Students who are not 100 per cent sure what choices to put on their CAO forms should take a long-term view of possible career paths as well as relevant employment trends but don’t be afraid to create your own personal vision too. That’s the advice from employers.

The advice you get from your school career guidance counsellor may focus on the points you need or the technicalities of the application process, says Angela Burke, manager of the European graduate development programme at multinational food firm Aryzta.

“I think guidance counsellors in schools shouldn’t just be focusing on the short-term goals of getting into college, but how whatever choice you put down on your CAO form will really determine the salary you earn, the career path you follow, where you can work and how employable you will be,” says Burke, who graduated from NUI Galway in commerce in 2009 and previously worked as a graduate recruiter for Dell. “I think those are the things that I would have loved my guidance counsellors to talk to me about when I was filling in my CAO form but, in reality, it doesn’t happen.”

A minority of CAO applicants, particularly those drawn to disciplines such as teaching, nursing, medicine or architecture, may be 100 per cent certain of their choices, but for everyone else, a common dilemma is whether to go for a course that is a general as possible, such as commerce, IT or engineering, or to plough a more specialist furrow at an undergraduate stage.

“If you’re not 100 per cent sure what you want to do, do a broad degree and learn a little bit about each area, you can decide at postgraduate level what you really want to specialise in,” says Burke.

She adds that as far as multinationals are concerned, languages are “gold”. “I know when I’m looking at a list of students, I want to get those with languages into my organisation,” says Burke, who is currently looking hard for German-speaking engineers. She said that if she could turn the clock back, she would have done commerce with a language.

Courses with work placements are also strongly worth considering if you want to stand out from hoards of other graduates in the jobs market. “If I see someone that has done a work placement, that’s invaluable,” she says.

Niche courses

While picking, say, an engineering course with a language and a work placement might seem like a sure-fire route to your future employability, don’t dismiss courses just because they might look too new, unproven or “niche”, says Paul McCartney, HR director at telecom tech firm Accuris Networks, which employs nearly 60 people.

“Employers like niche; they like to see people who are confident in selecting something a little off the beaten path. It helps differentiate you as a potentially interesting candidate down the line.”

He says that doing something more specialised doesn’t necessarily mean you will end up spending your career in one area. “Because you might select an IT course certainly does not mean you will be programming or testing all your life – unless you want to. Other non-IT careers often emerge early in the SME IT world towards areas like pre-sales, sales, design, technical project management and many more.

“So a choice that looks very technical and specific can often open up into something with a much more broad, commercial or business orientation.”

McCartney says the principle of choosing a broad, general degree remains a sound one, but an equally valid way of identifying suitable courses is to find ones that have “some reasonable content around problem-solving skills, communication skills and an element of business acumen. These skill sets are always needed, especially in smaller companies where initial roles can often require a little more hands-on and multi-tasking focus.”

But do smaller employers, particularly those who serve export markets, prioritise language skills in the same way as large multinationals currently do?

“Languages are often a strong asset but a considerable amount of global business is done through English,” said McCartney. “There are exceptions but the emphasis on having a language as a must is not necessarily true. Having strong oral and written English and associated communications skills will often be more important for an SME.”

Both Burke and McCartney agree on the usefulness of checking medium-term employment market trends over the past five or 10 years.

Future trends

Employment trends are relevant even for those who are considering more vocational courses, says Burke, who points to the current surplus of qualified teachers.

“If they really want to be a teacher, be realistic about it.

“Do you think that in three or four years times when you come out of university, will that surplus have dried up or will it get worse.”

McCartney adds that while areas like IT, engineering, pharmaceutical, accounting, tourism and hospitality are enjoying growth, “in selecting a course, be brave and have your own personal vision”.

“In the future, if either of these employer markets [SMEs or multinationals] were substantially restricted, what course choice might then equip and serve you best? In that scenario you may well end up being the entrepreneur and you are doing the hiring.”

From a third-level perspective, John McGinnity, assistant registrar and admissions officer at NUI Maynooth, stresses the importance of doing your homework.

“Research, research and research are the three most important things when you are thinking of college and career choices,” he says, and that you should study something that you have an ‘intuitive interest’ in.