Study: Professionalism down among graduates

College graduates do not display as much professionalism as is expected in the work place, a study conducted in August at York College of Pennsylvania found. The majority of employers surveyed explained that the recent crop of college graduates entering the work force arrive with an unprofessional attitude.
Among the over 500 employers surveyed, most said they find recent graduates lack the ability to act independently, accept personal responsibility for their actions and decisions and have a clear sense of direction. Dress code violations were also named as a main detractor from professionalism.      
The study defined professionalism as being related to a worker’s appearance, traits and attitude. Researchers surveyed human resource professionals and community and business leaders to determine what attributes they desire in a professional employee, according to the study.
Scott Weighart, Northeastern’s senior co-op coordinator for the College of Business Administration, said he has recently heard more complaints from employers about the abuse of Facebook, Twitter, iPhones and Blackberrys.
“These things are wonderful toys and do great things but are such temptations to young adults,” Weighart said. “They can’t cut the umbilical cord from their device and they think ‘well I do my homework and I text or email while doing homework and I’m an A student,’ but it’s different when someone’s paying you an hourly salary.”
The study found that one of the most common behaviors attributed to new college graduates is concern about opportunities for advancement. Yet, that quality is one that is least important to employers, according to the study.
Weighart said he has noticed this trend to be on the rise.
“I’ve heard from some of our biggest employers that they’ve had trouble at times with hiring young professionals who are more interested in trying to get their raise than in just doing the things, ironically, that will lead them to get them the raise,” Weighart said.
The research found that employers would like colleges to better prepare their students and correct these problems before their graduates enter the work force. Northeastern’s co-op program attempts to prepare its students to combat these common complaints from employers, Weighart said.
“I think part of it is because we attract students to this school that want to work. They came here knowing in many cases they would be required to go on co-op and that didn’t scare them away,” Weighart said.
Matthew Webber, a middler physics and mathematics major, said he has noticed the lack of conservative and neat dress of working graduates and students.
“It seems like the last few years have seen a lot more casual dress in the workplace, but it depends on your tasks within the company and on that day. Most people look nice when they know they will need to,”  Webber said.
Ryan Miling, a senior computer science and mathematics dual major, said he agreed that many students feel they can dress however they want.
“Personally, I have felt that I work best when I am more at ease and loosely dressed,” Miling said.
Miling said he has found his experiences on co-op helpful in his attitude towards professionalism.
“Through my last co-op and my current one I was able to put together the dos and dont’s. You have to really be living in the house before you understand the atmosphere,” Miling said.
Weighart said in the College of Business Administration, half the co-op preparation course is about professional behavior; everything from what differentiates a great performer from a not-so great-one, and what are the common pitfalls that people run in to such as not being on time to work every day and managing their expectations.