Graduate Employability Environment - Essay Example

Personal Development Plan Student’s Name: Name of Institution: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction Like everyone else, I also hope that by the end of my studies I will do the work that I wish for, in the country and company of my dream, and even earn as much I wish to. But I have to admit that not everything will work out as I wish. But that is no excuse not to do something about my future. If such a dream could come true, it would not unless I prepare myself for it. On the other hand, if it does not, I still have the obligation to go on. The key to both is self-realization, an evaluation of one’s self. This is something that I have consciously undertaken in my years at the university, knowing that whatever happens will take ‘me’ to deal with. This paper is a personal development. These are sections of my dream and tools that ‘I’ have to help them come true. Graduate Employability Environment Until the massive expansion of higher education in the UK between the late 1980s and early 1990s most institutions of higher education people took graduate employability for granted. As it were, most graduate easily got satisfactory work not long after graduation. Types of job available for students were clearly defined and one only had to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to get a specific job. And from the 1970’s many employers began to complain that most graduates lacked the relevant skills needed. Still, still most employers took them (HEFCE, 2003). Today, things are not as easy. Indeed, the job market has grown increasingly competitive and elusive. For instance, Hill (2012) returned to the university to pursue a course leading to a postgraduate degree in film production, her dream career. However, since her graduation in 2010, she is still looking for work. All this despite her over ten years of experience in professional work in a range of fields, including office management, executive assistant and supervision roles in marketing, publishing, law and commercial property development industries. Many other mature postgraduates like her, who commented on her post express the same- albeit varied- problems. This scenario makes one wonder, myself included, what exactly gets one a job. Besides high competition for ‘graduate’ jobs, it is notable that only a few graduates are getting jobs related to their degrees. Related to this is the fact that most graduates find that the advertised jobs either do not match their skills or reward them accordingly for the four years spent at the university. I have been investigating the characteristics of and trends in the contemporary job market. These can generally be discussed under the criteria for recruitment that most managers use. Recruitment criteria Qualification: This is on aspect that has become increasingly important in recent years. A survey by HEFCE found that almost all line managers thought a degree represents an individual’s ability to learn in the process of work. On a related note, many also thought going to the university facilitates the development of interpersonal/social skills (HEFCE, 2003). The level of degree is also increasingly becoming significant. For instance, the pay differential between those with bachelor degree and those with postgraduate degrees is increasing. But all these mostly depend on the line of work. Most employers do not stress on post-graduate qualifications. And academic qualifications do not necessarily guarantee one a job (Prospects, 2011). Experience: this refers to what one has done in his line of work. Most people equate experience to the number of years spent on work. However, this is increasingly getting redefined to mean the achievements earned and what has been learnt irrespective of time. Skill Profile: More than qualifications, and irrespective of the line of work, there are general characteristics and skills expected of potential employees: communication, leadership, team working, problem solving, time management skills, commercial awareness (profit making brain) etc. CIM (The Chartered Institute of Marketing), for instance, stress on flexible and easy qualifications. As the website says, CIM does not merely teach the stated courses. Instead, they offer a range of other qualifications that would be relevant in different circumstances (prospects.. Equally, CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) stresses that should have a sense of numeracy to be able to analyze information regarding employee surveys, basic indicators of project successes and the value of an individual employee to an organization (Prospects, 2011). These are additional skills. Room for improvement: This includes certain skills that may be useful in the future. For example, in a world where the likeliness to work in another country or even continent is rising, one should acquire skills that would open ways for such career developments, e.g. learning a foreign language. CIPD, for example, emphasizes on the tools to help increase one’s employability and potential for earning. These include providing easy access to current International trends in HR, and business news, networking and practical resources and research. More than just skills: Beyond mere knowledge, one should always consider the possibility that he may end up working in an industry beyond the one he studies on, e.g. it is important for one to take keen interest in other areas and industries as well, networking, etc. To help drive this point home, CIPD makes a very notable statement: “The skills you need to work in HR may not be what you expect”. In other words, it is not just about the skills learnt in class, what CIPD refers to as softer “people skills”. Strong interest in business also counts greatly. e.g. CIM, CMI, CIPD, CIPS etc On the same note, CIP (Croda International Plc) CIP stresses on team working, confidence and taking initiative. My Objective The world is increasingly getting globalized. It has been said, and is actually evident, that national boundaries are increasingly fading. It is a time that foreign investment has become a major long-term plan for many businesses. Personally, I have come to view myself as global citizen. In other words, I am willing and ready to work anywhere that offers a challenge. When I talk of ‘challenge’ what I mean is that I like being a part of something visible, e.g. the excitement of being a direct contributor to the world’s rising economies. There are three main regions/countries that have caught my attention in recent years, e.g China, Brazil and South America at large and the United Arab Emirates. And I have considered working in these regions. This is not only attributable to my hunger to be a part of these rising economic powers, but more. I realize that the prospects for getting a job in the UAE are increasingly growing slimmer, especially following the government directive to hire or give priority to nationals. Even worse would be the fact that the nationals are replacing foreigners. Thus, job security is also increasingly going down. But it may be years until the policy comes to full fruition. Meanwhile, three major industries are growing: tourism, aviation and telecommunications. Indeed, these are good prospects for work that I could get my way into. China is yet another ‘challenge’. But inspite of the intense graduate competition in the job market, I think that it is worth trying. What I like most about China is its business model, famously referred to as the Beijing Consensus- and contrasted with the Washington Consensus of the US (The Economist, 2010). Many have criticized the Beijing Consensus for its non-interference stance, which has seen China do business with unpopular and abusive governments without any conditions. But I find its basic principle interesting. It does not have specific criteria for conducting business well. It only provides a framework for the interpretation of contextual circumstances, including analysis of potential business opportunities, and from this understanding set up relevant economic measures (The Economist, 2010). Of course, this system does not work in any explicitly visible way. It is sort-of inherent. Working in China, or even most of its neighbors, increasingly adopting the Beijing protocol, is a great learning opportunity. I do realize that the hub of the Beijing protocol is China. But should it be hard to get work in China, the other surrounding countries should do. One way to get to China would be learning Mandarin Chinese. The main job opportunities for foreigners are English teaching jobs. I could take advantage of my Mandarin knowledge to build my network. The same applies to UAE. Learning Arabic would be an additional advantage to help my networking. Conclusion In this paper, I have presented some of the trends in the job market in the recent years and how these factors have affected the employability of graduates. But most importantly, while knowing them do not necessarily mean that I now have the solution for getting a job, they surely provide me with a good framework upon which I can base my studies, research and attempts to get a job. Equally, having all this knowledge also helps me select the strategies that best fit me as a person. Bibliography Agcas, 2011, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Employability Audit, November 6, http://www.agcas.org.uk/articles/463-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-s-employability-audit (accessed 22 March, 2012) Country profiles, http://www.prospects.ac.uk/country_profiles.htm (accessed 22 March, 2012) HEFCE (2003), How Much Does Higher Education Enhance the Employability of Graduates?, Research and evaluation reports, http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/rdreports/2003/rd13_03/ (accessed 22 March, 2012) Hill, C 2012, Why the job market is even tougher for mature graduates, guardian careers graduate hub, http://careers.guardian.co.uk/careers-blog/job-seeking- overqualified-mature-graduates, (accessed 22 March, 2012) Jobs and work experience, 2012, http://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs_and_work_experience.htm, (accessed 22 March, 2012) The Economist 2010, The Beijing consensus is to keep quiet, May 6, 2010. http://www.economist.com/node/16059990, (accessed 22 March, 2012) Read More