A clear message for changing times

A clear message for changing times


With the changed economic climate causing job losses in so many sectors, Leaving Cert students face difficult further study and career choices

Neill O'Neill

WITH Ireland in the midst of recession, many people are finding that they now have previously unknown influences guiding the important decisions they have to make.
Next Tuesday brings with it the first deadline for CAO applications for entry to third level institutions next September, and with many predicting that the Leaving Cert students of today will be the graduates emerging into the working world at the end of the current global crisis, those undecided on their futures among the population have some big factors to consider.
Julie McDermott is career guidance counsellor in the Sacred Heart School in Westport, and feels that the focus of young people when thinking about a career should still be on their primary interests, vocational personality, motivations, aptitudes, skills and values. She believes these are all inter-linked, and that people shouldn’t move away from them as motivations and influencing factors this year. 
“The core is still the same and people need to be calm and positive with students, who need adults – who have been through a recession before – to give leadership at this time,” she said. “The starting point should not change, and it should give an indication of which area of study is of interest to a particular student.”
Julie is of the opinion that the change in our economic situation is beginning to motivate students and is getting them thinking, because they had been ‘going the other way’ in recent years and were losing the will to fight for their goals. She added that the only certainty now is change, and we have to adapt to it.
“The value of a good and broad education, offering a range of transferrable skills, cannot be overstated,” she said, “and the education a student chooses will be enhanced if it offers a chance of work experience and travel. It is no longer advisable or good enough to stay inside the four walls of a college for three or four years. Contacts made on work experience can be invaluable, as is the chance to experience a real working life.”
A teacher and career guidance counsellor with over 25 years of experience, Julie is a big advocate of what is known as the portfolio career – where you build up a portfolio and package of skills and education and get out and sell them – rather than training for one job and staying in it for life. She feels all people need to continuously update their portfolios, by learning, training, adapting and using what they acquire to broaden their horizons.
“It is a given today that job applicants have a degree – even one with first class honours,” she said. “What employers are looking for however, is somebody who can think, reason, research, problem solve and use the knowledge they have acquired. Employers are looking for good communication skills, adaptability, teamwork, leadership, creativity – vitally important in a recession – versatility and entrepreneurial skills. A student with 250 points in the Leaving Cert may end up in a better position than one with 500, simply because they have better entrepreneurial skills.
The present group of school leavers may feel they are taking the brunt of sudden change and the insecurity it brings, but it is the people graduating this year who have more to worry about Julie feels. She has noticed that this insecurity is leading to an increase in interest in denominated careers, such as nursing, teaching, social work or a specific business career etc. However, a student should only pursue studies in these areas if they are certain that it is what they want, and that it will make them happy, she advises.
While interest in teaching has gone way up this year – and points are expected to rise accordingly – the message is that teaching should not be pursued if your only motivation is a secure and pensionable job and long summer holidays.
“Being a round peg in a square hole can lead to major problems further down the road, so  unless your choice suits your vocational personality it should be avoided,” warns Julie.
Similarly, career options should not be taken out of panic, so while some people are afraid to pursue an undenominated course such as Arts – where you study a general subject(s) and later diversify into one of many available branches – it can be the best option for many, and will provide the opportunity for an informed decision in a few years when a student is familiar with the workings of their chosen career.
“Parents often ask a career counsellor ‘if they study that course sure what will they be?’ and if I answer that they will be educated they think I’m being smart with them,” Julie says. “A basic degree gives a student the best opportunity to refine their skills, especially since fourth level education is growing so significantly. Third level education should be considered as a voyage of discovery, and foreclosure (eliminating potential options and sticking to one strand of study because you panicked etc) should be avoided. Looking down the road to a future can cause stress, because that future may well have changed by the time a student gets there.”
Another important message for students entering this key stage of their lives is that they cannot be urged strongly enough to thoroughly research the course they plan on studying. In a rapidly-changing world, where new niches are opening up all the time, somebody who wanted to be an engineer, for example, may be put off because of the perception that there are no engineering jobs out there. However, the truth is that while civil engineers may not be in huge demand, there are many new areas of engineering that require graduates – such as environmental, biomedical, digital and energy engineering. This applies in many study areas, so it is imperative that if a student does not want to do a general degree that they do their research and pick the correct niche. Exhaustive research can also remove the need to do a general studies year before specialising, and will reveal the many new and innovative elements of modern college courses that may interest people – particularly in knowledge economy and research and development – which are buzzwords in careers today.
“The high drop-out rate in colleges could be avoided if students did more prior research,” says Julie. “Irish students also need a better study ethic. The foreign students studying in this country should be held up as role models because they are much hungrier for education – though the days of begging and coaxing students to study may change with the recession. We live in a multi-cultural society and our students need to acquire the competitive edge and work ethic of other cultures. However, young people are more adaptable to change than adults, and it may be the case that many parents are more frightened than their children are.”
In changing times Julie also feels that parents must realise their children may be longer in education, and that many will go on to fourth level, which can be particularly expensive. Sadly, there is now a realistic fear that a certain sector of Irish society will be priced out of educating their children – because it costs around €200 per week to send each student to college.
“There is change in the world this year,” Julie concludes, “but the best bit of advice for students filling in their CAO forms is not to panic or confine your options unnecessarily, begin building up a portfolio career, check out the new areas of study now available, do your research and keep faith in these negative times.”

The role of parents

For parents worried about how best to advise their children that the choices they make now may guide their futures, the message from the National Parents’ Council Post-Primary (NPCPP) is to simply make sure that they will be happy in their chosen studies and career.
Rose Tully is PRO of the NPCPP, and feels that all young people must be happy to be in whatever area it is they end up choosing. She said that Leaving Cert students must be advised by their parents to be certain of their choices, to investigate all options that interest them, and give each of these serious consideration ahead of receiving their change of mind forms.
“You need, as a parent, to have an idea of the career options your children are thinking of, and help them to come to their decisions for the right reasons,” she said. “Engineers, for example, used to be able to work anywhere in the world, but people now need to look at their career options in regard to employment prospects, and particularly with an emphasis on where they will be happy at the end of the day. Parents need to make sure that the choices their children make will ultimately make them happy, as dropping out of a course half way through it can lead to many difficulties for young people.”
Rose also feels that students not currently considering going to college should give the thought of attending third level – even for a couple of years – serious consideration, as an education gives young people something to fall back on, and time spent acquiring an education should never be considered wasted.

Keeping trades going

OF course it is not just those intent on pursuing third level education that have much food for thought, with huge obstacles now putting many off going down one of the more traditional routes – such as undertaking an apprenticeship. It is estimated that approximately 6,000 to 7,000 people are working in an apprenticeship capacity in Ireland every year, but with the construction industry now in tatters, and widespread lay-offs in virtually every building-related sector in Ireland, fears are beginning to emerge that many will find themselves with nowhere to go next September.
According to Tony Hughes, Manager of Services to Businesses for FÁS in the West Region, it is a particularly bad time to be looking to begin a construction-related apprenticeship, as candidates must find an employer willing to take them on for the four years of the apprenticeship – which is extremely difficult in the current climate. If, however, a person can secure an employer, the message is that you can be assured FÁS will see you through to the end.
“The Advanced Craft Certificate an apprentice receives after completing their seven phases is recognised and regarded all around the world,” said Tony, “so while there may be a downturn now, employers should be encouraged to take on apprentices where at all possible, otherwise we may face a shortage of qualified craft persons when the current economic situation turns around.”
A lot of companies have been laying off apprentices of late – prompting the launch of the apprentice rotation scheme – but apprenticeships have not ceased. However, the number of applications for apprenticeships has reduced significantly in recent years, and in a bid to combat this, and to give opportunities to those still willing to learn new skills, FÁS have launched a range of new apprenticeships in what they perceive to be growth areas.
These include Electronic Security Systems, Industrial Insulation, Farriery, Jewellery and Environmental Stone. For further information go to www.fas.ie.

The Great Red hope

AUSTRALIA used to be the place to go for guaranteed work and a lot of fun. However, recent reports from the land down under suggest that while Oz is still a viable option for many, the situation on the ground there is fast catching up with that in Ireland. Breaffy native Edwin McGreal returned recently after a year in Australia. He said that work was very plentiful when he arrived in Sydney in January 2008, but by November last year there was very little available.
He added that Australia is certainly starting to feel the pinch and that many people – particularly tradespeople – arrived expecting to find work easily, only to have to return home.
“Within 12 months it went from being easy to get work to being very difficult,” he said.
“The banking/finance, construction and engineering sectors seemed particularly badly hit, but Australia still holds brighter prospects than Ireland, especially for those who are willing to settle in more remote areas. Sydney is the financial heart of Australia and is probably the worst place to settle right now. People who do not set their hearts on living in Sydney are less likely to be disappointed.”
Edwin cited the example of a friend of his who works in recruitment in Sydney who told him in December that he never had more people on the books and less work available. However, he added that if a person is resourceful and does some research before travelling, then Australia could well be a highly viable prospect in terms of employment and a future.
Of course there are also stories of people – across a wide range of jobs – still getting work in Australia. One Westport woman waved her quantity surveyor son off before the new year knowing that he was starting work in Melbourne on January 5, having been recruited and interviewed from home by his Australian employers, at a time when quantity surveying work is fast drying up in Ireland.