Do university careers advisers need more support from business? Do they need more people coming in to do talks about their work?
“Some employers are better than others! We have found that students and graduates really appreciate case studies and stories from alumni about their careers and work experience. Most university careers services have employer liaison specialists at work, whose job it is to work closely with a wide range of employers, whether they are from the public or private sector, a small-medium employer or one of the top consultancy firms. It’s another myth that we only work with one type of employer, or only invite certain types of employer on to campus. Employers do have a role in working with careers advisers – they are the people who take on graduates after all!”
What qualifications does a careers adviser have? Is it true that many have never had a job other than being a university careers adviser?
“Most careers advisers have a postgraduate or vocational qualification in careers guidance and a significant amount of work experience in all sorts of diverse work environments! I think it would be wrong if many had never had a job other than being a university careers adviser. Most of the careers professionals I know have had fantastically diverse career histories! I’ll give you a few examples of previous jobs in my own service: lecturer, teacher, recruitment consultant, catering manager, coppersmith, trade union official, finance clerk, administrator, engineer…”
Does the role of university careers advisers needs to be reassessed completely? Now that we have the internet and students can do their own research, do you think advisers should feel less like libarians or ‘gatekeepers’ for all careers information ever. Should they feel more like personal advisers to help students take responsibility for their own future, do their own research and make their own decisions, having weighed up their options?
“What you identify here has already happened or is happening – not just in my service, but across the sector! It is true that many people (including students and academics) perceive careers advisers as being akin to a librarian/gatekeeper – and that they look after all the careers info ever. Information-giving is one small part of a careers adviser’s role, alongside the personal adviser role you identify.
“It is hard sometimes to get over to students that they have to take some responsibility above and beyond turning up with a CV and saying ‘I don’t know what I want to do’. That is just a start to the conversation. And, given that there is so much information now freely available on the internet, knowledge about careers is becoming democratised. Once you have started the conversation with a careers adviser, there are no excuses for not exploring the vast amount of careers information available on the web.”
*What do you reckon – is Dr Ferrett on the level?
Are university careers advisers being unfairly scapegoated for bigger problems that aren’t their fault? Or are these just excuses – and is it time they got their act together? Please add your comments below (but don’t be sweary, please! And remember, Dr Ferrett is our guest…)
Careers Partnership (UK)is an independent career counselling organisation working with under-graduates and graduates – we share Graduate Fog’s view that university careers services often don’t pass on details of outsider organisations as freely as you’d expect.
It’s understandable the careers services want to protect their clients from us private-sector “vampires” … however, being fee-funded, we spend a lot more time and professional expertise helping each individual than they can afford to do, resulting in better outcomes for our clients. The mature students in particular benefit from the extra input.
I actually think part of the problem is not whether the career services are doing a good job but the lack of use they get from students. If more students used their career service i reckon the reputation of career advisors would go. Most people who think the careers service is rubbish is basing it on the fact they’ve never come across it.
The question then becomes…is that down to students or career services not marketing themselves appropriately. Personally i think a trip to the uni careers service should be mandatory for students at the start of each academic year!
The blame for the plight of unemployed and underemployed graduates should be be placed squarely at their own feet. Many are uninformed and unprepared and many more a just lazy and spoiled. They spend hours researching a single essay topic and no time at all on researching the rest of their lives. They expect Careers Advisers to do it for them and when they don’t like the answers – guess who they blame, and don’t get me started on the ones who criticise Careers Services but have never set foot in the place!
One of the often overlooked problems with University Careers Services is that they often paint a shiny portrait of even the most difficult graduate employment pictures… partly due to the fact that to display the reality would reflect poorly on their University, a herd mentality overplaying prospects when there are none.
To place the blame on graduates themselves is not only unduely harsh, but also obsfiscating the reality of dreams being dashed on the shores of regressive fact. Few, if any graduates are likely to actually obtain the job they planned and hoped for, instead having to take the first job that comes along in the hope of escaping in the future.
Perhaps it is time that Career Advisers actually starting playing within the real world from secondary school, teaching people how to engage in the employment market and actual chances of careers. Obviously though, if they were to bring reality into employment concepts, few would chose to take on higher education escept for professional qualification degrees, and then where would higher education be? You think it is underfunded now, then take out the 60% non professional degrees and see what happens to our universities.
Business has to take a stake in education that they require to fill high level positions, research and economic reality. Too long have they cherry picked without paying into the very thing they require. Highly educated, motivated people. Business Tax based on educational and trainee positions offered? You want graduates, maybe you need to start paying for them. Or, alternatively, give my parents a refund on the taxes they paid thinking that I would get free higher education only for me to have to take £17,500 in debt to do so, and then be unable to find a graduate placement fitting my degree quality.
From Abintegro’s (career tools provider) experience we see careers services up and down the country working tirelessly and innovating to do the best they possibly can for students and graduates, working with very limited resources. Similarly, there is good advice and resources available from private, independent organisations.
I’d like to see 2 things:
1) Employers being more willing to engage with universities to educate and excite students about the world of work. The big grad recruiters already do this well but the voice of the SME and ‘non-grad scheme’ really needs to be heard.
2) Universities moving the practical process of searching and applying for jobs up the agenda, perhaps with some form of metric in place, and that means a step-change in funding for the careers and employability functions.
This is a interesting interview and certainly addresses many of the ‘sacred cow’ issues of careers advice for the under 25s. The fact is that many careers services or individuals within them do unfortunately live up to their stereotype as do many students. Others do a great job. That said, mud slinging doesn’t get anyone anywhere, everyone needs to raise their game if they want to get a decent job. It is very frustrating that Prospects tend to dominate the careers sector in the same way that Job Centres appear impervious to the existence of modern recruitment strategies and tools in the market today. As the parent of a newly fledged grad it’s a topic I feel very strongly about. That’s why, with with the help of a number of currently unemployed undergrads and some helpful contacts and recruiters, we have launched http://www.mygraduatecareer.com – the ‘alternative’ careers library. We’ve featured the ubiquitous Prospects but also as many of the other ones we can find too – including Graduate Fog. Maybe we can clear both the fog and the cartel if we work a bit more cooperatively together.
Would closing university career services at most universities make ANY real difference?