I just met with Sanford Dickert, CTO and what he said really resonated with me and I have to say I completely agree with his point. I also believe that what he said is the reason so many graduates are unemployed and struggling to get jobs. He said What is missing with the world today is a Bar-mitzvah or a warQ
According to Jewish law, when Jewish boys reach 13, they become responsible for their actions and become a Bar Mitzvah (plural: B’nai Mitzvah).
What Sanford means by this is that young people are missing a sense of purpose and a reason to become responsible for their actions. Graduates in the past, prior to the recession had it much easier. Most students were going to University straight from school and not really putting much thought into what they were studying or why. I know that when I left school I had to go to University and that was it. There was no other choice and i didn;tknow what other options existed. “You don’t know what you don’t know” so I looked for a course at the highest graded University I could find, which would accept the lowest grades. ‘Work smart, not hard’ is my motto and luckily I ended up studying a subject I was interested in (Sociology) but that was luck and fluke and nothing else. At university I was more concerned with doing well in my exams and socialising than I was with getting a job. It didn’t even occur to me to gain relevant work experience or start researching what jobs were available when I left and I was just fortunate enough to be successful at an Assessment day and got a job when I finished University! Graduates today are not as lucky!
My point with all of this is that students are graduating from University absolutely clueless about what exists in the world of work and with the false expectation that they ‘will’ get a job when they leave just because they have studied a degree. This is not their fault. This is due to the ‘subconscious programming’ that they have been fed from their schools, their parents and of course the government!
It is this ‘cluelessness’ which frustrates potential employers the most. “If you know what you want, you will get what you want”. The challenge is most graduates have no idea what they want! They don’t know what jobs even exist!
Graduates need to wake up and smell the roses very early on! Even as early as leaving high school. Getting a job is not something that you can just walk into because you have a degree, not any more anyway! More thought needs to be put into what they are studying at University and the reason why. What is their sense of purpose? Their sense of responsibility? Their bar-mitzvah if you like. They need to be educated about what jobs exist and what employers look for very early on! This means they will concentrate their efforts at University, not on socialising or wasting time but on their future chosen profession. They will work in relevant internships and gain relevant work experience. They will join courses, classes and societies which can help them build confidence in the competencies employers are looking for. This will mean when they leave University, they will find it easier to get a job.
All employers want to see is a PASSION to work in THEIR industry and with THEIR company. How can you prove your value to a ‘potential employer?’. How can you ‘stroke their ego’ and make them believe that this is your passion and you want their job?
Never continue in a job you don’t enjoy. If you’re happy in what you’re doing, you’ll like yourself, you’ll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you’ll have more success than you could possibly have imagined.
— Roger Caras
“You don’t know what you don’t know but you can learn” Emma Vites, The Apprentice Project
‚Äé”You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.” ~ Beverly Sills
The Apprentice Project “provides the education students need after finishing University!” If you’re interested in learning more about our career coaching services then contact us by calling 0203 0868033 or email [email protected].
Written by Emma Vites
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Copyright © 2012 Emma Vites
