College graduates are more likely than those with less education to feel prepared for the workforce, according to a new WSJ|SurveyMonkey poll. Key findings include:
Most adults say that a college degree is necessary for young people today to be successful in life.
Most adults with at least a college degree say their academic experience prepared them well for the workforce, compared with 70% of those without a college degree.
Among college graduates:
- Just over half (51%) of people who've graduated from college and joined the workforce say they had a job lined up before even having graduated
- Most college-educated, working adults said they got their first job through existing connections, including
- 25% through friends and family, and
- 23% through previous work or internship experience
Read more about our polling methodology here.
Click through all the results in the interactive toplines below:
Question wording:
How necessary do you think it is for young people today to get a college degree in order for them to be successful in life?
Thinking about your own experiences, how well did your academic experience prepare you for the workforce?
Have you had a full-time or part-time job after graduating college?
About how long did it take you to find your first job out of college?
What was the most effective resource in finding your first job?
Did you have a clear plan for a career path when you finished college?:
How closely has your career path followed the plan you had when you finished college?
How would you rate your first job?
What was your starting salary at your first job?
What was most important to you in choosing your first job?
Would you describe your career as more, less, or about as fulfilling as you expected when you graduated college?
*businesses *employees
