Twenty-two percent of adult workers in a recent survey said that a college education does not effectively prepare students for employment in the workforce. Meanwhile, nearly the same percentage—25 percent—reported that college does effectively prepare students for the working world. Only 10 percent said college prepares students very effectively.
The April 2013 survey of more than 1,600 employed adults in the United States was conducted for the University of Phoenix by Harris Interactive. It found that 35 percent of working adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher level of education believe that all or most of what they learned in college is applicable to their current jobs.
Of survey respondents, 7 percent said that everything they learned in college applies to their jobs, while 51 percent indicated that some of the knowledge gained in college applies, and 13 percent said none of what they learned applies. The news is more encouraging among survey participants who have earned graduate degrees, with 47 percent reporting that all or most of what they learned while pursuing their degree(s) is applicable to their work.
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“This survey suggests the need for higher education to adapt to the needs of the market and prepare students for specific jobs and careers,” said Sam Sanders, college chair for University of Phoenix School of Business and former human resource executive. “There is significant progress being made in America to tie curriculum to careers earlier in a student’s education, but there is still a lot of work to be done to prepare college graduates for specific careers and grow a more competitive workforce.”
Almost three-quarters (74 percent) of survey respondents have regrets when it comes to their education. Topping the list—at 48 percent—is not pursuing more education. In fact, 58 percent of participants who did not earn a bachelor’s degree regret not furthering their education, while 32 percent of those with bachelor’s degrees wish they had pursued more education.
In addition, 21 percent regret not learning as much because they didn’t apply themselves; 19 percent wish they had focused more on academics; 15 percent believe they selected the wrong major; 11 percent regret not having been an intern or getting relevant job experience during school; and 6 percent regret not applying the information they learned to real-life scenarios.
Training Takeaway: Supervisors and managers should collaborate with trainers to identify which workplace skills need to be further developed in college graduates, as well as with other new hires.
No time to prepare or deliver training? With BLR’s TrainingToday®, your employees can start taking essential training courses the same day you sign up. Workers (and supervisors) train at their convenience, 24/7. We track and you save with this turnkey solution. Yes, it really can be this simple. Learn more.
The results of this survey indicate that you may be hiring young employees who still have need of some training in order to become effective employees. Where can you get ready-made and up-to-date training content on dozens of key HR topics? Look no further than the HR-Employment Library on BLR’s TrainingToday®.
The good news from BLR® is that now you can run your training program like a pro with our new TrainingToday® system. This dynamic training resource provides course content on safety, ethics, sexual harassment, the FMLA, the ADA, and much more.
TrainingToday is a leading provider of online education programs for employees and supervisors. Each course in our extensive library addresses a specific topic with engaging and interactive presentations, delivering practical advice and clear instructions that trainees will remember long after the training is complete.
Three Delivery Platforms
TrainingToday offers you the option of three delivery platforms to meet your organization’s needs:
Professional
- Unlimited training for your whole organization for one flat fee
- Easy to start up and track trainee progress
- Hundreds of courses available, from employment law compliance to sales excellence
Enterprise
The Enterprise platform includes all the features of the Professional version, plus it will:
- Track and report capability with the built-in comprehensive Learning Management System (LMS);
- Train with courses as they are or make them truly your own with our customization options; and
- Upload your own content (PowerPoint®, video, Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) files, etc.) to the LMS in addition to using our comprehensive training courses.
SCORM
- Integrate content into your existing LMS.
- Easily tailor to your content, logo, presentation style, and corporate policies.
- SCORM-compliant to integrate with existing corporate learning systems.
Here are just some of the many courses available at TrainingToday®:
[Click here to download information on all courses and libraries.]
Over 75 HR and employment training courses covering such topics as sexual harassment, diversity, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The Diversity library is an interactive training program with different modules for supervisors and employees. It features real-world scenarios and insightful commentary from a leading workplace expert and employment law attorney.
Preventing Sexual Harassment—National
Until now, training has been a real challenge—there’s such a load of extraneous planning, preparing, and tracking involved. But we’ve got good news—BLR’s editors have developed a unique new program so all that work is done for you.
It’s called TrainingToday. This turnkey service requires no setup, no course development time, no software installation, and no new hardware. Your employees can self-register, and training can be taken anytime (24/7) and anywhere there is a PC and an Internet connection. Courses take only about 30 minutes to complete.
TrainingToday automatically documents training. As trainees sign on, their identifications are automatically registered. When the program is completed, the trainee’s score is entered. So, when you want to see who has been trained on any subject or look at the across-the-board activity of any one employee, it’s all there, instantly available to you, your boss, an inspector—even a plaintiff’s attorney.
Course certificates can be automatically generated from within the training center and are automatically retained for recordkeeping purposes.
Unlimited Training that Won’t Bust the Budget
Best of all, in these budget-crunching times, TrainingToday costs only a fraction of what you would pay for an LMS. You always know exactly what training will cost, no matter how many programs you use or how many times you use them. There’s just one low, annual fee—for unlimited training—calculated by the size of your workforce. Budget once and you’re done!
These are all motivational, actionable courses—for both employees and supervisors—in such key areas as sexual harassment, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), diversity, communication, Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), recruiting, and many more. The courses are kept up to date to reflect federal and state regulatory changes, and what’s more, BLR® adds new programs continually.
TrainingToday also includes a selection of safety courses—you decide whether you want just the HR courses, the safety courses, or both.
If it sounds as if we’re excited about this new service, well, we are—and so is the Software & Information Industry Association, which just voted TrainingToday (formerly the Employee Training Center) the “Best Workforce Training Solution.” Find out what all the buzz is about—sign up for a no-obligation trial to TrainingToday.