Dive Brief:
- Recent college graduates are finding that job training and employment opportunities are lagging behind their expectations, according to the Accenture 2014 College Graduate Employment Survey.
- Of the 2014 college graduates, 80% expect their employer to provide a formal training program on their first job, but only 48% of 2012 and 2013 graduates received such training.
- The 2014 graduates are overly optimistic about their employment prospects, with 61% expecting to find a full-time job in their chosen field, compared to the 46% of 2012 and 2013 grads with a full-time position and the 13% who have been unemployed since graduation.
Dive Insight:
Some other findings of interest: 46% of the 2012 and 2013 graduates say they are underemployed, working in a job that doesn’t require a degree, compared to 41% last year. Also, 75% of the 2014 graduates took into account the availability of jobs in a particular field when they chose a major, compared to 70% for 2013 grads and 65% for 2012 grads. Accenture is a management consulting and outsourcing company, so most of the report’s findings are directed at what companies should learn from recent grads. But the report does state that universities are increasingly providing a relevant education, creating courses with market relevance in mind and helping graduates with their job searches. Of the 2014 graduates, 72% agree or strongly agree that their education prepared them for a career, compared to 66% for the 2012 and 2013 graduates.
