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That
there is much greater demand today than there ever before was for
those who have done business courses is a truism. But it is doubtful
if the memorandum has correctly pinpointed the difference between
the treatment meted out to products of Mira Vista College and those
of Green Mountain College by prospective employers. It is facile
to assume that just because the Green Mountain College has more
business courses and more job counselors than does Mira Vista College,
90 per cent of last year's graduating seniors from the former had
job offers from prospective employers. It is not just the number
of courses that matters. More important is their quality. Prospective
employers test the candidates before deciding whether or not they
fit the bill. So, although the memorandum does not talk about it,
is it not possible that the standard of teaching business courses
is higher in Green Mountain College than that at Mira Vista College?
This doubt is buttressed by the admission that at Mira Vista College
last year only 70 per cent of the seniors who informed the placement
office that they would be seeking employment had found full-time
jobs within three months after graduation, and only half of these
graduates were employed in their major field of study.
Several inferences can legitimately be drawn from these few facts.
First, only 70 per cent of the seniors who informed the placement
office that they would be seeking employment had found full-time
jobs within three months of graduation because the rest of the aspirants
were clearly below par and, therefore, did not qualify for jobs.
Second, if only half of those who found employment were employed
in their major field of study, it shows that the fields of study
at the Mira Vista College are not suitably graded to the requirements
of employers. Third, it is no less clear that the job counselors
at Mira Vista College, however few they may have been, did not prepare
properly such seniors as had intimated the placement office of their
desire to seek employment. As such, the suggestion in the memo that
augmentation of the strength of job counselors in Mira Vista College
might help improve the situation is clearly optimistic.
The suggestion that Mira Vista College should introduce more courses
in business and computer technology to help more of its students
find jobs on leaving college has merit. But the standard of education
and the quality of teaching of these subjects are more important
than the number of business courses introduced. Modern-day employers
want only the best staff. The weak must go to the wall. Competition,
be that in the commercial world or in the job market, has become
more intense than it ever before was. In other words, the degree
of expertise acquired by a candidate in his field of study is as
important as, if not more important than, the course he has studied.
In short, the best has become the enemy of the good, and good has
no place in today's commercial world.
At
such a time, what Mira Vista College evidently needs is not augmentation
of the counseling staff but appointment of competent staff for imparting
the right counseling to the students. If the present set of counselors
had given the right tips to the students on how to prepare their
resumes and face interviews, maybe at least a few of the 30 per
cent not considered by prospective employers would have landed jobs.
Similarly, a thorough study would seem to be needed by the college
to find out the requirements of prospective employers. That should
not be difficult considering that, against the 90 per cent of graduating
seniors from Green Mountain College lapped up by prospective employers,
70 per cent of their counterparts from Mira Vista College landed
jobs within three months of graduation.
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