There are many reasons why training for a trade would make sense in today’s market. Skills shortages are still widely reported. There are opportunities for any candidates who wish to put their energy into a rewarding career. It is still recognised in society that a trade offers a life-long skill. It is a badge of authority.
Challenges
lie ahead
Counter
that with the situation challenging college and university graduates, who face
increasing competition from their peers and increasing demand for top grades
from employers. The prospect of long term unemployment for graduates is a
rising concern.
Failing
to find adequate work has a terrible effect, particularly for those who were
previously advised that this was the best route to job security and studied
hard, only to be informed that jobs for graduates are in short supply.
Gone are the days when a non-specific 2:1 degree would have provided a comfortable berth in a white collar job. The Government appears disinterested, seeming to suggest graduates should lower their expectations and turn their hands to anything in order to get a job. How depressing that must feel.
The
Local Government Association released a report (24 June 2012) stating that, regardless of the
downturn, businesses still need qualified electricians, plumbers, engineers and
environmental officers. There
is a shortfall of 32,000 qualified applicants in Building services
(electricians and plumbers): 40,000 people trained to fill around 72,000 new
jobs. In Construction there are 123,000 trainees for 275,000 advertised jobs.
Cause
for alarm?
By
contrast, 94,000 people completed hair and beauty courses, though 18,000
vacancies existed. More than sixty percent of the candidates were aged 16 – 18.
The educational
institutions in the media sector are training more than the required number to
fill 65,000 jobs. These are alarming statistics.
Studies
have highlighted the effects of the downturn for thousands of graduates
applying for jobs each year, while still being in competition with graduates
from previous years, who are also trying to gain employment.
Graduates
are in a catch-22 situation - they have a degree qualification, but no
experience. Internships require experience, and so do masters degrees. They
find themselves in no-man’s land, struggling to get a foot on the first rung of
the ladder. They feel let down by the system and unsupported.
There
are schemes to help counter this, the Graduation Acceleration Programme (GAP), set up specifically to advise
parents and graduates on how to find work. Sadly for many, this must feel like
putting a band-aid on a broken limb.
It
is not acceptable to instruct young people to pursue a course for betterment
and, having done so, inform them that their efforts were in vain. They are left
with a mountain of debt, a society that has little sympathy and successive
governments that will not be held accountable.
Prospects
There
are alternatives. Why not get a trade? There are many advantages – including the fact that a tradesman
can earn as much as a graduate with the added prospect of job security. There
are years of theory and practical study before you can call yourself a fully
trained technician. Even then, you have to keep up with current practice
development, guidelines, rules and regulations.
People
value these core skills. The electrician and the plumber never go out of fashion
and are always in demand. You are not doing the same job day-in, day-out; there
is plenty of variety, with an additional benefit of seeing the job through. The
harder you train, the more you learn. In time you become a specialist and can
charge your worth accordingly.
Today’s
career advice must be in accordance to today’s jobs market. There are many jobs
available which would make rewarding and satisfying careers. Candidates
presented with the right advice and support could see a brighter future ahead.
Author
bio:
Clive Wedderburn is a freelance
writer/editor/chef/actor and concentrates on the practices in the workplace.
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