Employer Insights at Ohio State

An education from The Ohio State University sets graduates up for career success. The 2024 Employer Survey¹ indicates that recent Ohio State graduates are not only well-prepared for the workforce but also excel beyond their peers nationally in career readiness skills.

Background

During the autumn 2024 University-Wide Career and Internship Fair, 96 employers responded to the Employer Survey about the employment skills and experiences they value when hiring recent college graduates for full-time roles. Most employers (55%) identified as for-profit corporations. Additionally, 75% reported that most of their job openings were in Ohio.

Employers were asked about the importance of the following National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) career readiness competencies, as well as Ohio State student proficiency in each area:

• Career & Self-Development: Proactively develop oneself and one’s career through continual personal and professional learning, awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses, navigation of career opportunities and networking to build relationships inside and outside one’s organization.
• Communication: Clearly and effectively exchange information, ideas, facts and perspectives with persons inside and outside of an organization.
• Critical Thinking: Identify and respond to needs based upon an understanding of situational context and logical analysis of relevant information.
• Leadership: Recognize and capitalize on personal and team strengths to achieve organizational goals.
• Professionalism: Knowing work environments differ greatly, understand and demonstrate effective work habits and act in the interest of the larger community and workplace.
• Teamwork: Build and maintain collaborative relationships to work effectively toward common goals, while appreciating diverse viewpoints and shared responsibilities.

Findings

Job Preparedness

Employers rated recent Ohio State graduates on preparedness for employment on a scale from 1 (Not prepared) to 5 (Exceptionally prepared). Over 90% of employers think that Ohio State graduates are prepared for employment upon graduation.

Top Ohio State Experiences that Stand Out to Employers

Employers were asked which experiences make recent Ohio State graduates stand out when considering them for full-time employment. The top experiences identified were work-related experiences (e.g., internships), being a student organization leader and service/volunteer work.

• #1 Internship, co-op, practicum, apprenticeship or major-related work
• #2 Student organization leader
• #3 Service/volunteer work

Other experiences included in the survey were: athletics/intramural sports/sports clubs, capstone projects, honors/scholars programs, membership in student organizations, on-campus jobs, service-learning coursework, study abroad programs and undergraduate research.

Importance of Career Readiness Skills

Employers rated the importance of various NACE career readiness skills when hiring recent graduates on a scale of 1 (Not important) to 5 (Extremely important). The following four skills had the highest importance, rated as either “very important” or “extremely important”:

• Communication (99%)
• Critical Thinking (95%)
• Professionalism (94%)
• Teamwork (94%)

Proficiency in Career Readiness Skills

Employers rated the proficiency of recent Ohio State graduates on these same career skills on a scale from 1 (Not proficient) to 5 (Extremely proficient). The graphic below shows how these ratings compare to the proficiency of recent graduates nationally, as reported by NACE², across five career skills. Proficiency represents the percentage of employers who found graduates “very proficient” or “extremely proficient” in each competency.

Overall, employers rate Ohio State graduates as having higher proficiency in various career readiness skills compared to graduates nationally.

Conclusion

An education from The Ohio State University enhances career success for its graduates. The 2024 Employer Survey highlights that recent Ohio State graduates are not only well-prepared for the workforce but also excel beyond their peers nationally in career readiness skills.

Employers agree that Ohio State graduates are prepared for employment upon graduation. Key experiences that make Ohio State graduates stand out include work-related experiences such as internships, leadership roles in student organizations and service/volunteer work. These experiences, combined with proficiency in key career readiness skills like communication, critical thinking, professionalism and leadership, position Ohio State graduates as highly desirable candidates in the job market. Ohio State graduates possess the skills and experiences that employers value.

Have a question? Please email cssl@osu.edu. The Center for the Study of Student Life also offers other resources (e.g., Infographic, PowerPoint slide) you could use to present this material to a wide variety of audiences, if you are interested in sharing this information.