Last month, news burst that a group of wealthy parents were paying extravagant sums of money to cheat the college application system and get their children into top schools. The scandal and the surrounding sense of eligibility raise doubts among some employers as to whether a university degree is still a good sign that a young person will be a good employee.
Yes, this story has exposed some unscrupulous people involved in college admissions, but that doesn’t mean you should lose confidence in colleges and their abilities to prepare students for work. In fact, deciding not to accept college students can harm your organization.
Here are four reasons why you should still value college degrees:
1. This is not common.
Let us be clear: the 50 people accused in this scandal were wrong. Parents and university employees broke the law to circumvent the system. But this situation is not the norm. It is 50 people out of hundreds of thousands involved in college admissions.
For 99.9 percent of college students, they have to prove their merits to get into college. College applications follow various factors for this very reason. The decision is not made solely on the basis of test results or extracurricular activities, and applicants must demonstrate a range of skills to get a place.
2. It’s really about the road.
When college students start looking for a job, they are evaluated based on their performance, just like everyone else. It doesn’t matter how they got into college, if they don’t get the grades and skills that employers need, they won’t be hired. This is what college is all about, learning and constantly growing, and the admission process determines whether graduates meet expectations.
If you’re worried that unskilled or undeserved college students will end up in your company, reconsider your hiring process. Take a look at the screens you’re using to see how they can enable a claim. For example, are you actively recruiting college students from lower-income backgrounds? Do you have a diversity and inclusion policy in place? These strategies will give you the confidence that you have hired graduates to get an education.
3. It’s not fair to college students who have earned a fleck.
When employers doubt the quality of the qualifications of a few graduates, especially all the qualifications of higher education institutions, it harms hard-working students. A fantastically qualified graduate will not be fairly evaluated if you develop a bias towards higher education.
Instead of being vigilant towards graduates of certain schools, judge each candidate individually. Give each graduate a fair chance to shine and show everything they have achieved. One way to do this is to ask specific questions during the interview. See how young job seekers have come to know the importance of hard work. Candidates who had to prove that they deserved a chance will have detailed stories of how they coped with the challenges on their own.
4. Young talent is of high value to organizations.
For the most part, all companies benefit from the infusion of fresh blood. It improves innovation and brings new perspectives that lead to better problem solving. If you are more cautious about younger talents and their qualifications, your organization will stagnate.
During the hiring process, introduce a common problem in your company to college graduates and find out what they have to say about it. This will give you an idea of how they think and how qualified they are. Encourage them to offer suggestions so you can start imagining what they can bring to your company.
The college admissions scandal was shocking. There is no doubt about that. However, employers will not allow this to shake their faith in the quality and importance of higher education. College students work hard to get into school and then proceed to prove themselves. After graduation, they deserve fair attention when looking for a job.
