This is not a new issue, but to some business owners who have tight ties to their college alumni, fraternity or sorority are finding deciding on who to hire brings on pressure to make the wrong decision.
The Business of Universities
The secret world of unwritten rules and policies set up by colleges around the country was created for self preservation. It is no secret most Universities need large piles of money to stay a float. Recruiting and then graduating students is the business plan of a learning institution. To keep the cash flowing colleges have to shore up the back end of this plan colleges and universities pressure previous graduates of hiring current graduates. With this near guarantee of a graduate getting a job when they graduate helps with the recruitment of students to sign on to go to the school there.
Simply put, getting alumni to hire graduates keeps the pump running. However, the question remains: If there are no jobs for a college student to take after spending several years of their lives and tons of money then what is the point of them going to college?
Repeating History of Economy
As history shows, through out the modern times of commercialism there are economic peaks and valleys. The frequency of the down turn in the economy and number of depressions occurring since the early 1900’s is bases on how fast technology is changing the way business is run. The time between economic upturns and recessions is getting shorter in recent years.
Over the past 50 years a recession occurred on average every 10 years. In the past ten years that cycle is shortening to being every 7 years. Indications are that the cycle will move to 3 years if the course the economy is on continues.
This means depending on when a college student began their college career the outcome once they get through to graduation is not predictable. The rule of thumb use to be that if a college student began their freshman year at the bottom of a recession that by the time they graduated the economy would be on the up turn and jobs would be plentiful.
Unfortunately, the cycles and flows of the economy over the past five years has not panned out to be as predictable. So, for the college students who started school in 2005 or 2006 who are now graduating with Bachelor or Masters degrees in 2009 to 2012 are entering the same, if not worst, economy and job market as when they started college.
This fast cycle of economy roller coasting is forcing colleges to crank up the pressure on previous graduates to hire recent graduates so they can stay in business. Those alumni who crank under pressure usually are the business owners who starting to sail through the economy top heavy with people who do not know how to row the boat or bail water…but can write a 50 page essay on it.
Salty Dogs Rule
As the economy turns downward the businesses who survived the climb to the top are starting to shed what they feel is dead weight..the older workers. This is flooding the market with battle proven veterans of the economic turn around. Many of these highly trained agents of ‘Change’ will start their own projects and others will find work for other projects. The fact remains true today the experienced workers can produce twice as much as those coming out of grad school and can react faster than the college educated. This makes these valued workers a huge commodity for businesses trying to keep from hitting the bottom.
So, why aren’t the companies who are needing help with turning their business around hiring the more mature, more productive workplace veterans?
There seems to be a greater debt to be paid by those who graduate from a university and take on a position in a company of responsibility. The bill for that debt comes from their colleges in the form of pressure to hire their under classmates. Whether the pressure is in the form of peer pressure or some political wrangling the universities can push towards not purchasing goods or services from the grads who do not hire their alumni.
Of course those who hire their alumni will defend they are hiring the best and the colleges will never admit to them pressuring anyone. Why would they admit it..its working for them and for them is all that counts.
Whatever, in today’s economy, those businesses who stick to their loyalty to their Alma Mater could be causing problems which result in them shoring up their company’s future. The economy today is based on different dynamics of a mixture of cultural and financial frictions. Having when a business has someone on the team who knows when to duck and when to issue direct fire to keep a business afloat will be the businesses who survive.
What would be the perfect solution for these business owners is to hire both groups of qualified business people and have the veteran mentor the newbie college grads. This spreads the experience to the next generation quicker and sets up a solid economic foundation for the business.
Standing around the office coffee pot singing the school fight song is not going to make a business productive. Sitting around a meeting table absorbing tactics and strategies from an experienced team member will pay off enough for the business the entire company can attend the alumni’s school golf tournament.
If you are hiring the best thing to remember is to look for experience first and then go for someone with education if there is no experience available. In today’s economy this is a good direction to take.
Let me know how I an help.
