College vs. Real World: The Stats Might Shock You

This year it is expected that employers will hire 19% more college grads (NACE). It is looking up for all those recent grads out there; however, entering the real world comes with many new and different challenges.

OnlineDegrees.com recently released an infographic that details the differences between college and the real world. When I was reading through the infographic I was shocked by some of the statistics. I thought getting out of college would mean getting more sleep at night and having more time to read (“fun” books, not textbooks). I was wrong!

According to the infographic, college students average 8.3 hours of sleep a night, while professionals average 7.7 hours a night. With more professionals working more than the 40-hour workweek, it is expected that they would get less sleep.

The average student gets 3.6 hours of down time a day, while the average professional gets only 2.6 hours a day. Even though it felt like I was constantly working on something for school and getting no sleep, I was still doing better than the average professional.

Although sleep and down time may be important factors to most people, the number one issue between college students and professionals is appearance. Appearance is the number one characteristic employers associate with unprofessionalism. The effort you put into looking professional in an interview also needs to be applied everyday at work.

I miss college, but still excited about entering the real world, despite what the infographic says.

How do you feel about leaving college and entering the real world? Those who have already entered the real world, what are some other differences we can expect?

For this post, YouTern thanks our friends at ComeRecommended!

About the Author: Elizabeth Short is a recent graduate of James Madison University (JMU), with a B.S. in writing, rhetoric, and technical communication and a minor in communication studies. As an undergraduate at JMU, Elizabeth gained experience in writing and editing through various class projects and jobs. She was actively involved in Sigma Alpha Iota, an international music fraternity, and PRSSA while at JMU. Elizabeth enjoys learning new things and looks forward to learning more with Come Recommended.