Ignore Your Grads Needs and THEY WILL Ignore YOURS!

Adopt a First-Year GRAD Experience program to help grads transition from their academic life to their corporate career.

When I saw research Gary Toyn, engagement and loyalty consultant, at AlumniAccess shared with the alumni community that showed 83 percent of the colleges they surveyed sent at least one solicitation for contributions to graduates soon after they received their diplomas, I was shocked! (nearly 30 percent sent three or more solicitations)

While the development department might think that's a great way to start to build engagement with recent grads-- ask ANY grad and they will tell you --that it poisons any opportunity the alumni associations might have to engage them!

Instead of soliciting grads for contributions as soon as they graduate, why not take a different tack and INVEST in their careers?

Here's how!

Your college has a unique opportunity to build a stronger relationship with recent grads by adopting a First-Year GRAD Experience program. Your FYGE program would offer graduates career coaching, information on career exploration, career planning, career management and share the latest job search techniques and strategies to help them transition from college to their corporate life.

There is a precedent for this program.

Your college probably has a First-Year Experience (FYE) program.

The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition was founded over three decades ago at the University of South Carolina by John Gardner to advance and support efforts to help students transition from high school to college. I got involved in the program nearly 25 years ago when I was promoting the use of photo business cards as a way for students to meet, remember each other’s names, and network with more students. The goal was to use business cards as a way to help students develop more friends so they would be less likely to drop out in the critical first six weeks.

The FYE program has been recognized for increasing retention, graduation rates, and the number of students that graduate on time. Because the program increases revenue, the program has been well funded!

The SAME students who benefited from your First-Year Experience program need help to transition from college to their first professional job.

While your graduating seniors are academically among the smartest generation in the history of mankind, many are clueless on how to manage the job search process, handle personal finances, acclimate and blend into corporate culture, report to a boss, and work with a group of colleagues. The majority of employers in dozens of surveys have complained that recent grads do not have a fundamental understanding of the importance of:

• arriving to work on time.
• completing assignments on time without being reminded.
• dressing appropriately.

...and worse, surveys show managers don't think they have the critical soft skills, (teamwork, ethics, communication, problem-solving, creative thinking, and writing) that will make them productive employees!

Grads are unprepared for their first professional job search!

According to research by the National Association of College and Employers over 61 percent of graduating seniors will either NEVER visit the career center or only visit once or twice. Without critical job search skills, the average grad will take nearly eight months to land a job (losing $4,000 in salary per month)

Career center staff know there is a problem. A survey by the Career Advisory Board of nearly 600 career directors found that:

• 48.1% thought students did not have the knowledge they needed to find jobs.
• 55.7% felt students’ resumes were not professional enough to use for their job searches.

The facts and stats are undeniable and are begging for a solution. You can take the first step to fix something that has plagued your career center for decades and stunted the careers and salaries of recent grads for decades by adopting a First-Year GRAD Experience program.

Your alumni association and career center could collaborate on a program that will provide a ramped up, post-graduation career support program that will allow idle grads to hone their interviewing skills and knowledge about how to find jobs after they graduate. Your program could also provide grads access to the knowledge they will need to handle the adulting responsibilities they are unprepared for, as well as pick up the soft skills they will need to advance their careers.

I would encourage your alumni association to take the lead on introducing the First-Year GRAD Experience program on your campus for three reasons. It will:

• show your alumni and grads your commitment to providing life-long career and professional development programming as well as shows YOUR commitment to INVEST in their careers.
• significantly increase young alumni engagement and satisfaction.
• offset negative impressions made when the first correspondence grads receive is asking for their contribution when they have yet to make their first student loan payment.

In the end, your advancement team will benefit from an increase in the number of alumni who contribute.

Richard Bolles, author of the book, "What Color is Your Parachute?" once said,

“A working alum is a giving alum!”

So how do you get started implementing a First-Year GRAD Experience program?

Three simple steps to create your FYGE program

1. First, find out if your orientation and student services departments offer an FYE program. If they do, find out the number of staff hours allocated to the program. Determine what the college allocates in its budget for the FYE program. Get a better idea of the information, events, and activities your orientation and student services departments have added to the program. Learn what worked for them and what didn't.
2. Develop a one-page report for your president and his/her board. In your report, impress the immediate need to implement a First-Year GRAD Experience program. Time is of the essence - your current graduating class NEEDS YOUR HELP!
3. Then brainstorm with your staff, students, alumni, and parents about what you could "bake" into your First-Year GRAD Experience. You don't have to do everything at once. Start with one or two ideas and build on them each year.

Your graduating seniors have rewarded your college with over $100,000 in tuition and fees to earn a degree they expect will better position them for a career related to their degree. Your college can’t just sit on its hands and consider their job is finished after they graduate!

Your college’s job is not done until every graduate feels confident about their future!

While "student success" is management's mantra while students are in college, "career success" should be your mantra after they graduate!

Your graduates’ needs are significant, and the issues they face are great! Remind those you report to that your FYE program was introduced over decades ago to increase retention and graduation rates, and it’s time the college solves the post-graduation issues and challenges grads are facing so you can increase alumni career success, satisfaction, engagement, and contributions!

Be among the first movers on your campus (and in your industry) by starting discussions today. Share this article with your boss, administrators, and others to build support. Talk to students and get the support of your young alumni group. Quite frequently, if an idea shows strong support by students, and it makes sense, more people will get behind it!

Don't OVERTHINK this! Get started today!

If you are interested in joining a group of your colleagues who are exploring the First-Year GRAD Experience program, connect with me on LinkedIn, and I’ll point you in the right direction.