Careers and Jobs

A new career site Careersportal has been launched aimed at 2nd and 3rd level students. Much needed if you ask me!! The site will provide information on a variety of careers across industry sectors. Apart from supporting students the site will support parents and teachers and guidance counselors keeping all up to date. This is a problem sometimes with career advice from an educational source – there can be a lack of up to date knowledge about the job market, trends etc.

Careersportal will give students as much information as possible to help them make an informed decision on career direction. It will include tools like Career Exploration to help find a suitable career, employment sector or educational course. It will also profile 30 sectors in Ireland and up to 500 occupation profiles. Companies in Ireland also get an opportunity to profile themselves.

Hopefully initiative like this will reduce the large number of graduates pursuing the wrong qualifications and careers. If you are a student you should definitely check out the site. If you are currently working this site could still prove to be a valuable resource.

I recently read that students are to be given 1,000 Euro to study physics as a subject. GMIT has guaranteed this money to each student who undertakes its degree course in physics and instrumentation. Why are they doing this? Well there is a demand for these skills and a lack of students taking the course. GMIT feel that putting this carrot in place will increase the numbers of students taking this course and these graduates will meet the demand in the jobs market.

I often wonder if initiatives like this have any positive outcome. I regularly meet individuals who have taken the wrong course or entered the wrong career. I feel an initiative like this will perhaps amplify this problem. I appreciate that we need to meet the demand for industries with a skill shortage but not with individuals who are not interested or suited to the roles. Monetary reward may increase the flow of graduates but are they the right people. Will we see another generation of miserable workers?