And many fresher jobs are bias to Graduates which 95% of the time is talking about University graduates.
The reason for this is simple. In order to massage the statistics
all courses have been dumbed down. So people that would have been non-certificate a generation or two ago now have (albeit worthless IMHO) 'qualifications'. The 'numpty exams' the kids call them...
And even at HE level there are greater numbers of graduates around; but they're only at the same level as HN qualified people were a generation ago...
It's not that young people are any less capable. It's just that the education system (like so much controlled by government) over the past 30 years (and it's got wors during the last 15) has shifted its key priorities from doing the job it's meant to do, to producing largely vacuous statistics for government spin doctors.
Most A-Level/Higher papers that I've seen aren't anywhere near the same level of difficulty 'o' Level papers were 25 or 30 years ago. The net result is that I regularly see students with 'highers' and 'A' levels who quite simply cannot read and write properly (And no, not because they're dyslexic either; a condition I struggle with myself.) Simply because they've been taught and certificated at an inadequate level to massage the school 'league tables'...
At the HNC/D level which I teach, I'm only bringing people up to an level of knowledge which would have got you an ONC 25 years ago; an HND now is a
pretty basic qualification... And a degree similarly less advanced than it once was...
Not that these things are worthless. An HND represents some 2400hours of study and is assessed rigourously. But the same was once true of 'o' grades and highers...
The minimum qualification I set now for a
very junior position is an HNC in either TV or Multimedia production. And even a graduate is going to start their career making the tea and doing the filing... 20 years ago I'd have started a school leaver with one or two highers or a good group of 'o' levels and sent them through college on day or block release...
It's not that I have anything against school leavers. But when I deploy a production team I'm taking a calculated risk. And it would be the same for any business person; if you employ a filing clerk ar ethey actually filing things away or stuffing them in their pockets and dumping them onthe way home. (I've seen this happen!).
To mitigate that risk one of the things I have to do is ensure that the person I'm employing has demonstrated a) that they have an adequate level of education and b) have demonstrated the self discipline needed to complete a complex task
such as the HNC...
I've got BTEC Nat. Diploma Lvl3 in IT. GNVQ Business Studies and part (due to hospitalisation, I had to drop out) BTEC Nat. Dip Lvl3 Business Studies and quite a few GCSEs.
NONE have helped me get a job.
Theoretically the equivalent of 3-5 A levels... and you would have achieved this at about 18? But in truth the equivalent of 7 or 8 old 'o' levels.. Which is good but... by the time you get these you're well past school leaving age....
For instance I've seen the paperwork for the Ineractive Media and its no wonder my 13-year old does so well in IT at school... With a little effort she could pass that. NOT because she's some sort of genius. But because I've been teaching her these things at home to a level appropriate to her age and intelligence...
This will sound horrible; and it's really not my intent to be cruel or nasty... But the blunt fact is many employers can see through the political spin. And see qualifications at that level for what they are... We have 18, 19, 20 years olds who have been 'sold' these qualifications which are in fact what you'd have expected from a 16 year old two decades ago... That's why those qualifications haven't helped you get a job...
Despite offering paperwork up to the hilt the education system has and is failing both young people and employers...
