THE “CATCH-22” OF CAREER READINESS

from Steve Peha's 

From the first elementary school career day to the cover-letter writing homework in high school, we spend a lot of talking to kids about careers. This helpful article from the Wall Street Journal explains the importance of experience—even for entry-level positions. It’s a painful truth we need to own up to ourselves and share honestly with our students: college and career-readiness isn’t just about your grade point average and your test scores. “Entry-level workers are now being assigned thinking roles, as opposed to ‘just following a checklist,’ said David Vogel, who manages the undergraduate career-development office at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School. ‘It raises the bar on the types of work that can be done by the entry-level hire, as opposed to eliminating the need.’ At the same time, workforce experts see a parallel dynamic where employers are reducing training budgets. The result is that companies want workers to arrive job-ready, with both soft and hard skills.” Read the full article here.