Higher Education vs. Business: How Can We Bridge the Gap?
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Education

  • Staff
  • Job Search Tips
  • July 23, 2015

Higher Education vs. Business: How Can We Bridge the Gap?

Bridge

Tell me if you have ever asked yourself these questions while you were in school: Why do I need to know this? When am I ever going to use this in real life? Can’t [enter computer software/Google here] do this for me? Chances are you’ve asked these questions numerous times over your academic career. I mean seriously, why did you spend all of your time in statistics memorizing and writing out formulas when in real life Microsoft Excel or SAS will just do it for you?

The theory behind the current method of learning is that in order to become a master of a topic, you need to have profound insight and understanding of the topic being taught from the bottom up. While this method may provide students with a more comprehensive grasp of the subject matter, it doesn’t prepare them for the application of the subject matter in their job fields.

John Stewart

For businesses, this is a giant problem as they hire recent college graduates. According to a study done by Bentley University, “58 percent of business decision makers, students, and job recruiters gave recent college graduates an overall grade of “C” or worse on their level of preparedness for their first full-time jobs. A hefty 64 percent of corporate survey respondents claimed that the lack of preparation actually harms the day-to-day business operations of businesses.” Not only are college graduates unprepared but they are also hurting their company’s ability to make a profit as extra time is spent with onboarding, training, and mistakes attributable to inexperience.

Another survey done by Gallup had even more shocking results. According to the survey which asked the American public’s view on the state and value of higher education, just 14 percent of Americans—and only 11 percent of business leaders—strongly agreed that graduates have the necessary skills and competencies to succeed in the workplace. The results of this survey only further demonstrate the mistrust that American businesses have in the ability of higher education to prepare students for the business world.

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So why are students so unprepared when they enter the workforce? The answer can be found in their lack of development in key business world skills like critical thinking, analytical reasoning, writing, and communication. Businesses today are starting to put more and more value into students who are able to effectively demonstrate these traits rather than their mastery of subject matter learned in school. As Debra Humphreys, vice president for policy and public engagement at AAC&U, states, “Employers are saying I don’t care about all the knowledge you learned because it’s going to be out of date two minutes after you graduate … I care about whether you can continue to learn over time and solve complex problems.” Being able to continue to learn over time and solve complex problems is a dynamic process that demonstrates more than the ability to memorize. Having skills like analytical reasoning and critical thinking can help employees navigate through gaps of knowledge which can be essential to innovation and productivity.

NexGoal can also attest to the importance of candidates being able to display what we call “soft skills” which include the ability to communicate and work as a team. We find that the candidates that have the most advanced soft skills are the ones that land job offers. This is why when we screen candidates we put just as much emphasis on measuring their soft skills as we do their professional qualifications.

i love lamp

The question remains though: is it possible for colleges to balance the range of knowledge taught through their curriculum and the skills and competencies necessary for success in the business world? The answer to this question is a resounding yes and both companies and higher education are beginning to work hand in hand with one another to solve this issue. One of the biggest attempts to bridge higher education and business together is Enactus.

Enactus is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring students to improve the world through entrepreneurial action. Students who sign up become a part of team that works to solve a real world problem related to the triple bottom line (people, planet, profit), which is usually in collaboration with a business partner or non-profit organization. At the end of each spring semester, the projects that these students work on are then presented in front of panels of judges (who are business professionals) in a competition against other Enactus teams.

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The true value of Enactus however can be found in how it teaches students to apply and build upon theories and skills that they learn in the classroom to a real life setting. “Enactus provides students with opportunities to apply what they have learned in the classroom to help solve real world problems in their communities and worldwide,” says Enactus Regional Program Manager Chloe Shauck. “This experiential learning provides students with necessary skills like leadership, teamwork and project management to help them stand out to recruiters after graduation.” Students involved in Enactus are challenged to use critical thinking skills, communication skills, and teamwork to create solutions to these problems while being exposed to the inner workings of the business world. They also have a chance to audition these traits in front of recruiters, which as we mentioned above greatly help their prospects of landing a job offer.

Though Enactus is offered as a class at some colleges, most colleges have it as an extra-curricular group. There are however some universities that have decided to build collaboration between higher education and business into their curriculum. One such example of this is Kent State University in Kent, Ohio.   Their College of Business Administration requires all students that are seeking a Bachelors of Business Administration to complete a course called “Business Consulting Practicum”. In this course students are broken into teams and partnered with a local business or non-profit organization. They are then tasked with helping them improve some aspect of their operation whether it is marketing, human resources, project management, etc. At the end of the semester, the teams present their projects and describe what it was they accomplished for the community partner.

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Just like Enactus, this course allows students to directly apply what they have learned in a classroom setting into the real world. Kent State graduate and NexGoal employee Brandon Harris experienced the practicum class first hand and agrees that it is a unique opportunity to gain real world experience. “The consulting practicum class is like an internship on steroids. In a traditional internship you are eased into their everyday operations, but in the consulting practicum class you are partnered with a local partner who is in need of your immediate expertise to solve a problem they are faced with. Students are expected to lead the way when finding solutions instead of vice versa.”

Rather than having students sit back and learn from their local partners, the Consulting Practicum class thrusts students into leadership roles where the local partners are actually taking direction from the students. Students are thus given an excellent chance to be put in a position of leadership in a real world environment. This is especially valuable for the younger students who have never been put into a role like that before.

As both Enactus and the Kent State Business Consulting Practicum class demonstrate, opportunities are there for direct collaboration between business and education. By striking a balance between academic theory and real world experience, today’s students are put in a better position to be immediate assets to their places of employment. Most importantly, collaboration may help answer the student’s questions of “Why do I need to know this?” and “When am I ever going to use this in real life?” and save them the hassle of searching for the answer on Google.

 

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  • Staff
  • Job Search Tips
  • December 5, 2014

Getting Started With Your New Career Search: Part 1 of 3

Are you a college senior athlete who is planning to graduate this winter and wondering to yourself “where do I start?” Perhaps you’re a former athlete that is now a seasoned corporate professional who is thinking about making a job change but not sure where to turn. At any rate, in this three part blog series, we will guide you in the right direction to help get you going on the right (or new) path to your new career!

HurdleNexGoal works with former collegiate, professional and Olympic athletes by helping them to take the next steps in their careers away from the sports arena

NexGoal works with former collegiate, professional and Olympic athletes by helping them to take the next steps in their careers away from the sports arena

When making the decision to put yourself out on the job market, whether it’s for the first time or not, it is important to keep a few things in mind. In reality, before you even make the decision to put yourself out there, there are some things you might want to consider. First, what do you want to do? Who do you want to work for? Where do you want to work? For many positions there are different levels or qualifications, to what degree are you qualified? Here at NexGoal, we like to use the F.I.L.L. method when approaching a job change:

  • Function: What function do you want to perform? Ex: Sales, Computer Science, Social Work, Consulting, Engineering, Accounting, Software, etc.
  • Industry: What industry are you looking to conduct your career in? Ex: Steel, Information Technology, Criminal Justice, Wealth Management, Medical, HR, Industrial, etc.
  • Level: At what level are you qualified and does it match your compensation requirements? Ex: What is your target income? Are you looking for a base salary? Are you looking for commission? A combination of the two? What level of a base do you need to ensure your financial stability?
  • Location: Where do you want to work? Ex: Do you want to stay in the same geographic region as you are now? Are you open to relocation? Do you want an office setting? Or perhaps a home based office?

The key to each step in the F.I.L.L. process is research. Being fully knowledgeable about all of your options is huge in choosing a new career path. Being able to confidently say “Through my research, I know what I want to do, I know with whom and where, and I know what I can expect/need as far as compensation”. Being able to answer the above questions is important even before putting your resume together and beginning to get it out to prospective employers. So it would be most helpful for you to reverse engineer your job search. Start with the end goal in mind. You need to figure out where you want to end up in order to be able to start your search.  Your job search will always start with your very own research. “Finding a new job is a full time job, in and of itself. You have to work at it just like a job!” – Kevin Dahl, former NHL defensemen, Olympic medalist and NexGoal co-founder and CEO.

You need to know where you want to finish to be able to know where to start!

You need to know where you want to finish to be able to know where to start!

Below are some great resources for starting your research:

  • Family, Friends, Mentors, Coaches, Professors, Counselors, etc. – Talk to everyone you know! You would be surprised how much you can learn just from the people around you
  • Attend job fairs, meet with career services, job shadow your friends or family
  • Salary.com to help better quantify what your skills are worth in a given industry/region
  • Job sites like CareerBuilder.com, Indeed.com, ZipRecruiter.com, etc.
  • Yahoo.com is now owner of Monster.com, you can not only find job postings but articles about the job market and recent trends and predictions
  • The Federal Reserve Bank publishes an economic trends report for specific industries in specific geographic regions
  • Be sure to read through your local publications like Crains, Smart Business, etc.
  • Last but certainly not least, check your local newspaper for daily articles on companies growing, closing or relocating, industries that are tanking or taking off, etc.

We will be back next week with our next installment of this three part series: Rules of the Resume

In the meantime, be sure to follow our pages below for more insights, career tips and new job opportunities:

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  • Staff
  • Job Search Tips
  • October 20, 2014

What We Liked & Shared This Week (10/17/14)

Another week of exciting new updates to share with the world! As always, we try to keep our finger on the pulse of the latest and most informative literature the world wide web has to offer. Here’s what we shared this week…

– Making a career change is one of the most stressful and thought through decisions in an adult professionals life. It ranks up there with buying a car or house, deciding to get married or when its right to have children. The only thing that seperates it from the aformentioned decisions is that your career (aka source of income) can drive those decisions one way or another due to their financial/emotional impact on your life. So if you’re looking to make a career change, here are 5 Helpful Tips that can help you make the best decision.

– There are many reasons why people made the decision to quit their jobs. Better opportunities, better pay, better outlook for advancement, the list goes on and on. However, for the most part, most of the reasons people quit their job can be summarized as this: Lifes Too Short

– If you’re like me, procrastination comes naturally. It’s something most modern day adults were raised to be professionals at. Heck, even the experts say it’s completely normal, but that’s not going to help get the job done any quicker. However, there’s one trick to the trade when it comes to getting the upper hand on procrastination and it might sound kind of funky to most people: Succeed By Eating The Frog. What does that mean you ask? The link above will provide some very interesting clarification.

– Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.” The key to his success was preparation and the same goes for your dream job.

– If you’re going to take the time, energy and money to hire a new employee, why waste it on anything but the best your time, energy and money can buy you? Here are some tips on how to Hire Amazing People.

– It blows my mind that some people still have to be coached to NOT pull their phone out during an interview. Some adivce, however, is less than obvious for Younger Job Seekers.

– Wouldn’t the world be an awesome place if instead of looking for a job, a job looked for you? Well, it’s not as far fethced as you would thing. Becoming a Employer Magnet is actually very realistic if you know what you are doing.

– Finally, it looks like I have either broken the mold or missed the mark because I only shared 3 of the 10 Articles Recruiters Shared The Most This Week

Connect with NexGoal on all of these platforms.

Connect with NexGoal on all of these platforms.

If you don’t want to wait for the roundup on Fridays, be sure to follow us on

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And be sure to check out our latest opportunities or upload your resume to our database for future consideration.

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  • Staff
  • Job Search Tips, NexGoal Community
  • February 19, 2014

NexGoal Joins The Golden Flashes For Student-Athlete Career Night

NexGoal's Zack Wilhelm and Angela Berardinelli joined Kent State student-athletes in a few rounds of "speed networking" at the Student-Athlete Career Night.

NexGoal’s Zack Wilhelm and Angela Berardinelli joined Kent State student-athletes in a few rounds of “speed networking” at the Student-Athlete Career Night.

NexGoal joined the second annual Kent State Athletics Student-Athlete Career Night on February 18.

Over 80 student-athletes participated in the career fair and “speed networking” event in the ballroom at The KSU Student Center. Not only did the event afford NexGoal the opportunity to reach future athlete-candidates, but it also presented the chance to educate them on some of the basics of the job search .

“It was a great experience being able to sit down with so many collegiate athletes and talk to them about their future, and how we can help them best prepare for life after athletics,” said Wilhelm. “It was refreshing to see how many young men and women were focused on life after sports, and on becoming successful professionals.”

“Kent State’s Student-Athlete Academic Services did a great job putting this event,” added Berardinelli.  “Being a student-athlete in college is a full time job, and it is hard enough to juggle school and a sport at this level, so giving these individuals a night to start thinking about the next step in their life is important.  Many of the student-athletes were thankful to have the opportunity to put everything aside and start thinking about this next step in their life.”

NexGoal prides itself on its “athletes helping athletes” approach, and how we as former athletes who have made the transition from competition to becoming working professionals. “During the speed networking portion of the evening, Angela and I had the opportunity to educate the athletes about what sets them apart from other job seekers,” expressed Wilhelm.  “That biodata – their drive, ambition, character – all those traits that make them successful in their sport will help them be successful in their post-athletic careers and makes them attractive to potential employers.”

“It was great for us to come and talk about NexGoal as well because we relate with these individuals, and we were able to meet athletes from multiple sports and career aspirations,” said Berardinelli. “We had the opportunity to educate the individuals in regards to how to prepare themselves to land a great career once they graduate.  It was also close to home for me personally because it was not all that long ago that I was one of those student-athletes sitting on the other side of the table!”

NexGoal works with athlete-candidates to prepare them for post-athletic career by  offering assistance in several areas as well as offering a free upload of their resumes to our database for future consideration.

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  • Staff
  • Success Stories, Testimonial
  • February 17, 2014

NexGoal Places Academic All-BigTen Wrestler With Wealth Management Firm

TableRedChairNexGoal recently placed Patrick Harrington, a former Ohio State University wrestler with WestPoint Wealth Management LLC.

WestPoint Wealth Management delivers “comprehensive, state-of-the-art financial solutions to a select group of executives, business owners and other successful individuals and families who have unique planning and wealth management needs for many years.”

“NexGoal has been instrumental in delivering high-quality financial services candidates to us over the past several years,” said WestPoint Wealth Management managing partner Curt Lindsay. “Their ability to facilitate the relationship between our firm’s hiring manager and the candidate has allowed us to move quickly through the hiring process. They have also been extremely easy to work with.”

Harrington was a letterwinner and earned Academic All-Big Ten Conference honors at Ohio State. He is still second all-time with a 63-0 record as a high school wrestler at Sandusky St. Mary’s in the Ohio State High School Association record books.

“NexGoal took the time to go over my aspirations and gave me a great view of different career paths before presenting to me the corporation of my choice,” added Harrington. “Their staff really helped me through the entire hiring process.”

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