When it comes to their careers, college students care more about finding coworkers who could help them professionally than they do about making friends.
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That\u2019s the finding of a new survey<\/a> conducted by College Pulse. Of the 1,500 U.S. students polled, an overwhelming majority (93 percent) said having colleagues they could learn from plays an important role in their decision of where to work. Students are not against making friends at the office, though. In fact, 58 percent said it\u2019s somewhat important and 18 percent said it’s very important that they can see themselves befriending potential coworkers when interviewing for a full-time job. And nearly two-thirds of students reported wanting to work somewhere where employees socialize with each other outside of work hours. But for students on the job hunt, a lack of coworker camaraderie wouldn\u2019t necessarily be a deal breaker. Eighty-two percent of the students surveyed said they would accept a full-time position in their area of interest that offered a good salary even if they didn\u2019t think they would fit in socially with their coworkers. And 79 percent said they would still accept such a job after hearing more than one negative story about their potential coworkers. Students\u2019 desire to learn from their coworkers may be a product of the times, as they\u2019re increasingly advised to become \u201clifelong learners.\u201d And for help picking up a new skill or concept, those already in the workforce are turning to their coworkers at high rates — more often than they turn to Google, YouTube or their corporate training programs, according to a separate study<\/a> conducted by the company Degreed. The authors of this study call this concept \u201cpeer-to-peer learning.\u201d \u201cPeer-to-peer learning taps into the expertise that already exists in your organization,\u201d they wrote in an article<\/a> published in Harvard Business Review. \u201cPeer-to-peer learning is also uniquely well suited to the way we learn,\u201d they added. \u201cPeople gain new skills best in any situation that includes all four stages of what we call the \u2018Learning Loop\u2019: gain knowledge; practice by applying that knowledge; get feedback; and reflect on what has been learned. Peer-to-peer learning encompasses all of these.\u201d Today\u2019s workers are also known for frequent job-hopping<\/a>, which may also play a role in students\u2019 desire to learn from their co-workers rather than befriend them.
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe value of lifelong learning<\/strong>
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