Are we unprepared for the working world?

Last night I was reading my local newspaper and I stumbled upon an article that was very similar to this one that I found from Kathleen Parker of The Washington Post.

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

Basically, this article talks about how recent college graduates are unprepared for jobs within their career. Apparently recent grads do not have the necessary skills to succeed after graduation and "entry-level writing skills are deficient." This is terrifying to think about because even as an English major with a concentration in writing, I am questioning whether my writing skills are up to par.

The next question I want to ask is this: Who's fault is it that we are unprepared. The university or college we attended? Or does it go way back to our high school days? I know that when I was in high school, our English classes demanded that we write research papers each and every year. Writing skills were engraved with a welding tool into our brains. I know that this is not the case for all students though, because once I got to college, I realized not everyone had the same preparation for college as I did. Many people had no idea how to write papers, and if they aren't interested in writing, how would they ever improve these skills? They are too interested in their biology and business classes, when in reality, writing skills are the most important part of life and every job you will ever have.

My high school has been going through some changes recently. The school board wants to cut foreign language & art classes because of funding. Am I the only one who thinks this is ridiculous? Isn't it true that you have to have at least 2 years of a foreign language to even get into college? What is wrong with education these days? It drives me crazy - and this is one reason I chose to change my major from English Education to just plain English.

If we as new grads are unprepared for the working world, what can we do to become more prepared? Knowing what your interviewer wants during an interview is essential - prepare yourself by studying questions and having answers ready when they ask you. The most difficult and most common question is this: What is your biggest weakness? Here are some other questions you should be prepared to answer during an interview:

• Tell me about yourself (Relate to the job you're applying for if possible. This could be challenging)
• Why are you interested in working at our company? (Requires research)
• Tell me some thing you know about our company (Requires research)
• Tell me about your experience at your last or current job (Relate experiences to the job you're applying for)
• If you saw a coworker committing an unethical act within the work place, how would you handle it? (THINK ANONYMOUS HOTLINE! You don't want to be the office rat)
• Do you have any questions for me? (ALWAYS have questions for the employer!!!!) questions found here

Keep your heads up new grads. We'll get out in the working world soon enough even though