Corporate America is getting lazy. Well, let me qualify that statement. It may not necessarily be corporate America that is getting lazy (although some within corporate America are more than lazy), but some of the people entering corporate America these days sure are.
The New York Post is reporting today about a 27-year-old college student at Monroe College in New York who is now suing the college for $70,000, which is the cost of her tuition. Is she suing because she didn't get a quality education? No. She is suing the college because after spending $70,000 and achieving only a 2.7 GPA (which is a B-) she is ticked off that the college didn't find her a job to go with her new diploma.
Are you kidding me? It was just yesterday that I was reading a story in the news about the use of resumes and how new college graduates entering the workforce seem to have little comprehension for cover letters, researching the companies they are applying to and the art of deportment -- dressing up and shining shoes for interviews. Now today, I get to read a story about a B- graduate who wants to sue her college because they didn't find her a job. That makes me a little nuts.
Do we have to do everything? Yes, I realize I'm going to sound like an old fart here, but come on, there is a little thing called initiative. (This is the part where I sound like the old fart) In the old days we would graduate college or university and go out into the world armed with a CV and a diploma. We would scour newspapers, network with people who were working, do research on potential companies we would like to work for, write personalized cover letters, and then, if we were given the chance for an interview, we would dress up, look respectable, show some class and possess more than just a feigning interest in perhaps going to work.
Today the average student doesn't even have to leave the comforts of their own home and they can find a job. (Personally, I prefer the system that we have today.) As long as a student is connected to the Internet, they can find job openings, they can research companies, they can network with people who are working in those companies, they can prepare cover letters/e-mails, and they can upload their resumes all while in their pajamas. The only time that they need to dress up is if they are invited for an interview. But this is where a lot of them don't even bother dressing up. And I don't get it. Because a lot of these same students will spend hours preparing to go out to a club and just a few minutes to prepare for a job interview.
ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Sorry, but I'm a big believer that if you don't care about how you look, you won't care about the quality of your work. How you do one thing is how you do everything. Someone who shows up for a job interview dressed like a bum wouldn't get past the reception desk in my company. They would be told why their interview was being canceled on the spot -- because they don't care enough to make a good impression. I would think that speaks volumes about the quality of their work.
I can't for the life of me figure out how a student can maintain great grades in high school, outstanding GPA in college or university, master their final exams, do everything right to position themselves well to be one of the top choices for a job and then show up dressed like a bum. But there is always a silver lining - a giggle amongst the frustration. It happens when a student shows up for an interview dressed like a bum and they're applying for a job in marketing. Do you see the humor in that?
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