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SALT LAKE CITY — A new report shows that recent graduates are too lax and unprepared for life in the workforce. It also says they're lacking professionalism at work. So, what's going wrong?
The study from Business Insider highlights a lot of problems plaguing recent college graduates.
What's the deal? Are recent college grads less respectful than previous generations? Professional Recruiters President Lora Lea Mock doesn't think so.
"We're probably preparing kids for the core skills. We're not preparing them for the soft skills," Mock said.
Mock believes young adults are just not getting the business advice people received years ago. They're learning all about the science, math and literature they'll need to perform the jobs they're applying for, but, they're not being taught how to prepare for a job interview or how to act during that interview.
• 83 percent excessively use social media.
• 78 percent use the internet inappropriately at work.
• 40 percent show up for a job interview wearing inappropriate attire.
• 29 percent are late for the interview.
"The job doesn't always go to the best qualified," Mock said. "It, more often than not, goes to the one who really connects with the interviewer or is better prepared."
As for the excessive use of texts or social media, Mock says these tools have become a natural part of a young adult's life.
"Most companies are not going to get upset about a couple of texts a day. But, if someone is sitting there all day long texting, when they're supposed to be phone calls or whatever they're supposed to be doing, of course, that's going to be a problem."
She believes more needs to be done to teach high school and college students about the consequences of using social media. She says many of them aren't aware that posting pictures of themselves attending a lot of parties may make employers hesitant to hire them.
