Graduate Jobs

It has been officially reported today that it is even harder than ever before for Graduates to find work. Now to me this comes as no surprise as I am sure the job market is affecting everyone whether you are a graduate or not. The report I heard said that there were in the region of sixty applications for every Graduate post and that the minimum grade they would accept was a 2:1.

I do however think these findings are slightly floored as they only seem to discuss graduate jobs but if you are a graduate you can apply for other jobs other than graduate positions. Graduate jobs are only a small section of the jobs market. I think the days of going to University with the aim of getting a Graduate position at the end are over.

I think this could be a good thing in the long term as there are many skills a graduate has that will benefit the non graduate jobs market. On the flipside this does it make harder for non graduates who are already finding it hard to get work but for companies and employers it is a really good time as they will have higher level applicants applying for roles.

Another thing I hope this does is to get Graduates thinking about starting up their own companies and enterprises. I think this is something that not enough graduates do but the state of the job market could push more people towards.

If you are a graduate or about to graduate just remember to keep positive about work and to think outside of the box.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Experience over Qualifications?

This week I am addressing a hot topic which over the last year I have found myself in many long conversations talking about and discussing this being what is more important to have in order to get a job experience or qualifications?

With the rise in number of people attending university and completing Degrees it seems that some of the shine have been taken off them especially now that you can get a degree in any thing from Surfing to David Beckham. No longer is university just for the financial and social elite.

Getting a job and doing well at a job interview is all about standing out from the crowd and being better than the other candidates so now with degrees being common place it seems a degree alone will not cut it in the workplace. Many job adverts are now asking for a minimum of three years work experience in the desired field before they will consider you.

Now you say how can I get the experience when I am at university? This is a true point so this is why you need to know before you go to university what career you want to work in and what is the best path to get you there. Many university students just go to university as they don’t know what else to do but if you can go in knowing what you want to do it is a big advantage.

Another thing to remember is that after you have finished your degree you may not be able to walk straight in to a high paying graduate job. You may have to take a lower salary than you were expecting in order to build up experience. It is only with both experience and a degree that you will eventually get those higher paid management level jobs.

Many of my friends who are now in highly skilled professions didn’t go to university they forged their own careers going straight from school or college to gain hands on experience and work their way up the ranks so they got a three year head start on all us university students.

Employers are now more interested in your ability to do the job not what you have learnt in a classroom. I went to university and am proud of my university education but I don’t think there is a one size fits all policy when it comes to life after school or college. You need to research the industry you want to get in to and find the best route for you to get where you need to go regardless of whether that is on the job experience or class room learning.

Although people may laugh at McDonalds for now offering qualifications and study programmes for young people I think we need more big organisations like this giving vocational courses as I feel it will improve the speed in which school leavers find work in their chosen field and leave less people unemployed. For many years people have looked down at vocational courses but I think courses which mix learning and work place experience are the way to go and that universities could learn a lot from this approach instead of holding on to their old and tested methods.

We want to know what you think is more important experience or qualifications? You can share your views by joining in our discussion topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=342

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Are young people at risk?

Hey guys

Hope you all had an awesome week. I have a brilliant time down at the YoMo national youth conference. There was so much energy and passion for helping young people during the conference it was unbelievable. On my journey home from the conference I started thinking about this blog that I wanted to share with you.

In this week’s blog I want to talk about a term which I find is banded about very wrongly and that is the term ‘at risk.’ It’s a term which is a buzz word when it comes to young people and working with young people. So today I want to tell you all about what I feel the true meaning of ‘at risk’ is.

The one problem I have with many people is that they only see areas with huge crime levels and social problem as the areas to help. We need to start getting proactive. Youth work needs to be the prevention business not the cure. Just because you live in a nice area now doesn’t mean that it is going to be a nice area in a year’s time.

You never know what is going to happen if you don’t do something to help young people in the area and I want to keep it that way I don’t want to find out what would have happened if I didn’t do something. You know just because a young kid is doing great today and achieving many great things you don’t know what the future is going to hold for them unless you help them.

I hate it when people use the term at-risk for young people when the government says this demographic or kids in these situations are at risk. Every young person is at risk every day in this country if we don’t help them. Just because some young people’s problems are more obvious than others it doesn’t mean they don’t have any or that there problems are less important.

It’s like a few weeks ago I was watching the pride of Britain awards. Anyone catch it? I love that programme as it reminds us all that there are amazing young people doing amazing things all over Britain everyday that we never know bout. But the only way we are going to find these amazing young people or to help young people become amazing is by looking for them and supporting them. There are amazing kids in every city, town and village it’s just up for us to help them and find them.

The youth of today is at risk and it is up to us to make it a safer environment for young people and an environment which gives them the confidence and the motivation to succeed and achieve in life.

To share your views on this blog and to discuss youth work and young people visit our forum topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=230

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

Camp America

This month will set a lot of young people from across the globe start of adventures of a life time. After a year of hard graft at college or university many people will now be gearing up for their gap year, for a backpacking trip across Europe or to work abroad in programmes like the Camp America programme which sends young skilled and adventurous people across to America to work at Children’s summer camps.

For many young people this will be a life changing experience as they survive away from their parents’ home or their student digs for the first time. They will get to learn about new cultures, meet new people, see new sights, have new experiences and learn more about themselves than they ever thought possible. They will be getting an education that you can’t learn in a classroom and getting memories that will keep with them for the rest of their life.

I myself went through Camp America and ended up working at a camp called Kenmont Kenwood Camps in Connecticut USA. This was the first time I had ever been away from home or away from my parents for more than a week; it was the first time that I had gone abroad by myself. I was put in a situation which tested my personal skills and encouraged me to learn more. I had to put myself out there and get to know and make friends with people I had never met before. I had to learn how the camp was run and learn how to be the best counsellor I could possibly be.

I was put in a situation of great responsibility and greeted with situations that nothing could prepare me for but at no time in my life have I learnt so much or developed so much in nine weeks. That experience gave me so much confidence and so much energy that I don’t think I could have got anywhere else. I came home a changed a man and a changed man for the better from my experiences and I came back with a book full of friends and contacts from all corners of the globe who I still keep in contact with to this day. No words can describe the magic, the feeling and the experience that is camp.

I am now an interviewer for Camp America and enjoy giving back and helping young people across the country secure the summer of their dreams. I would recommend to anybody that really wants to challenge themselves and to experience all this world has to offer to do a work or study abroad programme. Working at an American Summer Camp can turn the shyest person in to the loudest and most outgoing and can turn the most dependent person in to the most independent person.

If you want to have an experience that will change your life log on to http://www.campamerica.co.uk and find out more about arranging the summer of your life. The application season for this summer has now finished but you can start gearing up for summer 2008.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/