In a previous life, your scribe was a graphic designer by trade. That included sub-contracting as part of a small, tight-knit team on a burgeoning new company. Very often, we’d receive resumes from new graduates looking for a job.
Most of them went straight in the bin.
Why? Because they were bog-standard Word docs. That may be perfectly fine if you’re applying for a job at a law or accounting firm, but if you’ve just spent the last three years studying graphic design — well, show it. (My own first resume out of art school was a “brochure” of my student work that I ran off on a photocopier, and it did the trick.)
But even in non-creative jobs, employers are getting sick of universities churning out graduates who don’t seem to have actually learned anything. And schools turning out leavers who can barely read, write or do basic maths.
The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group), representing 60,000 employers of 1 million workers, has warned that poor literacy and numeracy skills among workers is affecting three quarters of businesses […]
Ai Group education and training director Megan Lilly said many school leavers – and even university graduates – have “inadequate skills’’ to work.
“There are definitely people who come from vocational and university education who lack the foundational skills they need to function properly in the workforce,’’ she said.
Kerry Packer undiplomatically referred to “educated f-wits”. The Ai Group is a bit more circumspect, but the message is the same:
“We have a lot of very well-educated young people these days but we still have a considerable number who have literacy and numeracy deficits that impact … getting a job and maintaining a job. Apprentices often need to get literacy and numeracy support to enable them to complete their apprenticeship.’’
Whilst I (increasingly less satirically) advocate simply bulldozing universities and starting afresh, the Ai Group aren’t going quite so far. They’re just recommending side-stepping universities altogether. Wimps.
Ms Lilly said more businesses want a return to on-the-job training, combining work with short industry courses or part-time tertiary study.
She said “degree apprenticeships’’ were popular in Europe and would work well in Australia, for school leavers keen to “earn while they learn’’.
“There are such acute skills shortages that young people can pick up jobs and earn good money, so some companies are employing people directly and building a training program for employees,’’ she said.
“There should be more high-level apprenticeships and cadetships across the economy, like they do in Europe.
“We need a model of learning that is more relevant to the modern economy.’’
Of course, universities will fight it tooth and nail. Not least because they’ll be terrified of being shown up.
Mr Bush said IT employers were hiring Certificate III and Certificate IV vocational training graduates, who study for a year or two. “They’re not necessarily taking graduates with three- and four-year undergraduate degrees from university,’’ he said.
BAE Systems, a global engineering firm that specialises in defence, cyber security and virtual-reality technologies, will launch the first “degree apprenticeship’’ in systems engineering in 2024.
The Australian
Still, credit must be given to the Ai Group for advocating for employers to hire and train local talent, rather than just opt for the lazy gambit of importing workers from overseas. Employers who are willing to invest in young Australians deserve every support.
