re: Do employers in Louisiana dislike Southern University?

Part of it depends on the field in question as to whether a school is in demand.

I know that a lot of schools hire teachers out of Southeastern and that an almost entire crew of IT contractors in my office were hired out of there too.

I’m unaware of a single field in which Southern grads are distinguished enough to where most people go “Let’s get them in for an interview”.

Volod, you are a big fan of questions about SU and how they are seen. Let's run through a little of your history and a few facts for those who are unaware.

Leesville is country. It is not some booming metropolis with urban blight, etc. While your fellow students in Jr. high and high school were trying to be bumpkin thugs, you were studying, trying to learn, and reading.

You went to Tech and got a BS in Physics. I don't know your GPA but this is still not some liberal arts degree. You are to be commended for that. Tech is not the greatest school in the country but they are far from the worst. Their STEM degrees are not just given away.

You then went to SU and were able to see, firsthand, the difference in the two academic worlds between the two. You got your masters and went out into the world to find a job. You took one that you didn't really like while you continued looking for a keeper.

This almost brings us to my question. You have done what you are supposed to do, despite the odds, and are succeeding. This was made harder on you by the bad actions of others in your demographic range. Graduating college, then showing up to a job interview in jeans and Jordans gives a bad reputation when many do it. Spelling monosyllabic words wrong on a resume' contributes to the bad reputation. Slouching, mumbling, not giving a rat's arse, and chewing gum in the interview all leave a bad taste in interviewer's mouths.

Are you angry that you had extra hills to climb and obstacles to overcome because of the lackadaisical attitude and bad actions of so many others in your demographic? Life is hard enough without shouldering someone else's burden.

How about your view of SU? Does it anger you that they do such a poor job of preparing, and sending their grads out to procure employment? Do you send money when they approach the alums? Do you feel as if they did a good job helping you prepare, or was it mostly your hard work?

There's not much point in replying to these threads but I'll bite.

Forbes listed the top 650 colleges in the nation. The top two are pretty predictable, I'll quote the last paragraph of this article about the list:

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Louisiana Tech was listed as No. 409 in the U.S., while Loyola University of New Orleans was 475th. The University of Louisiana Lafayette, Centenary College of Louisiana, University of New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana University were also made the ratings. Southern University was not among the top 650.

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In a state full of learning institutions why would employers search out candidates from the worst?

I think the best practice the university could institute would be a minimum dress code to attend the career fair. If you don't care enough to put in the time to dress nicely, you shouldn't be representing the school while interacting with companies. So some of the blame can be placed on the administration.

What percentage passes the bar on the first try? 20-30%?

I'll tell you this. I know someone who use to work somewhere that claimed to be "the official ___________ of Southern University Jags and LSU Fighting Tigers". They were in accounting.. And said there was never once a check that ever went to either university.

I know this doesn't answer your question, but this thread made me think about it.

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This was made harder on you by the bad actions of others in your demographic range. Graduating college, then showing up to a job interview in jeans and Jordans gives a bad reputation when many do it. Spelling monosyllabic words wrong on a resume' contributes to the bad reputation. Slouching, mumbling, not giving a rat's arse, and chewing gum in the interview all leave a bad taste in interviewer's mouths. 

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I had no idea the students were THAT bad. I was taught growing up that you wear your Sunday Best whenever you interview (the professional kind, not the Easter flashy kind).

I can believe it happened in earlier times. Last time I visited campus they seem to have fixed that problem. Like you can only enter the job fair if you're registered and have the appropriate attire on while attending.

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Are you angry that you had extra hills to climb and obstacles to overcome because of the lackadaisical attitude and bad actions of so many others in your demographic? Life is hard enough without shouldering someone else's burden. 

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I'm mad because I didn't discover my strengths and weaknesses and come to term with them while attending Tech. Back then I didn't really have a set plan on what I wanted to do, I just liked STEM. But now I know that I'm really good at, working with data analysis.

I'm not mad at SU, but I think they could step up the difficulty. At least go to the level where you have 50% of graduates pass their respective majors certification exams. You don't have to compete with the best schools in the state, just be a better school for the sake of your students and their families.

I don't send money currently. I do plan to eventually. I don't neccesarily blame SU because I'm not a traditional student. Your 1st college experience shapes how you view the world professionally and socially. I think it may have been better had I only went to SU and didn't have something to compare it with.

My biggest hurdle was simply a lack of relevant internships. Because the only work experience I had at that point was primarily laboratory based.

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So yes, it's very easy to call Southern (and smaller non-HBCUs like Nicholls and Southeastern) "unnecessary" because they essentially are, which unfortunately water down the value of education from those places in the eyes of the employers. I'm not saying that perception is a correct or fair one, but it is reality.

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No logically it makes sense. HBCUs (as much as I love them) are an accessory in education. They are not needed directly. And when you consider the numerous vocational schools improving their curriculum AND online colleges getting more respect from employers, it becomes harder to defend that they are "cheaper" forms of education.

It would have been much cheaper to get a process technology degree than go to Southern. And getting a job would probably have been easier if I stayed in South LA.

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Like you can only enter the job fair if you're registered and have the appropriate attire on while attending.

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This is college career fair, man, not a Burger King interview. The fact this even has to be said / enforced is disturbing

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I've never met anyone with a real computer science degree from SLU who didn't know his shite.

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My first degree is a CS degree from SLU.

Besides nursing, I swear that degree is the hardest program at the school.