The Oracle

Issue date: 1/26/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Trung Le Nguyen

You wake up, realizing that after hitting snooze one-too-many times, your alarm clock has decided to ignore you in return. You dart out of bed, skip the shower, throw on the nearest button down shirt you can find (never mind the red sauce stain), and don't even have time to grab a coffee, which makes you grumpy. It sounds like a bad morning, but behaviors like these, repeated regularly by recent college graduates, have led to a bad reputation for new hires.

A recent article titled "Are Today's Grads Unprofessional?" by David Moltz on InsideHigherEd.com suggests that these behaviors are not uncommon. The article reviews a study of professionalism and college graduates entering the workforce conducted by York College of Pennsylvania.

Moltz wrote, "The survey indicates that 'there is a widely held sentiment that not all college graduates are displaying professionalism upon entering the work force.'"

According to Moltz, the survey also indicated that 37% of respondents stated that "less than half of [the recent graduates they have hired] exhibit professionalism in their first year."

The article stated that professional traits deficient in some of their newer hires include a clear sense of purpose or direction, proper appearance, adequate communication skills, a strong work ethic, and interpersonal skills.

Director of Law School Admissions Robin Ingli said that many of these have been issues for college graduates applying to Hamline Law, especially proper writing and communication skills necessary for completing parts of the application, such as the personal statement.

"I've really seen it as a trend, that writing skills have declined over time," Ingli said.

Ingli said she attributed many of the problems-such as grammatical mistakes, spelling errors, and poorly phrased sentences-to a lack of either skill or time proofreading.

Content, on the other hand, is also an issue, Assistant Director of Law School Admissions Diane Ostman said.

"They don't answer the question that's being asked," Ostman said.

Internship Program Director at the Career Development Center (CDC) Lauren Kavan said that resumes were also something that Hamline students could strengthen.

"[A resume] is the first entry point into an employer's world," Kavan said.

Continued...

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