This is the eighth of a series of blogs on education. The first seven are:
1. The USA Was The Greatest Nation On This Planet -- Was http://newyork.storeboard.com/blogs/education/the-usa-was-the-greatest-nation-on-this-planet--was/190391
2. Mexico Cares More About College Education Than The USA http://newyork.storeboard.com/blogs/education/mexico-cares-more-about-college-education-than-the-usa/190910
3. Oregon Has A Solution For Student Debt Crisis http://newyork.storeboard.com/blogs/education/oregon-has-a-solution-for-student-debt-crisis/191306
4. Are Men Just Stupid? http://newyork.storeboard.com/blogs/education/are-men-just-stupid/191722
5. College Is Now Mostly For Kids With Rich Daddies http://newyork.storeboard.com/blogs/education/college-education-is-now-for-kids-with-rich-daddies/192096
6. Want A Job After College? http://www.storeboard.com/blogs/education/want-a-job-after-college/192376
7. School Matters: The Stats In This Blog Don't Lie http://www.storeboard.com/blogs/education/school-matters-the-stats-in-this-blog-dont-lie/192897
Blog No. 8: Employers Say Work Achievements Supplement Your Academic Achievements
To work or not to work is a question that many college students who don’t need the money ask themselves regularly. The answer depends on whether work will help them get a full-time job after graduation more than excelling in the classroom.
Decades ago, academic achievements were crucial, but California State University concluded after reviewing many studies that work experience began becoming a more important criteria in hiring in 1980. By 1993, 93 percent of the interns in work-study programs were offered jobs by their employers, according to a Northwestern University study that was part of California State's review.
A 2013 report by High Fliers Research concluded that college graduates without work experience have "little chance" of getting a job. High Fliers Research managing director Martin Birchall told The Huffington Post that work experience is "now just as important" as a college degree.
"New graduates who've not had any work experience at all during their studies are increasingly unlikely to be offered a good graduate job after university," said Birchall.
How Work Experience Helps
Anna Alanko, the career services advisor at Rasmussen (Wis.) College, lists five reasons why an internship is a valuable work experience. They include:
* You Can Learn About An Industry You’re Interested In: The industry could be so interesting that it will cement your career decision or so uninteresting that you’ll change your career plans. Learning the latter during an internship rather than after you have a full-time job can save you time and money.
* You Can Impress A Potential Employer: Doing a good job can spur your supervisor to give you a written recommendation for graduate school, an oral recommendation for a better internship, and a full-time job offer. Your co-workers can also help you get a good full-time job if you impress them.
AllAboutCareers lists 10 benefits of work experience. It points out that prospective employers will be impressed by prospective employees who have demonstrated that they are interested in their profession and that working will give students a chance to learn what their best job skills are, which skills need improvement, and how to work with people.
"You get to learn the dos and don’ts, get work place savvy and learn to navigate your way through the jungle of office politics, according to the "Why Is Work Experience Important" article.
Work Supplements An Education
Iowa State University’s Engineering Career Services reports that 90 percent of students who earn a bachelor of science degree in Engineering after being in cooperative education programs that alternate semesters of work and study get jobs after graduation.
This compares to 80 percent of graduates who had a one-semester internship, 75 percent who worked during the summer and 50 percent who had no jobs.
Students interested in earning a master’s degree in Business Administration from Davidson (N.C.) College are advised to work full time for a few years after graduating college because "MBA programs rarely accept students directly from college."
Davidson notes that work experience is important because its MBA coursework analyzes everyday business problems and is one of three criteria for admission.
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