How News Can Help Close the Skills Gap for New Graduates
Students and employers say recent grads don’t have the skills they need for the workplace. Here’s one solution
A number of studies have shown that employers find recent university graduates are unprepared to enter today’s workplace. Almost a third (31%) of graduates themselves say they are lacking in the skills necessary for a career in business.
This is according to a survey conducted by AXELOS in September 2019 with 810 graduates across the UK.
Other insights from this research include:
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- 27% of respondents replied that, while looking for a job, they were asked about skills their degree hadn't covered
- 76% feel that a degree should provide students with specific skills needed for a professional role
- 68% think an industry-recognized certification should have been part of their higher education
- More than 90% of graduates whose degree included a certification say it helped their career, allowing them to apply for certain jobs or improving their chances of a promotion or pay raise
- 36% say their current role doesn’t meet the expectations they had before they decided to study
How news can help students prepare for life after school
Providing access to news is a potential solution to help students develop skills they will need to succeed in the workplace.
Factiva, a current international news database produced by Dow Jones, is exploring ways to and qualify students for careers after graduation.
Using news databases across the curriculum supports students’ critical thinking, information literacy and digital literacy skills. As one of the the leading global providers of economic and financial information, Factiva is an invaluable resource for a quick perspective or comprehensive data for in-depth research.
The insights and information available from Factiva give students hands-on experience discovering credible facts, pinpointing trends and conducting precise research in a variety of disciplines, including business, social sciences, politics, law, communications and media.
The database offers a premier collection of the world’s top media outlets, trade and consumer publications and thousands of Web sites—more than 32,000 global news and information sources from 200 countries in 26 languages.
Factiva.com has many features and benefits that will prepare students for a career in business:
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- Used by Fortune 1000 clients: Researchers of all skill levels, from student to professional, can access Factiva’s broad range of quality sources.
- Gain experience: Use of the database can be noted on a resume and included in a LinkedIn profile.
- Get noticed: Factiva corporate clients ask what schools are using Factiva to assist with their recruiting of candidates.
- Track industry developments: Libraries can build up to five group alerts that focus on companies, trends, regional events and more.
- Monitor current news: Libraries can create group news pages to provide instant access to the top news sources for a given region or industry.
- Track global market activity: Receive a quote for a global company stock, market index, or currency in seconds.
- Research a global company:Enter a company name or symbol and build a tailormade report that includes corporate overviews, key executives, financial data, press releases, current news and a list of competitors. Learn more about Factiva for academic libraries.