The Story of You: It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the various paths that college students have taken to get a job in their desired field after graduation. Many factors go into preparing a student for the post-graduation job market and this thesis investigates this topic through the lens of post-graduates and job recruiters. This thesis begins by giving a brief overview of how the application process has changed within the last ten years, and where it is headed in the future. Our motivation for this research came from the lack of transparency in the application process. We hypothesized that a student's undergraduate experience and connections were the key to getting a job within their desired career path. Through interviews and research from graduated students and recruiters, our hypothesis was proved accurate. There is currently a big disconnect between what students believe is important and what recruiters are looking for in potential employees. The main purpose of this thesis is to try and bridge that gap. Students often lack confidence and struggle to understand what is important when applying for jobs post-graduation. With this data, we hope to outline crucial steps that need to be taken and make students feel more prepared as they enter the professional world. We have included personal stories that highlight the variety of successful paths that can be taken to starting a career. Interviewees advised students not to get discouraged while applying, push for what you want and prove your potential to recruiters. The goal of this thesis is to give undergraduate college students hope as they go through the application process in finding the right career path for them.
Date Created
The date the item was original created (prior to any relationship with the ASU Digital Repositories.)
2020-05
Agent
- Co-author: Hurley, Sydney
- Co-author: Brown, Paige
- Co-author: Thompson, Elise
- Thesis director: Eaton, John
- Committee member: Lee, Christopher
- Contributor (ctb): Department of Marketing
- Contributor (ctb): Department of Marketing
- Contributor (ctb): Barrett, The Honors College