Furthermore, Alina Tugend quotes a new study in The New York Times, “job candidates are lacking most in written and oral communication skills, adaptability and managing multiple priorities, and making decisions and problem solving.” The article argues new graduate can find information, but cannot put it into context. In another words, they cannot solve problems.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers support this argument with the following results of a recent survey. College graduates are not employable because they lack: spelling skills (45%), written communication skills (41%), problem solving skills (38%), and lack of oral communication skills (30%). (SHRM). This leaves the higher intellectual careers much harder to fill, such as: engineers, scientist, and executive level positions. Furthermore, Alina Tugend quotes a new study in The New York Times, “job candidates are lacking most in written and oral communication skills, adaptability and managing multiple priorities, making decisions and problem solving.” The article argues new graduate can find information, but cannot put it into context. In another words, they cannot solve problems. American Institute for Research recently released the following information: More than 75 percent of [1,827] students at two-year colleges and more than 50 percent of students at four-year colleges do not score at the proficient level of literacy. This means that they lack the skills to perform complex literacy tasks, such as comparing credit card offers with different interest rates or summarizing the arguments of newspaper editorials. “The surprisingly weak quantitative literacy ability of many college graduates is troubling,” says Dr. Stéphane Baldi, who directed the AIR study. “A knowledgeable workforce is vital to cope with the increasing demands of the global marketplace.” (American Institutes for Research) In interviews with decision makers and leaders from various roles, the author has been informed of the following. Managers have received professional emails from subordinates with texting abbreviation. Applicants applying for assignment to special projects turned in applications with: had proper nouns written in lower case, because abbreviated as b/c, supervisor’s name misspelled, and wrong dates entered. A greater issue of communications with younger adults is the lack of understanding of body language and its impact before a word is even spoken. An interviewee enter an office dressed in jeans and flip-flops. A students slouches during class, an employee rolls his eyes and crosses his arm when a manager is trying to mentor him. | These chart represent the percentage of new hires missing these employable skills that are important to managers. |