Marquette's Applied Investment Management (AIM) program was established as a direct response to issues raised in this article.
The AIM program began in 2005 to provide applied experiences to support the concepts taught in the classroom. Since then over 200 undergraduate students have participated in the investment management program. Our alumni can be found in leading investment companies throughout the country - and the world. As the first undergraduate partner with the CFA Institute, we take pride in our students' successful placements and our high CFA exam pass rates. In 2014 we added our second track: Private Equity & Banking. Please feel free to contact us at: aim@marquette.edu.
Ben Carpenter is the vice chairman of CRT Capital Group and
the author of “The Bigs: The Secrets
Nobody Tells Students and Young Professionals.” This article appeared as an
op-ed in the September 1, 2014, New York Times
under the headline: Is Your Student Prepared for Life?
As 16 million young adults set off for college this fall,
they are looking at some frightening statistics. Despite the ever-rising cost
of getting a degree, one number stands out like a person shouting in a campus
library: According to a recent poll conducted by AfterCollege, an online
entry-level job site, 83 percent of college seniors graduated without a job
this spring. Even when these young people finally do get jobs, the positions
are often part time, low wage or not related to their career interests. The
problem isn’t the quality of higher education in the United States, so what’s
missing?
Two years ago, in a full-blown panic, I asked myself this
exact question when I realized that my eldest daughter, a recent college
graduate, had no idea what the world was about to demand of her. She had gone
to a good school and done well as a student, but had never thought about her
future in a structured way, and I realized what she was missing — an education
in career training.
While “career training” may sound vague, if done properly it
is straightforward and teaches how to get, and succeed at, a job. At most colleges
this training falls under the purview of Career Services; however, there is a
major disconnect between many students and this department. Earlier this year,
a consulting firm, Millennial Branding, surveyed over 4,000 students and found
that 61 percent said Career Services was “never” or “rarely” effective in
helping them land a job.
So what can be done to make certain these young adults are
being prepared for life post-graduation? The answer is simple: Colleges need to
create, and require for graduation, a course in career training that would
begin freshman year and end senior year.
Career training must start early because getting students to
decide what job they want — and teaching them how to thoroughly research that
job, get internships and conduct a job search for a full-time position — is not
a quick or easy task. This course would ask students to consider their skills
and interests. What are they good at? What do they like to do? Then students
would be taught how to thoroughly research the industries and jobs that utilize
their talents. The best way to do this is by arranging dozens of one-on-one
informational interviews with contacts generated from family, friends and their
school’s alumni database.
In these interviews they would learn if the jobs they are
pursuing are right for them, and they would make contacts to help them
eventually land a good job.
One liberal arts school, Connecticut College, offers
substantial financial incentives to students who participate in its
career-training program, and most students participate. One year after
graduation, 96 percent of all Connecticut College alumni report that they are
employed or in graduate school. Not surprisingly, this program has become a
major selling point for the school.
Career training is also an issue of equal opportunity. Some
students receive advice and professional contacts at home, but some receive
nothing. Comprehensive career-training would help level the playing field.
Back in the day, I received little career training in
college and that was consistent with everyone I knew — regardless of where they
went to school. However, the world today has become so competitive and global
that we must provide our children with high-quality career training as a bridge
from college to the work world.
