One of the more negative effects of Florida’s stubborn unemployment problem is that college graduates are becoming increasingly frustrated in their job search. Many college graduates, despite earning impressive degrees, are unable to get jobs. The main excuse graduates are hearing from employers in response to their applications is that they haven’t got the required job experience.

Lack of job experience outweighs the quality of one’s diploma or degree, but how do graduates gain experience if they did not work for any significant period before college, or had the advantage of relevant work-study experience during college? Employers have a wide pool of unemployed, experienced potential employees to draw from, who are competing aggressively with recent graduates for the scare jobs. This only makes matters worse.

It is imperative that the community makes serious attempts to solve the problems graduates are experiencing in finding jobs. Young people are frustrated very early in their careers and this does not bode well for the future of the region, state or country.

Families, collectively, are spending millions of dollars to educate their children. These funds are sourced from savings, student loans and where possible, additional mortgages on homes. Whatever the source of funding, it is almost certain that these funds are accumulated at great sacrifice. It is not unusual for families and graduates to be burdened with repaying student and other forms of college loans years after graduation.

If jobs continue to be elusive for college graduates due to insufficient job experience, this could gradually de-motivate young people from pursuing college education, which would in turn have a negative impact on the quality of the employment market. Ironically, despite the challenges of finding jobs, this nation cannot afford to compromise the quality of its workforce. To remain competitive with other vastly expanding developed countries, America must maintain a highly skilled workforce.

A systematic professional internship program is needed to address the problems being faced by college graduates. It is a waste for graduates in special disciplines like marketing or finance to take jobs that are in no way related to these disciplines. There are numerous accounts of college graduates seeking jobs in fast-food restaurants just to earn an income.

Focusing on Florida, a state operated professional internship program, fully supported by the private sector, would provide graduates with appropriate experience. Under the proposed system, the private (and public) sectors would be required to employ inexperienced graduates as interns for a specific period (between six months to a year). These graduates would be assigned to areas pertinent to their respective disciplines. In some cases, participating companies may be able to offer jobs to interns who excel at their position. However, even if they are no vacancies to offer jobs, the intern would have enhanced his or her employment potential through the experience gained.

One possible challenge of a proposed statewide professional internship program will be the ability of some companies to pay a stipend to interns. The graduates/interns will be required to meet the cost of commuting to and from their respective internship and purchase lunch and appropriate work-place wardrobe. As a result, some will need at least a small stipend to cover their basic expenses. Several graduates are willing to serve as interns, but they are unable to do so without a stipend.

Although cognizant of the financial plight of the state, and various counties and cities, the state should invest in its youth, bearing in mind the required investment in the state’s youth, and the quality of its workforce, to initiate a budget item where companies that participate in a state-operated internship program could receive a subsidy to cover stipends for qualified interns.

Some companies like Walt Disney World in Kissimmee do offer paid internship, but some companies cannot afford this, although the cost of employing interns is much less than hiring full-time employees.

On the other hand, if it is not possible for the state or individual companies to provide interns with limited stipends, the state should consider formalizing a statewide internship program, and urge graduates to participate. The main objective of the program would be to provide related work experience for graduates who are disadvantaged in their job search because they lack related work experience. Access to six months or a year of unpaid internship should be a great investment in one’s future careers.

This is not a matter to be glossed over. Every municipal, state representative, and the state governor’s office should seriously look into introducing a statewide professional internship program. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, especially if that mind has been appropriately trained and prepared for the job market.