It’s a common lament from students (and often, their parents): I’ve spent so much money on a degree, but I can’t find a job.
The coveted college degree costs big bucks these days, but getting a job after graduation has never been harder, and experts point to a skills gap as a contributor to unemployment.
According to a 2013 study from online textbook company Chegg, only 39% of hiring managers say the recent college graduates they’ve interviewed in the past two years were completely or very prepared for a job—even in their field of study. Graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are not faring much better.
A November study from education firm Apollo Lightspeed says 94% of hiring IT/technology hiring managers turned down candidates in part because of skill deficiencies. In fact, the Math and Science Institute reports that if schools continue to turn out graduates who cannot meet the requirements of the workplace, the United States may be short as many as three million high-skill workers by 2018.
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