cheap labor. Many child labor laws have gone into
effect over the past century, most limiting the age, wage, and amount of hours that minors can
work.
Initially, children would work extremely long days for little to no pay. The laws have changed
quite a bit as children under 14 are not allowed to be working. 16 is the minimum age to be a
full-time worker. Also, children under 16 cannot work in environments deemed hazardous by the
Secretary of Labor.
Definitions
Industrial revolution: According to dictionary.com, the totality of the changes in economic and
social organization that began about 1760 in England and later in other countries, characterized
4
chiefly by the replacement of hand tools with power-driven machines, as the power loom and the
steam engine, and by the concentration of industry in large establishments. When this revolution
happened it made companys able to lay off a lot of their workforce since they could get
everything or nearly everything done by machinery.
Communication: People who can express themselves clearly and positively, both verbally and in
writing. Having good communication skills in the workplace is all about being able to convey
information to people clearly and simply, in a way that means things are understood and
completely efficiently.
Urbanization: Merriam Webster defines urbanization as the process by which towns and cities
are formed and become larger as more and more people begin living and working in central areas
Limitations
Due to the size of our group, scheduling a time when all of us can be in the same room together
is limited. Therefore, we are somewhat limited to the use of Google Docs in order to write the
paper, using the chat feature to bounce ideas off of one another. Another limitation we have is
being able to find large amounts of data on our chosen subject. The basis of our report is are
major factors that contribute to the job market, but there may not be much data recording how
these factors contribute. Small studies and surveys could be found to write an accurate report
though.
Report Organization
Finding jobs when you are fresh out of college is not always easy. To begin with, many people
believe when you are looking for a job it is about who you know and also what you know. Of
course knowledge is needed on the area of business, but if you know someone in the field you
are applying for it makes things a lot easier. Students also have an advantage if they have worked
in the field prior and know persons who are developed in that area of work. Knowing people is
not the only question students ask themselves before looking for a career.
Internships are large contributing factors in the job search when a student is freshly graduated.
Some persons have come to the understanding that internships give you hands-on experience in
the necessary field you want to work in. Students also wonder if employers are more likely to
hire those who have decided to intern during their college experience. Could students possibly be
wasting money on an internship that may not benefit them in the future?
Another large question that has arisen in the job world is whether or not students need to be
effective communicators in the work environment? And along with that question does college
prepare you for being an efficient communicator, especially in the job interview process? Many
students are questioning the interview process and the selling of oneself. They want to know
what things are important when you are in an interview and how you obtain the necessary skills.
5
It is difficult to know as a student what employers are looking for in a employee. Do all
businesses want people that know how to communicate with others or are they more focused on
the skills the student learned in college? Before a student even gets an interview with a company
they most always have to submit a resume to the company. How important is a resume to a
company? Students often do not know what to put on a resume to sell oneself in the best way
possible.
The last factor that we want to mention in our proposal is the amount of education prior to
getting a job, the big question being, does high school prepare you for the job market as much as
colleges? In this job market, not everyone can have the best of the best. We also need people to
work the low-end jobs to make the world go round. So does that mean there are possibly more
jobs requiring a high school diploma compared to a college diploma? Than also, what do college
diplomas do for you? How can something so small be so important to others? The last question
that needs to be asked for students who are worried about finding a job once they are done is, do
you really need a college degree to get a career?
Who and What You Know or: The Difference between Employment and
Unemployment
People say that it is not only the information that you have gained over the years that will land
you a job in the current job market, but it is the people that you have met that have the power to
get you a job in the industry that you want to be in. In a poll of the business writing class, we
have asked this question: Do you think knowing someone in an industry will help you find a job
in your field? Well out of 8 students 100% of them have said yes. The Bureau of Labor and
Statistics shows that the percentage of unemployment rate lowers with the higher degree that you
have. But, the longer that you are in college the more people that you will know in which can
help you find a job more than the degree or education that you have received.
Who you know is more popular these days for instance, if you have worked in a job that requires
you to work in customer service and the job field that you want to go into requires you to have a
degree but the manager that you know at that company knows that you are great at dealing with
customers he or she would much rather hire you than someone that has a degree but the manager
does not know how he is with customers. That is one of many instances where the people that
you may know will help you in life more than college. If you dont know anyone in the career
field that you have chosen it is a lot harder to get that job instead of just knowing that person that
is doing the hiring.
The Benefits
There are many benefits to an internship. Four major benefits internships can provide are:
Opportunity to test drive a career; is this the right place to be? (Braccio Hering, 2010)
Networking: College Internships: The Ultimate Social Network (McGuire)
First hand work experience into the career
Increased chances of gaining full-time employment
Internships can be very rewarding. Even when internships are unpaid, the benefits listed above
can be even more valuable than a paycheck.
Networking
Networking is one of the best benefits that you receive from an internship. Building a network
of "who you knows" through college student internships, will pay off very well when it comes
time to finding a job according to Jeff McGuire at Rowan University. It is important for a student
to make it their goal to introduce himself or herself to anyone, and make a lasting good
impression. There is no telling what that person might be able to do for a student in the future,
and it is important to have people as such who a student can call upon for help. Not only is
networking a good way to make sure that students have a recommendation they may need in the
future, it is a good way for a student to show their employer that they want to be involved more
than just showing up to work or go to events. It is also possible that the exchange between the
intern and the manager in the break room could lead to a possible special assignment to a project
2
the other interns are not working one. This is a major plus for a student because not only can they
list the internship on their resume, they are also able to list the special assignment they had
during the internship to even further impress their future employers.
Hands-on Experience
There is no better way to know what a job is really like than actually trying it out. The hands-on
experience students will gain from an internship helps them to know what the job is about. But it
is not just a benefit because students are able to gain introspect into the career; hands-on
experience makes a resume stand out to an employer. Employers like to see that a potential
employee has some type of previous experience in the career they are applying for. Even at the
entry-level position it makes an applicant stand out from the rest. An internship may not make or
break whether an applicant gets called in for an interview, but it definitely increases the chance
that they will. Internships on a resume show that the applicant may not need as much guidance
when it comes to daily tasks, and less training may be involved depending upon their skills
learned. Hands-on experience can also lead to full-time employment, specifically with the
company that your internship is with.
For a majority of college students, the entire purpose of college is to acquire and secure a career
in their field of choosing. Students study and work hard for years in order to obtain their desired
degree. In 2009, approximately 1.5 million undergraduates received their bachelors degree. In
that same year, there were 1.85 million workers with bachelors degrees or higher who were at
the time unemployed. (Hansen, 2009) Many college graduates believe that their degree will
instantly get them a job, but they do not realize that the first step to getting an employers
attention is by attracting them with a rsum.
There are three main ways of organizing a rsum: chronological, functional, and combination.
In a chronological rsum, importance is placed on work experience, placing it immediately after
the contact information and introduction segments. This approach is the most used way to
organize a rsum, but most college students do not have much professional experience to show.
Instead of displaying work experience as the main point, you can substitute your educational
accomplishments. In a functional rsum, the focus is put on your skills and abilities, rather than
your job and educational experience. This allows you to concentrate the employers attention on
what you can do for them and away from long-term unemployment or lack of career progress
that may hinder your application. Unfortunately, this approach is commonly viewed as shady by
employers, as it may obscure your work history. Last of all, there is the combination rsum, a
format that combines the emphasis on employment and educational history from the
chronological format with the attention to skills from the functional format. This allows you to
overcome the flaws of both systems, but doesnt let your rsum focus on what may be most
important to the employer. The following table is a list of rsum dos and donts that can help
applicants improve their rsums.
Figure 1: Resume Do's and Don'ts
Do
Keep your rsum between one to three pages,
depending on your experience and the position
Keep your rsums up to date with all relevant
information
Include a cover letter to answer questions and
offer some personal information, such as goals or
motivations
Make sure your qualifications meet the needs of
the position
Dont
Provide false information in your work
history, skill list, or qualifications
Reuse old rsums for new job
opportunities
Include references unless specifically
instructed
Use generic, nondescriptive words or
phrasesapproximately, team
player,
Note. Adapted from the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, p.533-536, by Matthew J. Fox, 2014. (Fox, 2014)
Rsum
Submissi
on
Screenin
g Stage
Selection
Stage
Final
Stage
We are already familiar with crafting a solid rsum, but the rest of the terms may appear foreign
to many college graduates unacquainted with the job interview process. The very beginning of
the job interview process includes the screening stage, a stage in which employers filter out
applicants that are not qualified or competent enough for the job. This is usually done via an
online-based computer program, but can also be done through telephone, a VoIP service such as
Skype, at your schools campus, or at the companys office. Following the screening stage is the
selection stage, which is what is commonly considered the actual interview portion of the job
interview process. It is in this stage that employers select the top candidates from the screened
applicants. The employers will send these top candidates a job offer, either at the end of the
interview or via email, phone, or mail a few days after the interview. In some cases, you may be
invited once more for a final evaluation, usually administered by a CEO or other high-ranking
official in the company. This is known as the final stage, a stage in which the company tries to
sell you on working for them.
Becoming accustomed to the stages of the job interview process is vital, but what is also
essential is being aware of the various types of interviews you may come across. Interviews are
organized in two ways, structured and unstructured interviews. Structured interviews use a fixed
set of questions, making it easier for employers to compare answers between potential
applicants. Unstructured interviews tend to be more free-flowing, due to the interviewer adapting
the type of questions they ask based on the answers you give. This method allows the interviewer
to obtain a more personal and realistic look at the applicant, while lulling some to approach the
interview in a more relaxed and unprofessional manner. When preparing for a job interview,
ensure you are well-suited to face either style of interview. While one-on-one interviews are most
prevalent in job interviews, be mindful of the potential for a panel or group interview. A panel
interview is when you meet with several interviewers at once, whereas a group interview is the
opposite; an interviewer meeting with several candidates at once. The trick to being successful in
facing these circumstances is to adapt to the audience. In a panel interview, make sure you
individually adapt to each member thats interviewing you. In a group interview, try to stand out
from the rest of the pack but make sure you maintain respect for the other interviewees. In these
types of interviews, its important to show that you are not only a well-balanced individual, but
also a robust team player. Employers may interview you through a variety of media. Telephone,
email, VoIP and videoconferencing programs such as Skype: they are all ways employers may
interview, including the common face-to-face approach. Being experienced and prepared for any
of those formats will show you care about acquiring the job.
Developing a well-rounded rsum and being prepared, honest, and professional in a job
interview is what will set you apart from the other applicants. Keeping these ideas in mind as you
start your job hunt post-graduation will allow you to improve and adapt yourself to the job and
career that you are looking for.
on OUR skills, OUR education, and OUR work ethic, but in fact we should be focusing on
others. This is the largest error in become a leader in todays business world.
an extent, but most students hate group work and you cant blame them. Unfortunately not
everyone communicates in the group and that in return affects the performance and grade of the
project.
Communication in Interviews
Along with performance in groups, communication also effects performance in interviews.
Earlier in the document it is mentioned that the interview process is the step that leads you into
the job that you want. In interviews, people have disadvantages if they are not good with
interpersonal interaction. They may have great skills and knowledge about the job they are
interviewing for, but may not know how to explain in details how well they preform it. One must
sell themselves in interviews and communication teaches you to understand what good qualities
you retain and how you can explain them to others.
13%
Yes
No
88%
A High
School diploma used to be enough to open many doors in ones career. However, times have
changed. The job market has become extremely competitive and more skills are necessary to get
a good job. As shown by the figure to the right, only one out of eight students believe that skills
learned in college will be unnecessary in their career. Increasingly, high school is being seen as
simply preparation for the next level of education, said James Stone, director of the National
Research Center for Career and Technical Education at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.
In a sense, high school has become the new middle school, he said (Bauknecht, 2011). Even
President Obama said, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma. In
December 2010, the unemployment rate for adults 25 and older with a bachelors degree was
4.8%, while it was 9.8% for those with only a high school diploma.
The problem with attending college is that the cost can be very high. About three fourths of
2009 college grads found themselves borrowing over $25,000 throughout college (Bauknecht,
2011). However, a bachelors degree can net you nearly $400 more a week than a high school
diploma.
But how many jobs actually require a college degree? By 2018, over 60% of jobs will require
college education. This is mainly because employers are expecting potential employees to show
up fully qualified. On the flip side, public support of education has been decreasing. By
expecting fully qualified workers, employers are making it hard for themselves to find workers
as well as making work in general harder to find.
A college degree may appear to be just a piece of paper. But to employers, it can mean a lot.
Just having a degree can get an employer to consider you first. A college degree is still one of
the most important qualifications for entry level positions.
A college degree also says a lot about your personality. It says to employers that you are a hard
worker and that you will stick with something until you have finished. A degree says that you
have spent years working hard to get it. It may have taken a long time, but the time came. A
degree can be similar to project to employers. They want to know if you are willing for work for
extended periods of time on projects for them. A college degree takes an extended period of time
to get, and employers know that. Employers also see the future of their company. A just-out-ofcollege candidate can mean a lot as they are more connected with popular culture. This can help
a company connect with younger customers.
Summary
Knowing people can better enhance your chances of getting a job in that field that you want.
Even with a college education you still need to know people higher up to have a better chance of
getting that job. Even if you do not have a college degree you would still have a good chance of
getting a good career. Internships also have many benefits when it comes to finding a job. An
internship looks good on a resume. Many employers like to see internships on a persons resume
because it shows that an applicant has some previous hands-on work experience. Also internships
are a good way for someone to possibly be offered a permanent job with the company. One thing
that you learn from internships is developing good communication skills in the work industry.
Substantial communication traits are valued pieces in finding a career out of college.
Communication also goes hand in hand with who you know to help you get your foot in the door.
Networking amongst peers and those who are working the in the job market may help you in the
future to find a job.
Appendix
Communication: the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or
information by speech, writing, or signs.
Industrial Revolution: The rapid industrial growth that began in
England during the middle of the eighteenth century and then spread over
the next 50 years to many other countries, including the United States. The
revolution depended on devices such as the steam engine, which were
invented at a rapidly increasing rate during the period. The Industrial
Revolution brought on a rapid concentration of people in cities and changed
the nature of work for many people.
Urbanization: the act or fact of urbanizing, or taking on the characteristics
of a city.
Works Cited
Amdur, E. (2013, July 14). Review Journal. Retrieved from Review Journal:
www.reviewjournal.com
Bauknecht, S. (2011, February 10). Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved from Post-Gazette:
www.post-gazette.com
Dictionary. (2014). Industrial Revolution. Retrieved from
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/industrial+revolution?s=t
Dictionary. (2014). Communication. Retrieved from
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/communication?s=t
Dictionary. (2014). Urbanization. Retrieved from
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/urbanization?s=t
Forbes Magazine. (2012, April 4). 10 Communication Secrets of Great Leaders. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/04/04/10-communication-secrets-of-greatleaders/
Fox, M. J. (2014). Reinvent Your Rsum. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics,
533-536.
Hansen, F. (2009, March 25). Recruiters Still Courting College Grads, but Signing Fewer New
Hires. Retrieved April 13, 2014, from Workforce:
http://www.workforce.com/articles/recruiters-still-courting-college-grads-but-signingfewer-new-hires
History. (2009). Industrial Revolution. Retrieved April 13, 2014, from History. com:
http://www.history.com/topics/industrial-revolution
Koc, E., Koncz, A., Longenberger, A., & Knapp, M. (2013). 2013 Internship & Co-op Survey.
Retrieved April 13, 2014, from National Association of Colleges and Employers:
https://www.naceweb.org/uploadedFiles/Content/static-assets/downloads/executivesummary/2013-internship-co-op-survey-executive-summary.pdf
McGuire, J. (2009). College Internships: The Importance of Internships to College Students.
Retrieved April 13, 2014, from Rowan University:
http://www.rowan.edu/studentaffairs/cmc/news/news.cfm?id=12
The Bureau of Labor and Statistical Research. (2014, April 4). Employment status of the civilian
population 25 years and over by educational attainment. Retrieved April 13, 2014, from
Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm
Wells, A. (2012, September 7). @Work. Retrieved from Wordpress: atworkjax.wordpress.com
References
Bove, C. L., & Thill, J. V. (2013). In Business Communication Today (pp. 512-513, 543-545).
Prentice Hall.
Hart, P. D. (2008, January 9). How Should Colleges Assess and Improve Student Learning?
Retrieved April 13, 2014, from The Association Of American Colleges And Universities:
http://www.aacu.org/leap/documents/2008_Business_Leader_Poll.pdf
Westerberg, C., & Wickersham, C. (2011, April 24). Internships Have Value, Whether or Not
Students Are Paid. Retrieved April 13, 2014, from The Chronicle of Higher Education:
http://chronicle.com/article/Internships-Have-Value/127231/