EMPLOYABILITY WRITTEN REPORT

Topic: “Discuss some of the challenges facing new graduates in seeking employment upon
graduating from University and outline some of the things that you can do to overcome these
challenges”.

There are numerous challenges that new graduates seeking employment face, which include, but are not
limited to; lack of real-world experience, different expectations, and lack of direction (Marco, 2013.
Petersen, 2016). Many graduates entered and left university with a casual or part-time job that was not
relevant to the degree that they were studying, causing most graduates to not obtain a role that is
relevant to their studied profession. Unfortunately, this can negatively impact those graduates who have
not been accepted into a position, causing them to lose direction when they most likely already had a
lack of direction (Molinsky and Pisman, 2019. Petersen, 2016). This already present lack of direction has
been argued to stem from our culture of always receiving feedback, whether the student asked for it or
not, which causes many graduates to become confused in their workplace and also when seeking a new
job, as students have been conditioned to expect feedback and not ask for it themselves (Molinsky and
Pisman, 2019).

Whilst most graduates will face these challenges, including myself, it is important that I learn how to
move past these barriers so that I will not fall into a pattern of not being accepted into job positions. The
challenge of graduates not having real-world experience can quite easily be diminished through
university itself, as most departments offer relevant internships. Even participating in a broader
internship will greatly increase the chance of an employer further looking into said candidate and
moving onto the next step of the interview process. Furthermore, it is still beneficial to have had
experience as a part-time or casual employee, as there are numerous skills that are transferable. The
next challenge that was mentioned was that graduates are conditioned to always receive feedback for
everything they do. From primary school, to high school, and in university students are always given
feedback from teachers and lecturers (Molinsky and Pisman, 2019). This is obviously because school and
university are about learning and improving, however; whilst people should always continue learning
and improving their knowledge in the workforce, most employers will not give feedback unless directly
asked. This ‘solution’ is quite simple, but it can actually be a bit daunting for a graduate as they are most
likely clueless about how their workplace operates, and commonly take their employers silence as a sign
that their work needs no improvement (Molinsky and Pisman, 2019). It is very important that graduates
learn how and when to ask for feedback, as this can also reflective positively on them as individuals,
which will help them not only improve their knowledge but can also be a reason for a raise (Molinsky
and Pisman, 2019).

The overall message and advice are that current university students should take advantage of everything
that their university has to offer them, such as internships, and also that they should learn about the real-
world before they graduate. It would be more beneficial to learn that they need to ask for feedback, and
that they should learn as many relevant skills as possible before they step into their first interview. I
personally will focus on improving skills that will help me be better in an interview, and in the real-
world. As a future graduate that has only had a casual retail job, I should also increase my work
experiences by applying for internships.

Word count: 531

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References

Molinsky and Pisman, The Biggest Hurdles Recent Graduates Face Entering the Workforce,
Harvard Business Review, 2019
https://hbr.org/2019/04/the-biggest-hurdles-recent-graduates-face-entering-the-workforce

Petersen, 6 Career Challenges You’ll Face as a Recent College Graduate, Recruiter, 2016
https://www.recruiter.com/i/6-career-challenges-youll-face-as-a-recent-college-graduate/

Marco, 5 of the Biggest Challenges Facing Graduates, Nuclei Recruitment, 2013

https://nuclei.com.au/5-of-the-biggest-challenges-facing-graduates-today/