Editorial: Communicate, get hired

If there is one thing we supposedly learn well in college, it is the art of interviewing.

Advice on interviewing bombards us on a daily basis, providing hints on how to succeed. We have to dress professionally, remain courteous and answer questions honestly and effectively. And of course, we can’t forget to ask for a business card to send a thank-you note.

The trouble is, all this information isn’t doing us much good in the actual workplace. Employers, it seems, just aren’t that into us.

According to a recent report by The Chronicle of Higher Education and American Public Media’s “Marketplace,” about half of employers are having difficulty finding qualified graduates. Amidst the reports of underemployment and Ph.D.s who only find work as janitors, many comfortable job openings sit unfilled.

But the problem isn’t as simple as a skill mismatch. Not every company is looking for engineers and advanced computer scientists. Most simply need competent workers. In general, completing four years of schooling to achieve a goal should be enough to convince an employer you can complete assignments and meet goals.

Instead, the problem comes largely from poor interview skills. A full two-thirds of respondents to the survey said recent college graduates need to improve in this area.

Given the ample assistance available to students through most universities — especially Pitt, whose Office of Career Development and Placement Assistance is among the top 20 career-service providers in the nation, according to the Princeton Review — this seems odd. We are all constantly told how to interview properly.

But an example in the report shows that the advice we are getting might not be enough. When an interviewer asked one student about the origins of a project idea involving a game, the student responded: “We had requirements on what we had to have in the game, and then from there we just threw around ideas.”

To the consumer of cheap interview advice, this was a satisfactory answer. It was polite, it addressed the problem and seemed to suggest some structure.

The employer, however was not impressed. While the student did answer the question on the surface, he did not answer it in a way meaningful to the employer.

Businesses, after all, are looking for people to actually complete projects, not just go through the motions. So when the student responded that he threw around ideas, he missed an opportunity to actually show how he facilitated this discussion. What techniques did he employ? Did he need to encourage someone to contribute?

These are the problems that companies are actually looking for employees to address. As students, it is our responsibility to understand this and learn how to effectively communicate to potential bosses in an articulate, meaningful way.

This is hard work. Effective communication, especially about complicated work patterns, is a task not easily gained. But if thousands of jobs sit unclaimed, your future may just depend on it.