Choosing your university course with a job in mind?

A survey report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) entitled “Focus on Graduate Jobs“  published last month finds that – from a sample of 2,037 people in employment in the UK -

“of those ..with a degree or equivalent qualification, 46% said that they are not working in the field or profession in which they qualified”

For those who graduated in the past 2 years the figure was 59%.

What is really interesting for me are the reasons why those surveyed say this is the case including

- couldn’t find a job in field or profession in which qualified

- couldn’t find a job at the right seniority in the field/profession in which qualified

- degree has not equipped me with right skills for the workplace

- after graduating made the decision to find a new career path which meant my degree was no longer relevant

Over the years I have worked with many graduates who are struggling to get a break into their chosen field. Ironically as a graduate in Human Resource Management  I know first hand how hard it was for my classmates and subsequent graduates to get into the field of HRM at all – ever.  Unless they are studying part time while already working full time in an HR job many have to try convoluted routes into organisations with a hope that eventually they will be able to apply for internal jobs.  So the other survey comment that they graduates could not get a job at the right seniority level made me wonder what expectations students have and who is managing them when they are making study choices.

The point that the course of study did not equip graduates with the right skills for the workplace is one that is often raised by employers. I am not sure how this can be addressed – even in the most vocational courses – but it definitely needs some focus from those who make decisions about education ( including school) and employers to find if there is a way to meet half way.

But the final point that after graduating a significant proportion of those who responded decided not to go into the field for which they studied was particularly interesting and the survey results show that indeed that has been the case for graduates across the whole period covered ( back to 20 years or more ago).

I recall recruiting for a tax consultant about 20 years ago. The applications came from graduates with such varied degrees as Medieval History, French and Classics – as well as those with Maths and, as would be expected , Accountancy. When I raised my concerns about this range of study with my boss he said that someone who had completed a degree showed that they could stick at a project to completion which was an attractive ability to an employer.  It was a fair point then – and possibly still is – so maybe not going into the field for which you studied is not sucha problem.

However, we live in times where jobs are scarcer than they have been in recent years and for the foreseeable future are likely to be like that . Those young people making study choices now which they believe will lead them to a job when they graduate need to be aware of this!