Jobs these days are increasingly more difficult to come by, especially good jobs and by that I mean full time permanent positions starting at about $60,000 per year with prospects of $100,000 to $120,000 a year or better before age 30. Increasingly in our economy there is a move to casualisation and part time employment. In general there are far more people wanting good positions, positions that help secure an adequate bank loan, than there are positions available. But you knew all this didn’t you. Well let’s just run through some statistics to get you a little more depressed about this than you already are. Then we will talk about what is to be done.
About eight years ago in 2007 the HSBC bank in Australia had 10 positions in a new graduate program, for which the bank received 500 applications. In 2011 the ANZ bank had 140 similar positions, and the bank received 7000 applications. But what about the exciting world of IT? Atlassian, a popular Sydney IT company which makes business collaboration apps, in 2010, advertised 24 positions, and had a surprising 3000 applications. What about Google? In general for every 400 applications only one candidate is accepted. In the United States Google policy is that one spelling or grammar mistake in a resume results in automatic deletion. Perhaps not surprisingly some 58 per cent of resumes have errors.
Closer to home, in fact this year, KPMG, one of the big four accounting companies, received some 10,000 applications for positions next year. 8500 were rejected immediately, and some 1500 were asked to participate in a web cam interview conducted at home. About half of these were rejected, and the remainder invited for interviewing and testing. I estimate that about 350 of those would have been offered a position.
If you think this is bad consider that each year our law schools churn out some 12,000 law graduates. The chances of a legal job are not good. In fact to place all these graduates you would have to eliminate some 20 per cent of all practising lawyers, each year. That’s because in Australia we only have 65,000 lawyers, and no doubt for some that’s 65,000 too many.
Employers want more—far more
There is no shortage today of university graduates, and for that matter Year 12 students wanting cadetships, all of whom are smart with excellent academic results. But these days employers want far more. The ANZ bank, even years ago, said they wanted people who are innovative, accountable and who can work well in a team. You need to have demonstrated life experience and interests and be passionate. Wow.
Perhaps unfortunately for some people the approach of the ANZ bank is hardly unique. The top accounting companies say that smart people are plentiful. They want people who have demonstrated that they are able to continue to learn, to grow, and of course help the company to grow. In the academic literature this type of expectation comes under the heading of graduate capabilities or competencies, or generic skills. These capabilities are very wide ranging and can include problem solving and research capability; the ability to communicate and work effectively with teams and in conflict situations; personal judgement and initiative; the successful management of ambiguity and complexity; and a commitment to lifelong learning. On top of all this demonstrated social responsibility and ethical behaviour certainly wouldn’t go astray.
This might be understandable for a professional new graduate position but what about a high school student Christmas holiday job at Officeworks? Think again. Recently, Officeworks, with about 20 positions over some four stores in a particular area of Sydney, received over 300 applications. Those who were interviewed were asked to think of three examples of how they encountered a problem or difficulty, at school or in a work situation, the methods they used to solve the situation, and the outcomes produced. That’s right, not one example, three.
University scholarships and cadetship are a usually applied for in Year 12. If you have a look at some of these application forms you would be surprised to find that very little space is occupied with academic results. The application requires information about team or group activities outside of school, and individual interests also outside of school, work experience, situations where the student was effective as a leader, a description of how the student has faced a challenge recently and what they did to overcome it, and outstanding achievements within the school community.