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Title: The Transition from School to Work: Education and Work Experiences
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Yates, Julie A.
The Transition from School to Work: Education and Work Experiences
Monthly Labor Review 128, 2 (February 2005): 21-32.
Also: http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/02/art4exc.htm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: U.S. Department of Labor
Keyword(s): Bureau of Labor Statistics; College Graduates; Education; Employment; Longitudinal Surveys; Transition, School to Work

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 found that the average worker, approximately 5 years after leaving school for the first time, starts a job that will last 3 years; however, there was considerable variation by education.

Education is clearly linked to these employment processes. In high school, youths learn mainly general skills. These include not only hard skills such as literacy and numeracy, but soft skills such as punctuality, dependability, and following directions. Because of their youth, those seeking jobs just after high school may know less about the world of work and be less committed to a particular occupation. Likewise, employers of these youths have less information about their skills. Both employer and employee may look at entry-level jobs as a learning process by which each can evaluate the long-term potential of their "match." College graduates, on the other hand, invest more in specific skills and may acquire a greater knowledge of the job market within their field. They can match their interests to skills and reject potential career paths before entering the labor market. Employers of new college graduates have potentially greater knowledge of the particular skills of their new hires, and, because of the higher wages they must pay, more incentive to find a good match. For these reasons, matches between new college graduates and their employers may be expected to last longer than those between new high school graduates and employers. Youths who have left school without a high school degree are doubly disadvantaged; they lack both general and job-specific skills, and they face employers who have low expectations and little incentive to invest in their matches. Consequently, schooling choices may dictate the speed and ease of the school-to-work transition.

Bibliography Citation
Yates, Julie A. "The Transition from School to Work: Education and Work Experiences." Monthly Labor Review 128, 2 (February 2005): 21-32.