There are tens of questions that are socially unpropriate to ask: How old are you? How much do you earn? Nowadays it would be quite fair to add this list with a question to a graduate: What are going to do after you graduate from university? Most of students of the final year are calculating over the average grades and thinking about the future. This is no longer a question to discuss with the peers, it has turned into a hideous taboo.
The problem is that, in a few months, most of students will be trust into The Real World. If you felt safety in numbers, there is something you would have to face: no one will help you to lead the path that you choose for the future after graduation. There are many options: finding a job, travelling, doing charity work etc. However, there are as many options as possibilities to make a wrong one.
Can students expect getting help from somebody so that they can avoid making the bad choice?
Academic supervisors are against any choice that is far from furthering study. Friends will persuade you to collect money and go travelling. While university careers advisers who are in charge of giving efficient pieces of advice to students get a hard time of it.
According to careers coach Anne Wilson, the university careers service must be "based on giving facts and information sources rather than helping students assess where they are … and exploring their options." However, students' opinion of careers services in 2010 was "terrible".
Doed the careers service model really fit for purpose?
What careers advisers do is presenting current options, explaining prospectives for further study. They can even name you jobs that are't adversised. However, there are two things that can could be doing: providing internships and making sure that the advice given is up-to-date in terms of a rapidly changing job market.
Nowadays universities should provide financial support for all students if they want their employability ratings soar. At least until our society makes a step behind from the unpaid internship. Moreover, careers advisors should be aware of the latest changes to the job market.
Do we have right to blame careers services of increase in graduate unemployment? Or is this the state of our economy that influence our education?
