Money-driven students with summer jobs miss career opportunities
According to new research, students who choose to earn money during summer holidays are less likely to get the career they want after graduating from University.
Many students lack the skills employers look for and recent studies suggest that a degree by itself may not be enough to secure a graduate career.
CBI’s head of education and skills policy James Fothergill said: “Summer placements or internships provide invaluable experience in the workplace that employers look for when recruiting graduates”.
These are financially troubling times for new students, with University fees rising in many cases to £9000 per year. It seems that more and more young people are forgoing valuable internships and instead opting for low-paid jobs to fund their living expenses between terms.
Energy giant Centrica has found that 2 out of 5 students work in Telesales, fast food outlets and bars during University instead of furthering their employment prospects by taking relevant internships.
According to a separate study by Centric, 3 out of 4 graduates believe that taking summer internships helped them to secure jobs after University.
2/3 of graduates looking for jobs now wish they had put more effort into thinking about their future careers and securing relevant work placements.
Because students appear to be more interested in quick earnings than long-term prospects, many career opportunities are slipping away.
Thousands of young adults have now been left unemployed and unequipped for the careers they want.
Fothergill has urged students to put more effort into researching summer work placements, because many corporations do provide paid internships for University students.
Centrica’s new research accompanies an offer of 70 internship placements within the company.
Searching for a job can often be a daunting and stressful time for graduates. Career counsellors are trained to provide support during any period of unemployment. Fully qualified career counsellors are available to help from the Counselling Directory. Counsellors will relieve some of the pressure from job-seeking graduates. They aim to launch a plan of action, guide job seekers through building a CV or portfolio, explore future possibilities and help to kick-start the perfect career.
View the original Press Association article
Tags: careers, graduates, jobs, university