College graduates need interviewing skills

An article in Monday's New York Times attacks recent college graduates as lacking the skills to properly interview for jobs. The article cites numerous horror stories of job applicants lacking any sort of social skills in interviewing, manner of dress and attitude.

The tales range from women showing up to interviews in sundresses and flip-flops, to applicants having their mothers phone to ask about interviews, to not being able to answer common questions such as "What can you offer us?"

Though the answer to that question may include a vast number of desirable skills and education, many employers won't hear that answer past the lack of professionalism.

The article discusses how difficult it is for those who graduated in the late 1990s career boom to find work now, in a rapidly contracting job market. Supposedly, recent college graduates are approaching the job market as if their employers need them, and not the other way around.

This affects current college students, too, though. As most of us entered college in the late 1990s, we saw the boom of careers and assumed it would last until we got out and would be pursued by employers waving six-figure paychecks with benefit lists much longer than our resumes.

But while we’ve been here things have shifted. Though training for interviews and corporate etiquette is mandatory for many degrees, it has now become very important to actually learn the content of those classes, instead of just showing up.

As Allison Hemming, president of a temp agency in New York, is quoted in the article, "When the economy was hot, job interviews were sort of 'come as you are' events. Now they're formal again, and some people are resisting that."

As some of us will start entering the "real world" as soon as December, it's an important time to start considering these things, since it's not too late to start considering the way you handle yourself in a professional situation.

Purdue has the resources available to make you an ideal job candidate, beyond the added boost of being an alumnus. If you don't use them, you have only yourself to blame.

Small acts of etiquette, like dressing well for an interview or sending a note thanking them for their time afterward, can make a major difference in the much more highly competitive job market. And since word has it that others our age lack these skills, this edge increases dramatically.

Editorial Board: Keith Thomas, Tom McHenry, Erica Sagon, Matt Poston, Shawn McGann.

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