Abbey Rivers attended Brock University right after high school, and graduated on the honours list with a degree in media and communications studies and a minor in digital culture. Still, when she started searching for jobs, she realized she didn’t have the real-world experience employers were looking for. Feeling completely unprepared for the workforce, Rivers enrolled in a one-year post-graduate certificate program in public relations at Niagara College. She was hoping to learn practical, job-specific skills that would help her land a position.

Her plan worked. During the program, she got hands-on experience working on public relations campaigns and completed an internship at a PR agency. Two weeks after graduating, at 23 years old, Rivers had a job offer in hand from a Toronto PR firm. She says she uses the skills she learned at college every day in her job.

Job readiness at college

Many students wonder what they’ll do after they graduate from a university, but a college program leaves little room for interpretation. Diplomas and certificates are offered in practical fields like health care, automotive technology, manufacturing, financial management and construction trades, and often train students for very specific roles. Early childhood educator, airplane mechanic, floral designer and paralegal are just a few examples of the thousands of careers that going to college can prepare a student........

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