My What Can Be Improved Rant Thingy

I've been thinking about this all weekend and as a student who is going to graduate in a few weeks I looked at improvements for this class from a job/career perspective. I see positions for online marketing. Such as SEO Analyst, Social Media Assistant, and so on. I looked at the requirements for these positions and typically you need to know how to write code or how to use adobe suite or have previous experience using google analytics, etc. With that being said I feel this class needs more hands on assignments. The online marketing plan project is great. I think it looks great on your resume. I think the class tries to fit in too much in a short amount of time. I think their should be a focus on the main subjects and students should do assignments and projects solely based on those subjects so when they get out and apply they can say they have some type of skill or experience. I think it's important that applicable skills are acquired through college coursework especially in economy in which the recent college grad is struggling. Applying for jobs these last 4 months has been very eye opening. I'll go apply for a marketing research analyst position thinking "I've done plenty of research in college I should be qualified for this" but I didn't learn any database programs in my research class so I can't get those positions. Or how sales management was more about behaving ethically than about how to make sales. I personally believe colleges need to remodel their courses. They should hire someone who's job is to look at current occupations for graduates and determine what's important and what needs to be incorporated into the coursework so that students can use what they learn. Some internships won't even hire you if you don't have certain skills related to online marketing. I had an interviewer ask me what I know about google analytics and I had to tell him I never actually used it but I learned about it in class. This post is heavily fueled by job searching and a recent article discussing the high unemployment/underemployment rate for recent college grads. From the article and comments you get this sense that a college education means nothing anymore because you don't get skills you can use in the workforce. Looking back on my 5 years in college that's pretty accurate. I love the class though. I really enjoy it and I think Professor Shropshire does a great job. I was beyond excited when I heard an online marketing course was being offered and I know a lot more than I did but I just wish I had more time or the opportunity to learn more.