Students Unsuited for the Workplace

School Makes Students Unsuited for the Workplace
In previous posts I have talked about the failure of high schools to prepare Grads for the workplace. In this post we look at work-appropriate communications.

Workplace Speech isn't Taught in most High School Classes
The last half of my career was teaching to seniors -- nearly adults. What I found is many students can't carry on adult work-appropriate communications. True, most freely chat with friends (OK, much on the level of "Beavis and Butt-Head," or the female equivalent). Quite a few can discuss issues in a study group of teens (with me listening on the side).

Many supposed “A” students have a difficult time talking intelligently as an adult to an adult. When speaking directly to an adult, many students are hesitant, uncertain, or unable to respond. Many don't make eye contact, even delivering presentations. Some "A" students do great written work, but are so painfully shy or insecure they won't offer ideas or suggestions -- even when called to do so. That would frustrate a boss at work. But I think it's unlikely to happen, because those silent students are less likely to get hired!

Too Harsh?
Think I'm being too harsh? Perhaps you know high school students you think "sound" really bright. A small percentage are really smart. Yes, many have "good" grades. Some can talk intelligently about the classes they like. Some can "expound" passionately about their favorite issues.

Other students use "verbal bullying" toward teachers and adults, especially to get out of doing required work. (They have learned to intimidate, often to compensate for low reading comprehension, poor writing skills, sketchy understanding, or laziness.) Some students may sound bright, or at least outgoing or extroverted.

Employer's View
But an employer doesn't care about the student's opinions or "wonderful" knowledge.

• If the student doesn't understand the employer's needs and requirements, they won't get hired. 
• If the student can't articulate what value their skills can provide, they aren't desirable. 
• If the student can't apply knowledge to solve problems, they aren't useful. 
• If they're smart -- but painfully shy around adults, don't speak up, or don't network with adults about jobs -- an employer won't know they exist.
• A boss won't like to be bullied out of a reasonable and necessary job expectation.

It's not just that many students won't talk to adults, or can't speak well.
Students are focused on what they like or what the school teaches. All that is mostly irrelevant to jobs or work.

Written Communications

As I have mentioned in previous posts, the work in many classes uses watered-down writing expectations. Not only are assignments often below grade level, student responses are often isolated "fill-in" words -- not complete thoughts, organized explanations or arguments. (See The Opportunity Myth in The New Teacher Project). True, some Grads have satisfactory writing skills, passable in their Freshman year in college. But much time is wasted with assignments and activities that don't use them.

Career Relevance
The primary career-readiness failure is that high schools don't apply student's writing to actual workplace documentation and communications. Many assignments are not even in a business-acceptable format. Almost ALL student writing assignments, research, and reports have no value or relevance in any job or career field (except teaching the subject, perhaps). They do not even address common workplace issues. These are missed opportunities!

Assignments could have value and relevance in career fields, and this would benefit the student tremendously. Students could learn the important issues and controversies in their chosen field, or work generally. They could learn if they even like the field, or whether they have the interest or aptitude to excel in it.

Call to Action

"Outsmarting College" says that college is an expensive way to find out if your Grad:

1. Hates the career they prepared for
2. Can't succeed because they lack skills or aptitudes

Helping the student make those decisions BEFORE starting college is critical.
If you're thinking about throwing a lot of tuition money at college without some thought to career probabilities, you're putting lots of money on a poor bet.

Outsmart College (and the Contribution Project) advocates helping the student make the transition to work and real-world relevance early -- before deciding to go to college (or not).
__________

If you are interested in REAL career prep for your child, contact me NOW!

What is REAL Career-Prep?

When most schools attempt to inject "Career-Prep" in the curriculum, their approach is to "teach information." Instead of focusing on careers, they usually dilute the message with more "college is the only way" propaganda.

My high school eliminated the career educator and forced the counselors to take on the task. Most counseling is geared toward college entrance requirements, however. (At least some students still take the Armed Forces' ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) test for career interest and aptitude.) Your child doesn't need to enter the military to take the online versions. Have them try the short and long versions!

They also stopped using a career assessment website and considered instead the College Board's "career" guidance. Of course, all the careers there "require" a college major! In fact, some majors don't lead to a career at all, but only to a degree. Remember, only about 35% of U.S. jobs require a four-year (or higher) degree.

What is REAL Career-Prep?

Exposing a student to information is not the same as researching, planning, visiting, and making contact with professionals in a career field. It doesn't take the place of having a job. Work teaches, better than any book, about:

• Dealing with the boss
• Serving customers
• Experiencing the stress of work
• Knowing the satisfaction of helping people 

Few classes will teach what is important to a boss. They don't teach how or why bosses make their decisions.

There are relatively few high schools that are truly preparing students in a meaningful way for the "work world" and adult interactions.  In my own case, I have supervised thousands of high school student's career explorations. I have consulted and facilitated hundreds of business plans and business concept pitches. Students can learn about jobs they'd like -- or why they shouldn't pursue a job they'd hate. (If your local high school is doing a good job, you are fortunate. It is quite rare, indeed.)

Realistic Careers
Career prep is not just providing information (which students can "tune out"). It's not just entry-level work skills, as useful as those might be.  In choosing a career, a student must make absolutely sure they choose a career where they can excel and get promoted over the long haul.  That means the student has to really "dig" to get a sense of the skills and demands of a job.  They need to study the "typical work day," the work settings; and compare that to their skills, aptitudes, and values.  They need to find a career that isn't being automated away (and that's getting harder to predict)!

What Career-Prep is NOT
The career must also match the student's skills, talents, and capabilities.  Some teachers are in the "dream career" camp, emphasizing fantasizing and imagination.  They tell students to "shoot for the moon" -- but forget to help the student build the foundation of "necessary and sufficient" requirements underneath.  Some teachers avoid "hurting the student's feelings" when the career is clearly not practical or realistic.)  

Career Fantasy Fail
What are the results of the typical career assignment?  The student has no idea of the costs or requirements (I required a cost-benefit analysis).  They can't describe the range of tasks they'd perform and decisions they'd make.  They have no idea of the work day or setting.  How could students know if they'd like the job, or succeed in it?

I've had students tell me their career goal is Neurologist, but don't know that's after getting their M.D. They have Ds in science, and are flunking English.  Now it's theoretically possible for a student with poor reading and writing skills to become a medical doctor, etc.  But it is highly unlikely, and would take a Herculean change in mental capacity and effort to pull off such a feat.  (I hope they prove me wrong!)  Regardless, they have no logical or reasonable path to the career.  That's not career planning, it's fantasy.

Call to Action

First, your child should have realistic career ideas. Then determine if college is required.
College is an expensive way to find out they:
          Didn't need the degree
          Couldn't finish the degree (with lots of debt; or less retirement for you)
          Can't find a job in their major (wasted degree?)
          Hate the career resulting from the degree
          Can't succeed because they lack skills or aptitudes not teachable by "classes."
Each of the above "stages" has probabilities, not guarantees! Many high school graduates fail in one of those five critical areas.

Do you want to gamble years of paying their college tuition for a poor career bet?   
Outsmart College and the Contribution Project will provide the answers! Stay tuned for the next post.
__________

If you are interested in REAL career prep for your child, contact me NOW!

High School's "Career Ready" Failure

Can You Trust your High School to make your child "Career Ready?"

Many high schools are now claiming their graduates are "College AND Career Ready." Depending on your state, they may be "required" to make some token effort in that direction. Are high school Graduates really ready for the adult world of work? Will your child be employable?

Career Readiness Quiz
Let's start with your children.

• Does your child always use mature thinking?
• How are their customer care skills?
• Does their level of effort and concentration on tasks match a hectic eight-hour workday?
• Do they work without supervision or nagging (yours, or the teacher's)?
• Do they exhibit work-appropriate "adult" language and behavior?
• Could they enter a legal contract with a sharp, tough-minded business owner?

They will need to meet those expectations to get hired and survive at work!
How did you answer? How well does your child stack up?

OK, maybe your kid is "exemplary." Think about their friends; or your neighbor kids. They are supposed to be "career ready" also. Look at my questions again. Are they all career-ready? Would they all get hired, or keep their jobs?

My Standards Too High? Some parents (and many teachers) will complain that students are "too young and immature" to meet my "adult-work" standards. They'll say: "You can't start expecting that until they graduate." (Oh, that's great -- it won't be the school's problem!) That means most students will lag behind the few most employable grads. Do you want your child to hang with the laggards? They'll have lots of company and competition!

Schools don't Meet Workplace Demands
Few high school courses emphasize work-appropriate "adult" language, customer service, workplace expectations, contracts, or self-supervised work. Most students can learn to do those things. They can interact with adults. They can read and analyze contracts. High school students CAN meet those standards if they are asked, taught, and expected to meet them! (But relatively few classes expect them.)

Why is there a disconnect? Because schools aren't designed to emulate the work world. Students don't have to compete to get education. It's free, and guaranteed to all. Students get lots of help from adults, theoretically in equal amounts. Schools try to give all students "equal" opportunity. In fact, some teachers have told me they want "all their students" to be "winners!" (Me: "Well, why is there only one teacher in front of your class? What happened to the other adults who interviewed for your teaching job?") The teacher's all-too-common mindset sends the wrong message about the real world to the students.

Harsh Reality
All that "help and guarantee" talk stops when students graduate from high school. All those well-paid adults will no longer help them. Nobody owes the Grad anything. The Grad's value is based on what they can exchange with others. In the work world, not everybody gets hired. There is no guarantee of a job, a raise, or a promotion ... unless the Grad can out-compete other applicants.

Some colleges try to continue the fiction of "guarantees" by admitting "everybody" who wants to attend. (Michelle Obama's "Better Make Room" initiative implies -- from its name -- that people can or should "demand" entry to college: https://www.bettermakeroom.org/.)  Nonetheless, many universities, special programs, graduate programs, medical programs and law schools remain very competitive and exclusive. Some crowded, "impacted" institutions are getting choosier. For several years, my alma mater C.S.U., Fresno has wisely turned away students with below-satisfactory GPAs, shunting them to Community College to prove they can "handle" college. Many scholarships (including athletics) are still very competitive.

Confusing Academic Success with Employability

You may protest: "My kid has straight As" ....

Well, grades aren't always a reliable indicator of career readiness. Many teachers are pressured to inflate grades to keep the "graduation rate" high. Many lessons involve time-wasters like repetition or classwork below grade level. (If you don't believe that, see The Opportunity Myth in "The New Teacher Project" | website https://tntp.org).

My former school created a "low rigor" chemistry class so students with poor math skills could "get credit" without having those skills! (I spoke against the proposal in Curriculum Council. Not all parents realize it's substandard.) In high school classes you still see "fill-in-the-blank" lessons and study guides -- where the students aren't even writing with complete sentences! I have found [what I consider] many middle school- or elementary-level assignments left behind in my high school's copy room! In many cases, the teacher or textbook is doing most of the thinking or writing!

I have struggled to find supposed “A” students entering my class that have the mindset to be hired.  Why is that?  First, schools train students to be passive. The student shows up, the teacher tells them what they need to learn, and how to do it.  The student has almost no freedom of initiative, nor are they trained to take initiative, nor required to do so.  The student will need initiative to get hired, however.

Additionally, the teacher is required to take responsibility, telling the student to get to work, often nagging them to stay on task. (Most schools call that classroom management or "good teaching.")  But employers are not babysitters.  They do NOT want to hire someone they must stand over and "nag" to work.

My Local District

My local school district produces television commercials claiming ALL their graduates are college-ready and career-ready. Do you really believe that? All of them? Do you think all students are equally anything-ready? Maybe every kid at your high school all has straight As, but not in my town!
The District defines career-ready as: "A career-ready graduate is a student who has all possible options available to them ... and has acquired the workplace skills and competencies necessary for success after high school."

Let's dissect the statement. A student needs to identify the best career options, not "all possible options" (an equal opportunity reference). The "workplace skills and competencies necessary for success" will vary by career. How can they guarantee that if they don't cater to all careers? Delivering those skills is up to the "interpretation" of individual teachers, and they will be few guidelines in non-pathway careers. (The pictured Profile also mentions "fluff" descriptor words that are general, undefined, and not career-specific.)

What allows my school district to claim all students are career-ready?  They have every child view packaged online video "lessons" that supposedly boost their “emotional intelligence” (only one factor in employment, but it's not sufficient for success). It's an expensive, "canned" approach that allows the district to "check off" career readiness.

Teachers have shown me some of those videos and the content therein. They are NOT a substitute for real career assessment and planning. (Also, the amount of career readiness and preparation varies widely between the district's different high school campuses; with some sites more focused on entrepreneurship or particular career pathways.)
---------------------
Call to Action
"Outsmarting College" means you and your child need to form some career ideas to determine if college is required.
College is an expensive way to find out your child:

1. Didn't need the degree
2. Couldn't finish the degree (with lots of debt; or less retirement $ for you)
3. Can't find a job in their major
4. Hate the career resulting from the degree
5. Can't succeed because they lack skills or aptitudes not teachable by "classes."

Each of the above "stages" has probabilities, not guarantees! Many high school graduates fail in one of those five critical areas. If you're thinking about throwing a lot of tuition money at college without some thought to career plans and probabilities, you're putting lots of money on a poor bet. If you're independently wealthy and don't care, have a nice day!

If you're NOT independently wealthy, stay tuned!
What should a parent do to rectify this lack of Career Readiness in high schools? Outsmart College and the Contribution Project will provide the answers!

Stay tuned for the next post, "What is REAL Career-Prep?"
If you are interested in REAL career prep for your child, contact me NOW!

Finally! Someone is on Your Side.

• Are you a parent that is expected to pay thousands for your child’s college?
• Are you worried that college won’t “give” your child a guaranteed career?
• Do you want the highest probability that your child gets the best career benefit from college?

Then this blog is for you!

About You.  Yes, you!
If you were attracted to this blog, I can make a few assumptions about you. 
(Which of the following apply to you?)

• You are a parent.
• You are concerned with the high cost of college
• If you’re paying for college, your child has an obligation not to waste your investment.
• You hope your child’s college education will result in a self-supporting career.
• You know that education or knowledge alone does not make a person employable or successful in a career.
• You believe the high cost of college demands a degree with a higher-paying career.
• You are a strategic thinker. You think ahead and research your options.
• (Or you are a teacher or counselor that believes in a more balanced and parent-friendly consideration of the investment in college education!)

More Importantly, you hate your ENEMIES. Who are they?

• You hate to waste money. (After all, college is expensive.)
• You don’t mind helping -- but don’t want to feel “used.”
• You resent the college-brainwashing that indoctrinates students.
• You would hate to pay for an expensive education that leaves your child unemployed -- and leave you supporting them!
• The “College Establishment” expects you to pay (and line their pockets with high salaries).
• You fear Politically-Correct college indoctrination.

The education establishment will not like what I have to say. They won't like my suggestions that you take control of discussions about college finance with your child.
Nobody cares about your Financial problems or concerns.
When it comes to college, there is nobody on your side … until now.

Here are some prompts to get you thinking:

• What is the maximum you expect to spend on your children’s college?
• What conditions MUST you have before agreeing to college funding?
• Do you have a “horror story” about wasted college, dubious degrees, no job in the degree, failure to obtain a degree, etc.?
• What college situation or outcome would make you feel used?

Please post a comment, or email me your story. (Is your story lengthy? Email me and we can
set up a call.) My email is normgus@gmail.com.