“66%. That’s the percentage of hiring managers who say they don’t believe that new college graduates are prepared for the workforce.” This did not surprise me. Jamie Eckle’s article in “Career Watch: Hiring landscape dims for this year’s grads,” really hit home as I drove through Dunkin Donuts the other day.

Part-time, seasonal jobs are often filled with college students who are home for the summer months. But, when the youthful voice said “Welcome to Dunkin Donuts, how can I help you?”, immediately I wondered whether or not the order would be correct. How difficult could it be? I was only ordering ONE drink, and it wasn’t fancy. So I ordered a medium, iced green tea, unsweetened, with extra lemon. She then asked what size I’d like. I repeated myself. I pulled up to pay, received my drink, sipped it and returned it. It was sweetened, and oh yeah… no lemons. So, I look at this college-aged student and I wondered, “Were you busy texting on your phone? Did you forget in the 1 minute that it took to drive from the menu board to the window?  Do you care so little about your summer job that paying attention is just not important?” Is this what employers have to look forward to as these same students graduate and apply for career jobs? I wonder.