Friday 17th July 2009
More and more graduates are being told that they are overqualified due to a saturated market full of students with the right qualifications, but with insufficient skills.
I personally have been told when applying for a job that I was the dreaded ‘overqualified.’ My question to employers and indeed others who have been classed as this is:
Should graduates be penalised for having more qualifications rather than skills?
My answer is no. Brought up into a system where ‘Education, Education, Education’ has been hammered into the youth of today, it is no wonder that more of them are turning to higher education. In addition the applications for further degrees are up 400% in some subjects! It seems that there is a problem in the transition between the post A Level’s and pre University stage, many students simply feel that going into higher education is the only way forward.
A possible solution to this problem could be the implementation of a new style of thinking within budding students, releasing the pressure of ‘rushing’ into University before they are ready. The famous ‘gap year’ has long been stigmatised as the easy out option before University with many students travelling abroad. However if utilised properly this gap year could be turned into a year of exerperience.
Having students work for a year in an industry of their choice could indeed better prepare students for university, giving them a real sense of why they are studying for their degrees rather than being there for the sake of going into higher education. As well as this they will have that golden experience for their CV’s.
But to return to the present economic climate, students are taking the time to fill out their résumés by taking internships and work experience out of term time, namely the summer months. The government has even recognised this need by implementing The Graduate Talent Pool.
This system aims to give students the skills they need to be more employable so that graduates are not left jobless once they leave University.
Internships and work experience are proving vital to gain the skills that employers need from students. I think that more and more students should jump on this particular band wagon in order to save themselves from unemployment in the future.
