Helping Prepare Community College Students To Make The Transition From College To Work

The purpose of the study was to investigate students’ perceptions about the need for more student training on making the transition from community college enrollment to employment. The hypothesis was that community college students would perceive that additional career counseling services would help them transition successfully into the world of work. Examination of students’ thoughts about career counseling services assisted in finding factors that facilitate and impede students’ desires for career counseling services including career courses. A researcher-developed pen and paper self-report survey instrument was administered to students enrolled in English courses at Meridian Community College during the 2009 fall semester. Out of the 1242 students enrolled in English classes, 359 chose to participate in the study. Descriptive characteristics of study participants and study participant preferences related to career counseling services are reported as frequencies and percentages. Data from this study indicated that there is a need for further student training in career transition from the community college to employment. The perception of freshmen, sophomores, and non-degree students who participated in this study is that there is a need for a course in basic career seeking skills in order to help students find employment after graduation. Logistic regression analysis findings predicted that a model did exist that could determine whether a community college student will seek career counseling services based on a combination of gender, ethnic group, and internet use for employment. Results from this study indicate that the majority of community college students who responded perceive that more career counseling services would assist them in their transition into the world of work after graduation