10 Common challenges faced by online students in job placement

Online education has grown rapidly, both in terms of the number of courses students pursue worldwide and its popularity among them. This can be attributed to a flexible learning structure and the convenience of studying from anywhere. However, online education does present students with a set of unique challenges as well, particularly at the time of seeking job placements. This blog throws light on some of the key online degree job placement challenges that graduates face in the industry.

Common Challenges Faced by Online Students in Job Placements   

Let us now look at some of the top challenges that students face in job placements after completing an online degree:

1. Perception of online degrees 

Challenge: Despite their growing popularity, online degree programs may still face the hurdle of gaining universal approval and recognition in the job industry. Many employers tend to undervalue the relevance of an online degree compared to that secured by attending traditional campus courses. This acts as a roadblock in the future growth of students aspiring for better job opportunities.

Solution: It is important to look for online degree programs that are accredited by respectable universities. Degrees conferred by such institutions are recognized, hold relevance, and respect among employers, both government and private, across the globe. It is equally helpful to showcase milestones achieved during the online course duration. These include assignments and projects completed and the overall experience gained as part of the online program. 

2. Lower opportunities for campus recruitment

Challenge: Campus recruitment drives are the natural course of action in the case of traditional campus degree programs. Prospective employers select students based on their talent, potential skills, and performance records. However, students pursuing the same course online tend to miss out on such lucrative opportunities. 

Solution: Online courses offer students other kinds of opportunities to avoid feeling left out in the process. Students are encouraged to tap into alumni networks. Past students who have gained considerable work experience in the industry are better able to help and guide current students or fresh graduates. Additionally, students of online degree courses can make use of online job fairs or stay active on job portals. Both these platforms are great at allowing students to network professionally.

3. Limited access to career counseling services

Challenge: Students studying online may not have the same access to professional career guidance services as their on-campus peers. These include help with building a professional resume, career counseling for students, and helping them prepare for interviews. 

Solution: You can consider seeking an online career counseling service that your university or study institution offers. Alternatively, you may try out counseling available on other external platforms as well or engage in self-directed activities for career development. 

4. Difficulty in networking

Challenge: Yet another of the common challenges faced by online students in job placements is limited opportunity to network. Online students mostly engage in self-study or attend virtual classes. This reduces the scope for physical interaction with peers, faculty, or other industry experts. This further reduces the chance to improve job prospects for online graduates. 

Solution: Online students need to engage more in virtual networking events where they can connect with class or batchmate and their faculty. Joining professional organizations online as well as networking on professional portals like LinkedIn is also a great idea to overcome employment barriers with online education.

5. Difficulty in time management

Challenge: The flexible learning structure that online learning provides can sometimes make it difficult for students to maintain a work-life balance. Students find it hard to juggle between their studies/online classes, work commitments, and some personal engagements. This may sometimes hardly leave enough time for job search or career growth.

Solution: It is important to create a structured schedule, keeping fixed time for personal, work, and study commitments. Make sure to assign priority to the tasks that you need to complete first. Also, take the help of productivity tools that can assist you in effective time management practices.

6. Lack of practical experience

Challenge: It may sometimes be difficult for online students to gain access to the same level of on-the-job work experience or professional internships as their on-campus peers. This is because the latter can afford to work hands-on as and when required in a specific project under the guidance and supervision of a trained/experienced professional. Online students may lack this ready opportunity.

Solution: Make sure to take up freelance projects, pursue online internships, wherever possible, and attend practical workshops virtually. All of this would help you gain sufficient relevant work experience. Thanks to technological advancements in every arena, virtual work experience and internships are fast becoming a reality.

7. Geographical Barriers

Challenge: Online students also face the difficulty of finding or applying for jobs that are geographically far or inaccessible from their place of residence. 

Solution: Again, technological evolution has been successful in bridging this gap, allowing graduates and professionals to apply for remote job roles anywhere in the world. You may also consider relocating to the place of work, if feasible, and make use of location-neutral job search portals to facilitate job search.

8. Building a professional brand online

Challenge: This is among the top challenges that online students face. Due to a lack of physical interaction with industry professionals, these students find it hard to create a professional identity for themselves online.

Solution: You can establish a strong online presence using a professional portfolio or website. Make sure to update your LinkedIn profile and other professional profiles on varied platforms regularly. Also important is to keep engaging with your network online by putting out regular posts.

9. Staying motivated

Challenge: Finding a job online can be rather frustrating, discouraging, and stressful, owing to the lack of a physical community of peers for emotional support.

Solution: Staying connected with peers is key here. You can do so by catching up with them regularly online over chats or video calls. Also, make sure to keep your job search goals realistic. Continued learning, upskilling, and adaptation to the latest industry trends help facilitate the process.

10. The gap in technical skills

Challenge: Online students may lack exposure to certain specific technical knowledge, tools, or software in their respective job sectors. This may be because they failed to get an opportunity to work hands-on with such software and technical tools and earn proficiency in the same. 

Solution: Pursuing add-on online courses to build the technical knowledge and skill set can be helpful here. Also, make sure to highlight your learning in the respective arenas on your resume and interview processes for job search. This helps prospective employers gauge your skill level and proficiency. 

Online Students Placement Strategies Tips

We elaborated on the common challenges faced by online students in job placement. Let us now look at some helpful job search tips for online students to make the process easier and more comfortable for them:

Develop a strategic plan for your job search:

This includes defining the key steps involved in a targeted job search strategy. These may cover identifying the ideal job roles per your academic interests or career goals, understanding the job requirements, upskilling, if required, and applying for the job role. Using job search engines or portals can help simplify the process. Also, make sure to leverage other platforms in your job search. These include applying on the company’s official portals, LinkedIn, and other job platforms to find suitable job vacancies.

Network better:

This is particularly important for an online student. As discussed earlier, one of the major hurdles in the way of your job search is a lack of physical interaction with peers and other professional experts. Make sure to take part in virtual networking events often. These may include online conferences, webinars, and online career fairs. Leveraging social media platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn for professional networking is also a key link in this chain.  

Make the best use of your online learning experience:

Actively participate in group projects shared as part of your online course and engage in online class discussions with peers or faculty. Also, taking part in online extracurricular activities that help foster bonding and interactions with peers and faculty is an integral part of networking.

Find a mentor:

This is more important in an online learning environment where feeling isolated and alone is easy. Make efforts to find a mentor or guide, both within and outside the academic environment, to help you through your job search journey. Follow inspirational leaders on professional platforms like LinkedIn and take guidance from their content and talks to chart out your career path.

Making the Most of Online Career Services

Taking guidance from online career consultancy services some top universities offer can be very helpful. Online Manipal provides placement assistance services to students, guiding them in making informed career choices. Additionally, we offer complete help and support in finding suitable jobs after graduating from one of our courses on the Online Manipal platform. Our experts from our vast network of leading companies all over India help align your career goals with just the right job roles.     

In addition, several online tools and resources are easily available that can help with building professional resumes as well as preparing for interviews. We also regularly evaluate your skills, suggest skill upgrade programs on Online Manipal to make you industry-ready, and offer employability training to boost your chances of employment. Make the most of these tools and take the first step forward in your career journey.

Conclusion

We discussed some of the key challenges that online students face concerning job placements upon graduation in this blog. We also proposed some helpful solutions that can help you overcome these hurdles and find successful placements in the industry of your choice. The key here is to leverage the unique skills of flexibility, time management, and networking that you learn through online courses for adapting to the changing job market. Moreover, online learning equips you with the latest skills that are in demand in your industry and makes you highly attractive to potential employers. 

Manipal University Jaipur offers a host of popular courses on the Online Manipal platform as per your academic and professional needs. We also provide guided placement assistance services to all our students to enable them to find suitable job prospects ahead.