UNI Rant

[Niall]

Ok I am at uni and I also have opportunity for a placement. All of the courses at uni have the opportunity for a year in industry! We also have a World Of Work qualification which proves that you have presenational skills and everything else employers are looking for! So I come out with a degree and a few years experience in industry? Now tell me that I dont have prospects or the experience necessary compared to someone who hasnt done that?

Its like yes Ive got debt that i need to pay back but Ive got a small amount of experience for a highly paid job instead of a large amount of experience for a average job! Of course if youre involved high up a business youre going to be minted but my arguement still stands!

Ok so all courses have the opportunity for a years placement. That's brilliant but where does that leave you after the year? Your not guaranteed the job (and I know this because I was very almost bitten by this on an electrical course I almost went on) and what happens when you have thousands of people coming out of uni every year with the same qualification and the same experience. When it comes down to jobs, not everyone's going to get one!

What is wrong with starting low in the industry, and working your way up through the job?
There's less cost involved and at least if you decide you don't like the real job, you can move onto something else and what have you lost?
Realistically, most people go to uni straight from school to train in a job they THINK they like but how do most of them know what the real job is like? They don't and the only way will find out if they like it is by doing it (in a work placement or apprentiships or even working up from the bottom).
We had this so often when I was surveying. So many people started at our company and others in the area and they were gone in 6 months because they THOUGHT surveying was a well payed classy job. Realistically, you do lots of work for shit all money and there's not really anywhere to go.
U fortunately we saw this a lot with uni work placements (my boss loved free labour :/ ). They would come and work with up (first time they have ever really done the job) and they had all the knowledge but couldn't put it into practice because most of what they had been taught was not practical in the real job!

[lewisdmz]

what incentives are there for businesses to take on apprentices to compensate for the burden?

[Toms306]

what incentives are there for businesses to take on apprentices to compensate for the burden?

Cheap labour and the fact you're tied into that company after the apprenticeship has finished usually....

[Niall]

what incentives are there for businesses to take on apprentices to compensate for the burden?

Currently, very little as apprentiships died out however I do know that the government is putting a hell of a lot of money into kick starting them again (I know this because my company is doing it. They want to put me onto a apprentice type scheme)

[ginge191]

Why do we need more and more highly educated people to do a job that doesn't exist!?

To advance the human race, this is what makes us different from cavemen funnily enough - with education brings around advancement, which brings around specialities... it's so much to branch into i cba in my tipsy state. night.