Why College Should Include Practical Career Training, Not Just Academics.
At The Institute, career development happens alongside biblical education and volunteer and missionary service, giving students a wide variety of exposure to areas of work or ministry, and helping them make a realistic future career choice supported by a “multitude of counselors” (Prov. 15:22).
When college doesn’t match the real world, regret ensues.
For a student fresh out of high school, the excitement of college life may have them dreaming about all the wrong things. Even if your priorities are in order, as a young person, you can be susceptible to idealism sweeping you off of your feet, keeping you from considering the reality associated with the education you are pursuing. Choosing a degree is a big choice. For some, it may come too early when you haven’t yet had enough life experience to know how to consider a lifelong occupation. While many people have regrets about decisions they made in college, one would hope it’d be limited to a wacky style or an unfortunate haircut, not the degree you went there for. Unfortunately that’s not the case.
According to Payscale, around 66% of graduates have regrets concerning their college education. One of the biggest categories leading to regret revolved around students’ area of focus (major). Every fresh graduate dreams of getting the job they want with a high enough salary to make the years of college education worth it. Unfortunately, for most graduates, they don’t get the job they want, because they don’t know themselves well enough to forecast it effectively, then they spend more time and money on further education. Another survey by Pew Research reported up to 29% of graduates felt as though they would have been better prepared for their desired job if they had chosen a different major. Deciding on a major can be difficult, but experience and honest mentors can help students get a better idea of what major may be good for them. (The Institute provides both.)
So you’re not a “desk person.” Learning that during your college experience, rather than after, will save you time and money from pursuing a second degree when you figure out what kind of person you are.
Even a “Bad” Experience Can Save You Time and Money.
Mistakes don’t always have to be our teachers. While hindsight is 20/20, we should aim to have enough vision and forethought to hurdle any potentially regretful experiences. Of course that is easier said than done. Despite your best efforts to research the “perfect” degree, you may still lack the hands-on experience to know if it's the right fit for you. Often students choose a major during a time in life when they are still learning who they are and what they are capable of. It may even be a few years down the road before they get some on the job training. By that time, they may already be neck deep in a degree they may regret. This is one of the reasons career training should be integrated into an undergrad program from the start.
If the career experience make clear that something isn’t the right path for you, it’s still good news, because you can check that job off your list of future possibilities and adjust accordingly. All too often, career or on the job training only comes when it is too late. This is what leads so many college graduates to re-enroll in a path of study they now know works for them. When career training is integrated in the college experience, you can walk across the stage confident in your degree, and with multiple years of experience under your belt.
Receiving education and experience simultaneously helps to solidify the knowledge through the training, and the training allows for better analysis and understanding of the knowledge received. Meaning, those who do both at once benefit more than those who get the book knowledge detached from experience and then get busy with work, forgetting a good portion of what they had learned. Colleges that focus purely on academics, but neglect the importance of practical on-the-job training, may be hindering their students’ future careers.
The above highlight video showcases work filmed and edited by video technicians who are students at The Institute for G.O.D. While getting a biblical education, students are also working jobs that develop their skills before graduation. The result: 100% of our grads are guaranteed jobs before they graduation.
You Cannot Afford to Go to a College Without a Career Development Trajectory.
Pew Research reported the biggest regret most graduates had was not getting enough career training experience as an undergrad. They believed this was what held them back the most from reaching the job they wanted. Employers do not want to take the risk of hiring a fresh college graduate with no experience. They lack the time it takes to hone their hard and soft skills, as well as the credentials and references to vouch for their potential worth to the company. This is why many graduates first consider internships after graduating in hopes of improving their network and resume. But what if you didn’t need to?
Take Blake for example. Blake has been getting viable work experience as a junior video technician for nearly 3 years. In this third year of college, he’s already had experience filming Nateland - comedian Nate Bargatze’s podcast, Dinner and Conversations with Mark Lowry, and other exclusive interviews. More than that, he’s got a job waiting for him when he graduates, and it shouldn’t be hard to determine where: the place he’s been working during his time as an undergrad. This is why undergrad programs who have career training from the beginning are where you should be.
At the Institute for G.O.D., students have the opportunity to work for a number of reputable companies who share the value of early career development. The biblical education students receive combined with the jobs they work creates a dynamic which prepares the student for the professional world. Early career training should be an integral part of higher education institutions which desire to see their graduates flourish in the workplace.
For more information on career development at the Institute for G.O.D., check out the webpage here.
SOURCES:
“The Rising Cost of Not Going to College.” The Pew Research Center. 11 Feb. 2014 (Site visited: 9 February 2022).
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2014/02/11/the-rising-cost-of-not-going-to-college/
Raouna, Kyriaki. “Top 10 Biggest Regrets of College Students.” CareerAddict.com. 30 October 2015 (site visited: 9 Feb. 2022).
https://www.careeraddict.com/top-10-biggest-regrets-of-college-students
Gruver, Jackson. “Biggest College Regrets.” Payscale.com. 25 June 2019. (site visited: 9 Feb. 2022). https://www.payscale.com/research-and-insights/biggest-college-regrets/
“Top 3 Reasons Why Fresh Graduates Do Not Get Hired.” JobStreet.com. 5 October 2021. (site visited: 9 Feb. 2022)
Clark Miller works as a missionary with G.O.D. South East Asia, and trained at the Institute for G.O.D. Clark manages Tahanan Community Center where he oversees youth empowerment efforts and facilitates programs and Bible studies with our local team.