BOSTON, Sept. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Think your first few days of work are just about getting your feet wet? Think again. According to a survey by Fullbridge Inc., an education technology company that prepares students and young professionals to succeed in the global economy, new hires have less than two weeks to prove whether or not they will be successful on the job.

Fullbridge commissioned Harris Poll to conduct an online survey of 319 executives at companies with a revenue of at least $1 billion in the summer of 2015 to gauge opinions about entry level employees. The survey found:

• One in four (27%) executives think employers form an initial opinion as to whether an entry level employee will be successful in less than two weeks.
  • Over three in four (78%) form an opinion in less than three months
• If they had to choose, executives are almost four times as likely to say they would prefer to hire a candidate with previous internship or training experience over a candidate with a high college grade point average.
  • Over half (54%) would prefer to hire an entry level candidate with previous internship or training experience
  • One in three (32%) would prefer to hire an entry level candidate who graduated from a top college / university
  • Over one in ten (14%) would prefer to hire an entry level candidate who had a high college grade point average

The survey also asked executives which quality they feel is most critical to being an engaged employee. The variance in responses shows that engaged employees are not defined by one single quality. These include such things as an internal motivation to succeed (23 percent), ability to solve problems (21 percent), commitment to the company's success (17 percent) and a "can-do" attitude (17 percent).

"Degrees from a prestigious school or high GPA no longer carry the same weight they once did," said Candice Carpenter Olson, co-founder of Fullbridge. "College graduates are expected to come in and perform on day one. This is why we are seeing an increased demand for career preparation programs like Fullbridge. We're finding that engagement is not only a mix of multifaceted qualities, but also something that can be taught. * Based on surveys of our alums, they're three times more engaged in the workplace than their peers who have not gone through our program. Engaged millennials translate into big cost savings for companies and a better return on a parent's investment in college."

As post-graduation expectations change, universities are increasingly recognizing the need to implement work-ready programs into their curriculum. This summer alone, Fullbridge has run nearly a dozen programs in conjunction with a diverse mix of universities including: Cornell University, Duke University, Tulane University, College of Holy Cross and leading community colleges like Miami Dade College, The Colorado Community College System and more.

Beginning in October, Fullbridge will also be running three daylong summits for college students whose schools don't yet have on-campus Fullbridge programs. These summits bring together student leaders and young professionals from various companies to learn, network, and design innovative solutions to real world problems.

Upcoming summits include:

• October 3 – New York City at Google Offices
• October 24 – Boston at Fullbridge Headquarters
• November 7 – San Francisco at Google Offices

To learn more about Fullbridge, please visit www.fullbridge.com. For more information about Fullbridge programs, watch this video: http://bit.ly/1MRKK2u.

* Data collected during a Fullbridge internal survey of program graduates in March 2015

Methodology
Harris Poll® conducted the survey online on behalf of Fullbridge within the United States from July 29 – August 3, 2015, among a total of 319 corporate executives at companies with revenue of $1 billion or more.  Figures for company revenue and number of employees were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the larger universe of companies with revenue of $1 billion or more.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Poll avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in surveys. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to be invited to participate, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

About Fullbridge
Fullbridge is a high-growth, education technology company committed to helping college students and young professionals succeed in the global economy through transformational professional and industry-specific skills building programs. Fullbridge has run programs in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the Middle East since 2011, with participants ranging from Harvard Law School students, to veterans, to U.S. liberal arts college students, to female vocational students in Saudi Arabia. Fullbridge has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Businessweek and Forbes as a leader in competency-based education and 21st century workplace skills.

For Media Inquiries:
Becky Karsh
Fullbridge Executive Director, Partnerships
beckykarsh@fullbridge.com 
516-521-7801

Rachel Braude
CooperKatz & Company for Fullbridge
rbraude@cooperkatz.com 
917-595-3061

SOURCE Fullbridge

Related Links

http://www.fullbridge.com