Are we prepared – or are colleges and universities preparing students – for the new world of work?
As we look into the past, we can see the changes that happened in the world and we can also see the changes that are happening at present. Nothing is constant
Students must know how to work as a team so they can learn to exchange resources and knowledge from different sources. They should be trained to work in teams where they learn to communicate, complement, and share the effort and credit of the work. This turns them into a valuable asset for an organization. Organizations always prefer a team player. They have little to no faith in candidates who prefer to work alone. Employers prefer those who understand managing a project, delivering what they have been asked, contributing to product delivery, working on time and in the budget, and working with a team with ease. Students must learn to sharpen their decision making and ability to solve problems at the school level because, in the workplace, they might face issues sometimes more than they can handle or something they aren’t trained before. At that time their approach to the issue decides where they stand in the organization. Students who have innovation, creativity, and to look at an issue and mapping different approaches to solve that issue always attract organizations.Students after graduation usually have enthusiasm and are eager to implement what they have learned in college. But life outside college is different no matter which college a student is graduated from. They must possess skills, knowledge, and ability to adapt to the work environment. It is expected of the institutes, from which students are graduated, to train them not only to teach the study material to graduate but to lead a successful life after graduation. Institutes or universities must enhance the skills the students acquire so they can use them to have a successful life. Employers notice the college or university from which a candidate graduates because they believe that colleges and universities play a vital role in shaping the future of their students. Teamwork, ethical decision making, analysis, complex problem solving, application of knowledge and skills they learned, critical thinking, reasoning, and like we discussed, communication skills. The achievement or failure in these skills not only tells about the candidate but also about the institute they graduated from. Many institutes and universities fail to deliver skilled graduates to the world. Their focus is mainly on grades students gain rather than critical thinking and problem-solving which are crucial skills necessary after they graduate. Employers often look for candidates who can transition easily into the workplace. For this, students must be trained before graduating by the institute or universities. Candidates are expected to have skills to handle situations that they did not face earlier. Universities often fail to teach students those necessary skills. They are so focused on their ranks and the scores students gain that sometimes they lose sight of what is more important. Though colleges and universities provide workshops to teach these skills the result of these workshops is limited to the participation certificates. Much more needed to deliver skillful graduates that might change the world for the better.
