While it may be assumed that recent college graduates aren\u2019t ready to take on the AI-burdened job market, the ones prepping them for the workforce feel otherwise.<\/p>\n
Nearly nine in 10 educators believe their students are prepared to enter the workforce, but students disagree.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Almost half of graduates don\u2019t even feel prepared enough to apply for an entry-level job in their field of study, according to Cengage Group<\/a>\u2014an education and technology company that provides digital learning materials, platforms, and services for higher education for workforce training.<\/p>\n Additionally, only half of graduates feel confident in their AI skills when job-hunting\u2014a skill that\u2019s increasingly important in this tech-driven era.<\/p>\n The disconnect between students\u2019 post-school reality and professors\u2019 approach stems from a mismatch in priorities. The report says that educators are focused on soft skills like critical thinking and problem solving, while employers are ranking candidates based on job-specific technical skills with AI as their top priority. And the discrepancy is leaving job seekers unprepared for what workplaces actually want after graduation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhile schools often focus on soft skills like communication and critical thinking, employers consistently stress the importance of job-specific technical skills\u2014training that more than half of unprepared graduates say they lacked,\u201d Michael Hansen, CEO of Cengage Group tells Fortune.\u00a0<\/p>\n As a result, more than a third of degree holders wish their institution had worked more closely with employers to build career-relevant courses and skills, according to the study. And employers aren\u2019t helping the situation by shrinking their headcount, with one in 10 bosses admitting they\u2019re hiring fewer entry-level workers than last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Recent graduates are underprepared for the real world of work\u2014and they\u2019re getting fired for it\u00a0<\/p>\n The job market is already tough for unprepared Gen Z, and there\u2019s another hurdle once they actually land a job: their bosses aren\u2019t afraid to lay them off if they\u2019re not up to speed.<\/p>\n After experiencing a raft of problems with young new hires, one in six bosses said they\u2019re hesitant to hire recent college grads again, according to a survey from Intelligent.com.<\/a>\u00a0 Meanwhile, over one in five recent graduates say they can\u2019t handle the workload.\u00a0<\/p>\n The main reasoning of bosses who fired their underprepared entry-level employees was that they lacked motivation, were late to work and meetings, didn\u2019t wear office-appropriate clothing and weren\u2019t using appropriate language.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But many recent graduates blame this on a lack of work experience. Early-career opportunities like internships provide in-person connections, networking and shadowing opportunities for Gen Z, while also preparing them to be more comfortable and familiar with office environments after graduation.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the pandemic wiped away many of those exposure opportunities. Case in point: Gen \u202fZ workers have just 16 strong business relationships on average<\/a>, compared to 21 for millennials and 40 for Gen\u202fX<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Unfortunately, colleges didn\u2019t recognize this issue early enough, as one in five graduates say their education program did nothing to help foster in-person connections, according to the Cengage report. Students of that group also reported having no assistance in the form of career services, networking advice, resume prep, or real-world employer introductions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cStronger partnerships with employers are critical to co-design relevant courses, embed hands-on training, and expand access to internships and apprenticeships,\u201d Hansen added.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBy aligning soft skills, technical training, and professional access, educators and employers can share responsibility for ensuring graduates leave school ready and confident to thrive in a rapidly changing economy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n