How Teens Predict Success After College
Like nearly all of us, there’s one question rumbling in the subconscious recesses of prospective undergrads’ heads pretty much 24 x 7 x 365: “What’s in it for me?” It’s an occupational hazard of being human. Call it survival instinct or whatever. The fact remains that all of us face most of life’s decisions with one chunk of our brains listening intently to that subliminal radio station affectionately known as WII-FM.
Years of focus groups and surveys leave no doubt in the minds of Stamats’ research team members that for traditional-aged college-bound students, the likelihood of their own success after college weighs heavily into their selection of a school. So in our most recent TeensTALK® study (a national telephone survey of college-bound teens), we asked participants to rate the influence of several college characteristics in terms of influencing their success after graduating from that college.
To our surprise, the single-best indicator for probable success was “The college is located in a region offering lots of job opportunities related to my major.” Fully 43% of survey respondents told us the location of a college is the best predictor of the success of that college’s graduates. On a 5-point strength scale, this feature scored a solid 4.2.
Translation?
We suspect this discovery points to the value prospective students place on the availability of conveniently available internships and part-time employment in their chosen disciplines. But it also suggests that prospective undergrads may be under the impression they will eventually reside in the communities where they attend college; they want to live where they can find work in their disciplines. A more advanced notion, which I’m not inclined to embrace, is that prospective students assume faculty are drawn from the private sector. Consequently, geographic areas that are populated by large numbers of businesses and industries in the student’s intended discipline may provide rich recruiting grounds for good faculty.
Whatever the interpretation of the data, college and university academic department recruiting messages will be especially compelling if they highlight local and regional opportunities for internships, as well as full- and part-time work, in their respective fields.
Additional Key Indicators
Following closely behind the availability of local major-specific jobs are four more noteworthy features or characteristics identified by TeensTALK survey participants that any undergraduate recruitment program should highlight (but only if you can deliver on these promises):
- “The career placement office offers a wide variety of activities designed to prepare students for employment”
- “Graduates get good jobs with well-known employers” (by any other name, this is co-branding)
- “Students go on to chase big dreams”
- “Graduates go on to attend well-known and prestigious graduate schools” (once again, co-branding)”
Taken together, I think these five best indicators say a great deal about the generation of undergrads we’re recruiting today. First, prospective students are decidedly practical in how they assess a school’s potential for making them successful. “Are there career opportunities for me close by?” “Will I have access to specialized services designed to give me a competitive advantage in the job market?” “Show me.”
Second, they are measurers. But they’re measuring the company your schools keep just as much as they’re taking stock of your ratios and statistics. “What well-known (a.k.a. well-branded) companies and schools are snapping up graduates from this college?” “Do I want to align my own personal brand with these kinds of employers and grad/professional programs after I graduate from here?”
Finally, there’s still a bit of wonder, innocence, and fancy-free in these 17- and 18-year-olds’ heads. “Will this college give me permission to dream big, and tools to chase those dreams?” “Show me.”
About Famous Alumni
One more surprise from the TeensTALK study was the success indicator that appeared at the bottom of the list. Only 15% of respondents cited “The college can show examples of famous alumni” as one of the best indicators of a school that will give them a strong chance for success after they graduate. Newsflash…they’re much less interested in your famous alumni, and more interested in famous brands (employers and graduate programs) with which your school is aligned.
One of the survey respondents may have put it best when she wrote, “I think the college needs to back you up when you are getting a job…and the degree they give you has to look good to employers.”
2009 TeensTALK Promises Even Greater Guidance
Prospective undergrads’ expectations are high and clear. If this TeensTALK® data isn’t strong evidence that your alumni and career placement programs should be working hand-in-hand with your recruitment operation, nothing is. As our colleague and friend Dick Damrow always reminded us…without data, it’s only an opinion. Now you’ve got the data. Do something with it.
The 2009 TeensTALK® is in the field now, and a new survey approach combined with a very prescriptive max/dif analysis will make the findings more useful than ever. I will present 2009 TeensTALK® findings at Stamats’ July 27-30 Strategic Integrated Marketing Conference in Chicago. If you’re reading this prior to July 27, there’s still time to register at www.stamats.com
Photo by: bjmccray
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