What A College Degree Doesn't Provide

Most Colleges Today Don't Teach How To Find Career Success and Satisfaction - Students are spending thousands of dollars on degrees, but graduating without an understanding of how to find a career they can get excited about.

(PRWEB) December 4, 2005 -- Most Americans believe that a college degree is necessary to succeed in today’s workforce, and it is true, many companies do expect a degree. Unfortunately, American colleges aren't focused on helping students determine the best way to use their degree when they graduate. “It’s like students are getting the food needed to make a gourmet meal, but not the recipes or utensils they’ll need to cook it successfully,” says career expert, J.T. O’Donnell.

O’Donnell is a career coach who confirms that the number of recent college grads needing career coaching is rapidly increasing. “These days, a number of young professionals fresh out of college are feeling confused. Their primary concern is that they spent an enormous amount of time, energy, and money on an education, but they don't know how they are going to put it to good use. Some are even depressed. They are disappointed in their current career paths, and have no idea of how to correct the situation.”

O'Donnell is a former HR executive and founder of the career coaching company, BLUE KILOWATT. She is also the author of the book, "Find Your Career Path: A Revolutionary Guide to Career Satisfaction." She has done extensive work with students and young professionals. She can be contacted toll free at (877)588-5455 and by e-mail at her website, http://www.bluekilowatt.com.

O’Donnell says that often, upon graduation, students are guilty of succumbing to what she calls, The-first-job-that-comes-along Syndrome.” She explains, “Most students are graduating today without any idea of what they want in a career or how to find the best job opportunities for them. Yet, they feel an incredible amount of pressure to just get working, and thus, take whatever job is offered to them first. This is a terrible mistake.” O’Donnell says that students soon find the job is not a good fit, but feel they must stay put until they can figure out what they want to do. “Yet, with no proven method to determine a new career direction that will bring greater satisfaction, these young employees are stuck. They don’t want to make the same mistake twice, but they have no idea as to how to fix it on their own.” Review a free presentation entitled “College to Career,” which explains in greater detail the challenges today's students face when entering the workforce at http://www.careerjuice.com.

One of the reasons for this trend, O’Donnell says, is our country’s preoccupation with career success, “It is the primary way in which we create an identity for ourselves. As a result, we navigate students in a set direction to get a college degree, but we don’t make the extra effort to help them understand what they should go to school for. Most college students, when asked, will tell you the main reason they went to college was because it was expected of them. This is unfortunate, because without at least a general sense of who they are and what they can do to tailor the college experience to help them find satisfying work and successful careers after graduation, the investment they’ve made in their degree will not seem as valuable.” O’Donnell offers a free presentation entitled “Career Success – The American Way?” that explains why Americans are so overly focused on career success at http://www.bluekilowatt.com/pages/purpose-02.html.

O’Donnell says students need to locate resources that help them gain a real understanding of their personal strengths and preferences. "If they know who they are and what they want in a career after graduation, it becomes easier to identify career options that will best suit their unique needs.” O’Donnell suggests they seek out information that is specific to someone just starting out in their career; a logical, step-by-step process, which helps them to avoid the common ‘beginner pitfalls’ of career development and selection, such as taking a job for the wrong reasons or accepting a job in an environment that won't enable them to succeed. O'Donnell offers a Career Kit called CAREERJUICE that addresses these issues at http://www.careerjuice.com.

And if you are a parent of a college student or young professional, O'Donnell says you should focus on helping your child find these kinds of resources as well. O’Donnell says students need enough time to get prepared to enter the job market upon graduation. She also stresses the value in giving a student a competitive edge against all the ‘career crammers’ who haven’t bothered to think about their futures until after graduation. But most of all, O’Donnell says parents will want to give their child the confidence and motivation to go out and pursue a career path they are excited about. “What we tend to forget is that a college graduate is actually leaving the comforts of the one job they’ve known for years – being a student. We need to give them as much help as possible so that their transition into the workforce is a positive experience from which they can build a successful career.”

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