FAMU not assisting recent grads with job placement

 

Florida A&M has a hard time obtaining information, data or salary rates about FAMU graduates. Not all, but many of the other Historically Black College Universities across the nation has information about job placements rates for their students. 

“I would like FAMU students to take the time out to complete the exit survey,” said Delores A. Dean, Ph.D, director and adjunct professor of the Career Center and Division of Student Affairs.  “Students received the exit survey after graduation. It allows FAMU to track the hiring of jobs; in the desire areas of study and rate of pay, from FAMU students and alumni, and also to see how they are doing in the real world.”

 The university will use the information as a guide and it will be confidential. On the other hand, there has been a decrease in students on FAMU campus completing exit surveys according to Dean.

 “We place 65 percent of FAMU students into jobs and careers that utilize the career center on campus.” Dean said. ” Which is about the same percent as last year. In order, for students to find a job or have a job ready when they graduate, they would need to start the process of looking for job or career early.”

 It is a small percent of employers and students on FAMU campus that utilize the career center, according to Dean.

 “We have asked our employers who visits FAMU campus and hire FAMU students to fill out our stats surveys,” Dean said. ” Most of our employers that visit the campus do not fill out the stats, we call and email and we still do not receive a response.”

 According to Dean, the areas that students are obtaining the most jobs are: engineering, computer science and information, healthcare and the education.

 “I graduated from FAMU in 2008, and most of the jobs that I have acquired after I graduation, were from my own recourses and connection,” said James Petion, an alumnus from Haiti, obtaining his second degree in Economics from FAMU. “FAMU did not help me find a job all, as of yet.”

According to Petion, his confidence in the Career Center has dwindled to a minimum because of the lack of effort put towards job placement.

 “The year between spring 2008 and fall of 2009, I was heavily involved with FAMU career center,” Petion said. ” The Career Center did not help me out as much as another institution probably would have.”