10 Things Employers Want You to Learn in College: The Know-How You Need to Succeed

William D. Coplin | Bill Coplin

1 Apractical guide to being practical with your education
The book is a tremendous aid to help a college student, or for that matter any young man our woman get a leg up as they prepare for the real world they face outside of formal education. It addresses things that our formal education system misses. If you plan on working in a career, like most people, then you need this book to help you be prepared to face reallity of the work world. It suggests an investment of thought, time and energy but the payoffs will be worth it. Ask the HR people in your company if it is on target. My children will be reading it as they prepare to move into the "real world". Yours should too!

2 Good and bad
The description of this title does not exactly make clear what the book is about.

Part I - Know How Groups
Details specific skills in 10 groups by saying 1) why they're important 2) how college-level coursework can help you develop them, and 3) how activities, jobs, and internships can help you develop them.

Part II - What you should be doing in college to help yourself get a job/internship
Explains the idea of an apprenticeship, how to make college choices, volunteering, thinking BEYOND college, and more

Part III - Planning your success
More on careers, improving your "know how" skills, and how to use show off your know how skills in your resume and cover letter

Part I I found useful for some skills and a lot of fluff for others.
The explanation of the skill itself is mostly useless and consists principally of 1) a discussion of a rather irrelevant quote put at the top of each section, 2) how you might use it in a business/management type position. Of course that helps you out if you enjoy irrelevant quotations and are heading for a career in management, but be warned - this book was written for liberal arts majors. That is the type of student this author has had the most experience with and portrays most skills that are necessary for a position in sales, management, or some other business-oriented capacity. It's not for engineering majors.

Parts II and III I found very useful and eye-opening was the discussion of internships, jobs, and other activities outside of campus that comes after Coplin's foray into "know how groups." It details how you can use your connections and campus/online resources to find a career-starting experience at a relevant company. It also sheds some light on the internship experience and why it's important to "pay your dues."

If 1) you're majoring in some liberal arts field, or 2) want to learn more about what you SHOULD be doing with your time in college, this book is for you. But don't pick it up if you want to go to med, law, or some other graduate school. There are simply better titles for guiding you to those areas.