Examining US college students’ career information sources across three decades

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the career information sources used by university students and identify whether the use of the various sources differs across three generational cohorts. Design/methodology/approach A survey was administered to 322 students majoring in food marketing and related fields at 12 US universities. The results were compared to prior survey results from 1995 to 2004. Findings Students continue to use many of the same sources for career information, but use them more frequently. College professors/courses were the most fruitful sources, followed closely by career fair/company visit, job/internship, and family/relatives. Although career centers and counselors were used less frequently, their use is growing. Written materials are used the least, and their use is declining. Research limitations/implications The sample is limited to the food and consumer packaged goods (“food/CPG”) industry. It is also limited to US college students. Practical implications If organizations and recruiters want to reach and attract millennial students, establishing and fostering relationships with university personnel, especially faculty, is critical. Investing in course activities (e.g. guest lectures, case studies) and industry experiences (e.g. jobs and internships) is also important. Originality/value This is the first study to examine the use of career information sources across generational cohorts specifically in the context of the food/CPG industry. The results are bolstered by robust samples and the time-lag design.

Examining Job Attribute Preferences Across Three Generational Cohorts

“…It is imperative for employers to know whether values have changed across recent cohorts, so that they can continue to attract and retain the future workforce. Also, given that students are increasingly relying on career counselors for career information (Zondag & Brink, 2017), it is important for employment counselors to understand the values of college graduates, so that they can manage student expectations and facilitate a match between students and employers. The popular press frequently opines about generational differences, yet we are not aware of any prior empirical research that compares U.S. millennial college students’ job attribute preferences across generations.…”

Examining US business undergraduates’ use of career information sources during career exploration

“…web-based resources, peer networks). In a longitudinal study that tracked the quality and frequency of career information sources of more than 1,000 US college students with food marketing-related majors, Zondag and Brink (2017) found that college professors and courses were rated as the most useful sources of career information, followed by career fairs, jobs or internships, and family members. The authors also found that while CSCs and career counselors were not as highly rated, they were widely viewed by students as an important source of career information.…”

“…Despite increasing interest in and scrutiny of CSCs, however, limited empirical research has examined students’ own experiences with and perspectives about the types of information provided by CSCs. A promising line of inquiry has examined students’ satisfaction with CSCs in Canada (Usher and Kwong, 2014) and the USA (Gallup-Purdue Index Report, 2016) and two survey-based studies of students’ utilization of various career information resources shed important light on this issue (Pesch et al , 2018; Zondag and Brink, 2017). Yet to our knowledge no studies have examined, at a more fine-grained level than is available through survey research, precisely how students experience and interpret the informational resources provided by CSCs or other units on a college or university campus.…”

“…In fact, considerable evidence exists demonstrating that students’ career decisions and emerging professional identities are strongly influenced by a panoply of other factors such as personal relationships, work-based learning experiences (e.g. internships) and family backgrounds (Lent et al , 1994; Zondag and Brink, 2017).…”

Internships and engineering: beliefs and behaviors of academics

“…Because sense of fit is critical to retention of people in engineering careers, exploring alternative methods for students to communicate about fit and skill development could be important, and the faculty and other career professionals that comprise CDMS could be appropriate touch points for students. Third, although students, industry and academia are all stakeholders they have different costs, benefits and interests regarding internships (Maertz et al , 2014) and research on college students has shown that faculty remain an important source of career information for students over time and engagement with career centers and counselors is growing (essentially CDMS as defined herein) (Zondag and Brink, 2017). For all of these reasons, the academic stakeholder perspective best suits the need to understand the current state of who is engaging with students and how this engagement occurs, regarding internship experiences.…”