Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Confused and Jobless Youth - A Perspective


Ever wondered why so many young graduates can’t find jobs despite degrees from well-known universities. Some would blame it on the lack of opportunities, poor economy and unstable political conditions of the country but on a micro level there is a serious problem that we overlook.

The problem lies with our parents and universities. Parents want their children to be doctors, engineers or business graduates. Under immense pressure from parents and society, students tend to choose their university degrees in a few saturated fields, without considering their aptitude, interest and personality.

So how do universities add to the problem of jobless graduates? The admission criteria of universities are not what they should be! Universities do look at previous marks and grades and take entry tests which test the general knowledge, science and languages but majority of the universities fail to test the three most important points: 

· Aptitude (with respect to the chosen field ) 
· Interest 
· Personality 

These three decisive points in a person’s career are completely overlooked, and as a result there are university graduates who do manage to complete their university education somehow but fail to find a job. Since employers look for candidates with real aptitude, complimenting personality and check if the candidate is really interested in the field he/she has graduated in, the students with a wrong choice of degree fail to find a job.

To prevent this from happening, parents should let their children decide which career they want to choose. On the other hand, the universities should make changes to their admission criteria, by adding in crucial aspects that test the student’s aptitude and ability in the chosen field, interest of the student and the personality characteristics.