It’s frustrating to emerge from college with your hard earned degree in hand – eager to put it to good use – only to have door after corporate door slammed in your face. But that’s the reality today’s recent graduates are facing, and some are handling it better than others.
Trina Thompson, a recent graduate of Monroe College in the Bronx, is attempting to sue her Alma Mater for what she deemed as failure to live up to their end of the bargain by not securing her a job in the IT industry promptly upon graduation. She told CNN, “They’re supposed to say, ‘I got this student, her attendance is good, her GPA is all right — can you interview this person?’ They’re not doing that.”
Monroe College, Bronx NY
Thompson also accuses the school of giving special treatment to certain types of students. White students? Rich students? Minority students? Uh…no. ”They favor more toward students that got a 4.0. They help them more out with the job placement,” she said.
It isn’t the school that tells the companies which students to hire Miss Thompson. Companies have an obligation to their stakeholders – not to mention the employees who work for them – an obligation not to place people in positions who are unable to cope with reality. While you feel discriminated against based on your grades, I am willing to bet it was your attitude that repelled recruiters more effectively than a bad case of B.O.
In fact, many companies look for students who are well-rounded and who have adequate GPA’s – not GPA superstars. Several students’ GPA’s suffer while they work part and full-time jobs to get experience in their chosen fields.
Recruiters want students with drive, a can-do attitude, and tenacity. Three months out of school and your solution to unemployment during one of the worst recessions in U.S. history is to sue your school? You have almost guaranteed yourself a permanent place in the unemployment line.
A better alternative would’ve been to start working with the Career Center about six-months before graduation. You would have been able to research the companies most likely to hire someone with your newly acquired IT skills. Then you could have set up informational interviews, met people currently working at the companies you found most appealing, and networked your way to an appropriate entry-level job.
Her mother, who apparently supports her daughters decision to sue the school for approximately $70,000 in tuition costs, is quoted in the New York Post as saying, “This is not the way we want to live our life. This is not what we planned.”
Hmm…it rained a few days ago when I had planned to take my daughter to the beach. The weather app on my iPhone didn’t show any rain…can I sue Steve Jobs?
