commenting on "overeducation" and "oversupply" of uni graduates

[maelorin]

a recent comment i made over at catallaxy

the 'overeducation'/'undereducation' palaver is all in the () minds of employers and policymakers.

in some sectors, certain 'qualifications' have been reified to excess - so much so that the person gets blamed if they're 'unprepared' for the job offered, not the so-called 'qualification'.

apparently, we seem to have slipped back into an early industrial factory mentality with regards to what education is, and what it is for. 'education institutions' are supposed to pop out 'employment ready' bods. no longer are employers expected to train their own workforce. if you don't already have what the employer wants, you have little chance of getting it.

even if you 'go back to school', you have to pick the 'right school' and the 'right qualification'.

on the other hand, if you come to the table with a big bag of skills and qualifications, the employer gets scared off.

for example, what job would you apply for if you have honours degrees in science and law, postgraduate studies in computer science, law and education, and an emplyment history that looks like the list of job titles at a company now exempted from all that unfair dismissal nonsense?

more to the point, who would you expect might employ you?

Comments

[maelorin]

i volunteer all over the place. not doing much to help me. and a few employers have commented on my "other commitments" ...

universities were not about job preparation. even in the professions. that was what happened on the job. unis were about acquiring the appropriate body of knowledge - and most importantly, the attitudes, for the intended profession.

our glorious leaders™ want to get rid of 'useless' stuff like literature and so forth. they really only want commercial training houses, paid for by the fourtunate students. they are all about shifting the burden of being 'job ready' onto the worker, so the owner of the 'capital' can maximise their profits without having to 'invest' in the tools - at least the tools they can't trade off in tax.

i've been close to public service jobs. but they always find an excuse not to hire me.

my education is an example of "sticking-to-it" ... but i know what you mean. i just lost an opportunity because the employer decided that if no one else though i was worth keeping, they wern't going to be the ones to risk it.


so, i'm back to working for myself.

just need to find a client or two. who can pay.


i'm also working on formalising my networking strategy.




if conveyancing was open to me, i'd be doing it. i'm that desperate (besides, it pays stupidly wee for what you do)