Noah Merrell
Guest Writer
From the time we start school, we are taught one thing, “Get good grades, so you can have a good job.”
We are told that a degree is our only way to avoid flipping burgers at the nearest McDonald’s, but is that really the case?
According to the Harvard Business Review, around two-thirds of all college graduates struggle to launch their career right out of college.
This is likely because students may have been taught technical skills their career may require, they lack soft skills. These are defined as personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively with other people. These skills are not something students learn in a classroom and are instead developed as students gain more experience in the workplace.
“Soft skills are certainly something many employers are looking closely at and asking for in their employees,” Mel Whiteside, a dean who oversees Advanced Technology Control/Career and Technical Education, said. “Soft skills are going to be your interaction with people and the company.”
Many students do not have a clear idea of what they want to do after college, and because of this, they never take on internships and end up with a degree that they do not even need.
“I do not really know what I am going to do after college,” sophomore Nicole Seaer said. “I am just working towards (a) liberal arts (degree) at Butler.”
Butler encourages students to take a solid career path, and according to Whiteside, the institution tries to implement real life work skills into their classes.
“Our faculty is certainly more connected with students than I am,” Whiteside said. “They are on the ground level and talking and working with our students.”
Although Butler offers real world training, some students are still not using their degrees after college.
Alumni Travis Kochenower graduated with an associate’s degree in agriculture, but is now a part of the custodial staff at the college.
“With all of my health issues, regular jobs would not allow me time off as much as I would need for doctors’ visits,” he said.
Some people believe that careers after college are more dependent on what opportunities come their way and not really on what degree they have.
“I think it is dependent on what opportunities come our way, but I also think it’s part of the college’s job to be able to give us some kind of job experience in our degree before we graduate,” Kochenower said.
Butler does offer some on the job experience with degrees like law enforcement, culinary arts and nursing.
Students like sophomore Nathan Keck are taking advantage of these programs and has used them to get into his choice of career in law enforcement.
He has gone on 13 ride alongs with officers in different departments and is planning to do more with the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department and the highway patrol.
“People say it’s not what you know, it is who you know, so I am just
trying to get my name out there,” Keck said.
Although there is no way to 100 percent guarantee students will land their dream job right out of college, Whiteside does think that by keeping a positive attitude and a good work ethic, they could one day reach their goal.
“I think all graduates have to go into their first job that this is just a stepping stone for me to get where I want to go and not expect to have that dream job immediately,” Whiteside said.
