Advice for job hunting graduates

LEFTFIELD:SUCCESS BRINGS its own set of problems. Over 90 per cent of 17-18 year olds remain in school to complete the Leaving Cert exam. And we have record numbers in college. Where does that leave your average 22 year-old graduate who has worked hard and secured their 2:1, only to discover that they cannot get a job?

Some 50 per cent of graduates are now staying on in college to pursue post-graduate qualifications. For the others the choices are more varied

– Do you take any job that you can find even if you could have secured it with a basic Leaving Certificate?

– Do you look at opportunities in Australia or in other employment markets abroad?

– Should you seek one of the 5,000 places on the recently introduced Government National Internship Scheme?

These questions are uppermost in the minds of tens of thousands of families throughout Ireland today.

Parents are torn between the desire to see their children make their way in the world, and the heartbreak involved in seeing them build lives on the other side of the world.

My advice? Building a career is similar to trying to jump on to a moving bus. Both your skills and the needs of the labour market need to be in total harmony at the moment you try to jump on board. Otherwise you may end up watching any chance of good employment disappear over the horizon.

What can you do to improve your chances of success?

First, you need to undertake a full audit of your employability skills at this time.

Yes, you have a good undergraduate degree, which indicates how you can work independently and meet targets when required. But, that is but a small part of what employers are looking for before they choose to invest in you.

What other skills have you mastered in your 22 years? Did you participate fully in the vast range of college activities, which can hone your skills through engagement with sport, drama, debating, politics, community work, etc?

If you did, the skills you acquired are as important a part of your CV as anything you achieved in your academic studies.

Once you are certain that your CV is a comprehensive picture of your skills base to date, you need to forensically examine the available job opportunities.

The careers website careersportal.ieis one of the most useful sources of information; it is the place where many of Ireland's major employers promote job opportunities.

Once you have looked hard at the skills they are looking for you need to compare your CV with their requirements. If there are skills deficiencies which can be made up by taking an unpaid place on an internship scheme or in a low-paid job, grab that opportunity with both hands.

Similarly, if you go abroad to secure employment, while you are there you should aim to learn a new language and build personal relationships in a potential export market for Irish employers.

You will improve your employment opportunities in Ireland if you choose to return in the future. My key piece of advice is that sitting and waiting for something to turn up is not an option.

If you are not moving forward in developing and honing your skills, you are regressing and your chances of building a successful career are fading.

So get busy – now!

Brian Mooney teaches at Oatlands College, Dublin