Schools Prime Next Generation for Steady Jobs

While the job market continues to adapt to the current economic conditions, educators and workers are trying to figure out how to prepare for careers that will provide them with a steady income. Monster Worldwide Inc. offers tips, advice and training to walk them through their decisions, and as the director of strategic sales, Andy Vaughan helps spread the word about the company’s educational efforts. 

How has the job market changed in the current economy?

The way I look at it is that there is no national economy; there are a bunch of regional economies, and so you have to look at these regional economies independently and more holistically. Some regions are actually doing very well, and some are clearly struggling because the economic basis on which they were operating, such as automotive manufacturing plants, is clearly changing — if not shutting down completely.

In a lot of those places, the workforce needs to become better aware of how to get a job in this current market. The Internet changes a lot of things, and the rules of the game are different now than they were when a lot of these people found their last job 20 years ago. They also need, perhaps, to have additional training and skills to actually perform some of the jobs that are emerging in the new economy.

What kinds of jobs are in demand?

I can’t sit here and tell you on a national level what kinds of jobs are really in demand. What we can do is help a region to identify what their talent pool looks like and identify skills, talent surpluses and talent deficits, and use that to invest in training and curriculum modifications.

What kinds of skills will students need to land a good job?

If I was going to summarize that, I would say initiative, problem solving and teamwork.

What are some of the challenges that educators face as they try to prepare students for careers?

The biggest challenge I see is having a curriculum that is flexible enough to meet the needs of the various students going through the programs, and responsive enough to meet the needs of the local employers and the industrial sectors that are going to be hiring in a region. The most innovative places that I’ve been exposed to recently are the ones that have a curriculum that enables different people to acquire the skills and the background that they need to prepare them to enter the workforce at the right point.

What advice would you give to students who are graduating high school or college and looking for a job?

Be creative and persistent. Don’t pigeonhole yourself too much because the more constraints you put on your job search, the less likely you are to be successful.