Millennial Branding and Experience Inc. Study Reveals an Employment Gap Between Employers and Students

Companies expect students to have internships but aren’t hiring interns

A new study by Millennial Branding, of 225 employers using Experience Inc.’s data pool of over 100,000 US companies, uncovers the student employment gap, skill requirements, and sources of hire for the class of 2012. 91% of employers think that students should have between one and two internships before they graduate, yet 50% haven’t hired any interns in the past six months. Students that have the required internships haven’t received job offers from companies since 79% of employers have hired 30% or fewer interns into full-time positions. Furthermore, 87% of companies think that internships should last at least three months for students to gain enough experience when most internships last around two months long. This employment gap is one of the reasons why half of all recent grads are jobless or underemployed as reported by The Associated Press.

Highlights from the Student Employment Gap study:

• The entry-level job market. Overall, 87% of employers are going to hire more recent graduates this year. This is great news for the 1.7 million college students who are graduating. 86% hired 25 or fewer recent college graduates in the past six months, but 50% haven’t hired a single intern during the same timeframe. 79% of employers hire 30% or fewer interns for full-time positions.
• The types of students who are landing jobs. 34% of companies are recruiting engineering and computer information systems majors and 30% are recruiting liberal arts majors. Only 18% are recruiting finance and accounting majors combined. Of the companies that compete for STEM talent  (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), 75% said it’s hard or very hard to compete against other big brands.
• The skills that employers are looking for. Employers view communication skills (98%), having a positive attitude (97%) and teamwork skills (92%) as being important or very important when hiring for entry-level positions.
• The sources employers use to hire. Only 16% of employers recruit on social networks all of the time or most of the time, while 48% use job boards and 44% use employee referrals. Also, only 35% of employers use social networks to conduct background checks in the online hiring process. Out of those employers, 42% use LinkedIn, 40% use Facebook, 15% use Google+ and only 2% use Twitter when reviewing candidates profiles.
• The ways students can stand out in the hiring process. 69% of managers think that relevant courses are either important or very important when reviewing candidates. 65% say a referral from a previous boss or professor, and 50% say leadership positions in on-campus organizations. 29% are looking for entrepreneurial experience.
• Employer internship expectations. 91% of employers think that students should have between one and two internships before graduating and 87% feel that internships should last at least three months for students to gain enough experience.
• Employers entry-level job expectations. 42% of employers are turned off by how unprepared students are in interviews and 26% are turned off by their bad attitude. 92% have an interview process of two months or less for entry-level positions and 62% have two rounds of interviews on average. 62% conduct in-person or phone first round interviews despite new technologies like Skype.
• Employers talent needs. 65% of employers feel that their talent needs have changed over the past two years, and of those, 26% haven’t communicated those changes to the student marketplace. 100% of employers perceive that college prepares students for the workplace and 81% have updated their job descriptions to reflect current talent requirements.

Infographic:

Quotes:

“The expectation that having an internship can lead to a job no longer exists. Employers should hire their interns into full-time positions to save recruiting and training costs. Students should strive to have as many internships as possible before graduation and not rely on a single employer for a job offer.”

– Dan Schawbel, Founder of Millennial Branding, Gen-Y Expert & Bestselling Author of Me 2.0

“Of all the things employers look for when hiring entry-level talent, it’s the so-called ‘soft skills’ that are valued most:  communication, teamwork, flexibility and positive attitude are by far the most sought-after skills.  Employers understand that everything else can be taught, so they look for the most promising raw material to work with.”

–  Jennifer Floren, Founder and CEO, Experience, Inc.

Contacts:

Millennial Branding (Spokesperson): Dan Schawbel dan@millennialbranding.com
Experience.com (Survey Data): Veronica L. Clarke vclarke@experience.com

About Millennial Branding:

Millennial Branding is a Gen-Y research and management consulting firm based in Boston, MA. Millennial Branding helps companies understand the emerging Gen-Y employee and consumer by providing constant information through our research, training, and advisory services. As representatives of Gen Y and advisers to management, our goal is to provide research and insights that will make you more profitable, grow your market share, help you understand your Gen-Y employees, and turn you into an industry leader.

About Experience:

Experience has been the leading provider of career services for colleges and universities since 1996. Today, 5 million students and recent graduates use the Experience network to find entry-level jobs and internships and to access information that helps them bridge the gap between school and the professional world. Over 3,800 colleges and universities are in the Experience network, connecting students and graduates with over 100,000 employers and recruiters that use Experience to connect with the best, qualified entry-level talent.