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The Entrepreneur’s Source Digs Deep with College Students and Recent Graduates

The Entrepreneur’s Source ® Digs Deep with College Students and Recent Graduates – Is a College Degree the Key to Business and Career Success?

The caps and gowns have been turned in, the graduation parties are over, and now the serious business of finding a J-O-B is on for the graduating class of 2017.

Here’s the good news: according to placement services like Challenger, Gray, and Christmas, the employment outlook is pretty good for this year’s crop of graduates, due to an improving American economy. In fact, according to a job outlook survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 98% of companies plan on hiring those who have earned a bachelor’s degree this year!

But let’s not get overly excited yet.

The Entrepreneur’s Source®, the nation’s number one resource for exploring alternative career options in franchising, wants to remind this year’s grads that just because you HAVE a degree doesn’t necessarily mean you will be HIRED IN YOUR FIELD OF STUDY. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, almost 44% of recent college grads are working in jobs that don’t require degrees. The buzzy “Return on Investment” equations for a college education certainly take a hit when you’re earning $10 an hour in your first gig right out of school.

So, for those still in school, or considering starting (or returning) this summer or fall, you have to ask yourself: is the expense of college really worth it? Do you want to still be struggling paying off federal student loans years after you graduated? (Scarier still: paying off variable loan rates on some private student loans!)

Obviously, if you want to be a doctor, lawyer, or rocket scientist, you will need that degree, and several more. But what if your interests lie outside the ivy walls of State U? If you’re equipped with a terrific network, desire to work hard, and a well thought out (and proven) business plan vetted by mentors and resources you trust, do you really need a full general education? So maybe instead of rolling up big student loan debt, hoping your education will help you land a job, you could be taking out an SBA loan to fund your own business and not have to hope you can go to work for someone else, some day.

There’s also the experience factor. While many undergraduate and graduate students are spending 4 years (or more) learning how to perform job skills and/or run a business, there are others who are doing it as franchisees in real time.

Let’s be clear: there are a lot of positives about the college experience, socially and educationally, which are valuable. And there are some fundamental courses which a newbie business owner will need, like basic accounting skills. But the bottom line is this: a degree is NOT the key requirement to running a successful business. In fact, many of the skills you need for that just aren’t taught in some classrooms today. Skills such as work ethic, perseverance, vision, and persuasiveness, to name a few.

Of course, it’s rare to find successful employees or entrepreneurs who don’t have SOME college credits to their name, or even degrees. However, that’s not the case for our visionary founder, Terry Powell, and many other franchise coaches and franchisees who got their start in business ownership through The Entrepreneur’s Source®.   Passing on college comes with risks, but Powell and others weighed their options and decided that four more years actively pursuing business ownership was more valuable than spending money to attend school with no guarantee of a job or business ownership opportunity on the back end.

Are you a recent graduate struggling to find a satisfying career?   Or perhaps a current/incoming college student having second thoughts about the value of an undergraduate degree (and the associated pile of debt)?    Our coaches at The Entrepreneur’s Source® would love to speak with you and see if there’s anything they can do to help you make a smart decision – whether that be returning to college, pursuing a career or launching your very own franchise business.

Take the time to visit The Entrepreneur’s Source website and fill out the quick response form on the homepage to connect with one of our coaches.   Or, if you’re already prepared to begin exploring potential franchise opportunities, find your franchise match at www.franchisematch.com.