Graduates and school leavers face jobs crunch

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

I think that university students are not totally blameless in this issue. They purport to have brains so should have been more cynical of Government propaganda which implied no matter how many legal and media studies graduates the universities churned out, there would continue be an inexhaustable supply of highly paid jobs in Labour's new boom & bust-free economy.

Most will probably end up as teachers.

I think this is rather harsh. Schoolkids are told from an early age to study hard, do their homework, revise for tests etc. It's not unreasonable for those who've swotted for their exams for many years to expect to find some kind of employment afterwards.

Obviously there is a problem with the quantity and quality of higher education, and the alternatives for school leavers, and the way these are presented, but sneering at those who studied hard in good faith is unfair.

Old_Slaphead

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

but sneering at those who studied hard in good faith is unfair.

I'm not sneering - merely suggesting that some of the more popular courses are really default options for many students who really don't have much idea what they want to do.

I think the Government is being disingenuous in encouraging students 'en masse' to go to university when, for many, there will not be the realistic prospect of them using their skills acquired in the workplace and accruing a significant amount of debt into the bargain. Courses should be much more closely related to vocational requirements and don't necessarily have to be delivered through universities.
If however, one argues that it's a good thing for the 'life experience' then I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that premise.

diable

My son graduated last year and took some time out to travel and when he came back in November and tried applying for jobs but got no where, companies where advertising non existent jobs and making people like him jump through hoops for nothing, in the end he did an intensive English course (paid for by himself) and is now in Peru hopefully finalising getting work in a school teaching English for the next 4 months. When he comes back he may try to do his Masters but its expensive and there are no grants available. Second son off to Graz to study and work and then final year back here, I do hope it starts to pick up in the next year or two.

campbell87_2

Graduating in July and heading back to uni in Sept, not alot of prospects out there right now so I'll give it a while and just stick to the Saturday job for now! I remember when I went to uni 3 years ago and we were told about what we could expect when we left, my how things have changed so quickly!

pickles110564

campbell87 wrote: »

Graduating in July and heading back to uni in Sept, not alot of prospects out there right now so I'll give it a while and just stick to the Saturday job for now! I remember when I went to uni 3 years ago and we were told about what we could expect when we left, my how things have changed so quickly!

What did you study? The performing arts?

chewmylegoff

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

I'm not sneering - merely suggesting that some of the more popular courses are really default options for many students who really don't have much idea what they want to do.

I think the Government is being disingenuous in encouraging students 'en masse' to go to university when, for many, there will not be the realistic prospect of them using their skills acquired in the workplace and accruing a significant amount of debt into the bargain. Courses should be much more closely related to vocational requirements and don't necessarily have to be delivered through universities.
If however, one argues that it's a good thing for the 'life experience' then I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that premise.

i agree that there are too many people going to university now, and a lot of them don't actually make themselves any more employable by going (probably less employable in a fair number of cases).

still, it's all good for the government - they can claim that they have improved education, the extra people going to university are out of the unemployment stats and even the students who it isn't benefiting still all have to pay for it all from their future earnings.

i also think that the education system here is partly to blame for the uselessness of a lot of degrees - as, because you need to do the right a-levels to get onto the degree course you want to do, you essentially have to pick what degree you want to do (or at least the general field) when you are 16 (or even 15 in some cases). how on earth can you know what you want to do when you are that old? it's therefore inevitable that most degrees don't end up being relevant to people's jobs. it really wouldn't hurt to keep the curriculum more general and let people choose their degree subject once they are actually at university. might improve the literacy and numeracy of graduates as well.

Max_Headroom_3

Believe me, it's not just university graduates struggling for jobs right now... :sad:

lostinrates

Its not the going to university that makes people less desirable to employ IMO, nor the later start on to nn grad careers, its that people squander that time, gaining limited or no extra experience, often never holding down a job at any time before graduating.

Its not true to say the jobs are lacking only after people have red a ''soft subject'' because law grads are hving a hell of a time too.

BettiePage, I'd be saying exactly the same to my son, and to the person returning in Sept for post grad, good for you, but for goodness sakes, go the extra mile: improve cvs in other ways too.

ray123

lostinrates wrote: »

Its not the going to university that makes people less desirable to employ IMO, nor the later start on to nn grad careers, its that people squander that time, gaining limited or no extra experience, often never holding down a job at any time before graduating.

Very true. I had 8 hours of lectures a week and due to the late nights (drinking, not studying), I was struggling to turn up! Uni life is about gaining life experience. This life experience does not prepare you for the real world, surrounded by piranhas.

I find it quite amusing that companies are looking for uni graduates, rather than second/third jobbers, who are IMO a better bet.

treliac

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

I think this is rather harsh. Schoolkids are told from an early age to study hard, do their homework, revise for tests etc. It's not unreasonable for those who've swotted for their exams for many years to expect to find some kind of employment afterwards.

Obviously there is a problem with the quantity and quality of higher education, and the alternatives for school leavers, and the way these are presented, but sneering at those who studied hard in good faith is unfair.

It's also true that you won't get anywhere in many spheres of work, without a degree. But it's equally important, IMO, to choose your subject carefully. 'Hobby' degrees are too plentiful and are not going to be in hot demand.