The Milkround - gone sour?
Another week, another useless Careers Fair. Or at least that's how it must seem to someone not interested in the professional funhouses of consultancy, finance, industry, and law. Those who attend in hope of discovering unorthodox careers they hadn't previously considered are soon disappointed. Even international development and the media - two professions that one would expect to be well serviced by Oxford graduates, and therefore well publicised by Careers Service - are barely represented.
Two weeks ago, the OU United Nations Association held a low-key "UN Careers Discussion". About a hundred students came along - some of them almost desperate just to begin to find out about international development jobs. It is exactly this type of event that the Careers Service programme lacks, and this cleavage of students that it neglects.
This term alone, over 20 events are dedicated to legal careers. The Careers Service's influence should not be underestimated: according to the University survey, nearly 80 per cent of finalists are registered with it; attendances at careers and employer presentations totalled over 11,000; and one in three graduates found their first job directly through the Service.
So, with such a narrow range of careers on offer, the risk is that the City path - although a definite preference of some graduates - becomes a default choice for many others. Taken together, careers in law (around 15 per cent of graduates), commerce (20 per cent), finance (9 per cent), industry (7 per cent), and chartered accountancy (6 per cent) account for the majority of graduates who are employed after one year. The media and recreation sectors attract a little over 3 per cent. Both modern history and geography graduates are four times more likely to go into law than into the media. If recruitment publicity were more evenly balanced between these sectors, the ratio would undoubtedly be much lower.
Some people argue that the recruitment opportunities imbalance is justified as it simply reflects the number of jobs available. This, I would suggest, is only partially true. The NGO and media sectors also take sizeable numbers of people - but maybe not just from the top universities. The lack of the formal entry structures deters many of those who look into those sectors. Internships and training contracts are usually not available (or for post-graduates only) - yet, work experience is essential. Consequently, less formal, less transparent mechanisms have arisen. Friends, acquaintances, and school and college alumni associations offer invaluable head-starts. Regarding broadcasting, the Careers Service warns: "This is an area where most jobs are never advertised". About the international development sector, it advises: "Networking is an essential skill to develop when seeking to enter an international environment".
There have been laudable attempts to open up the system: for example, www.idealist.org lists volunteer opportunities in over 36,000 non-profit organisations worldwide. Yet, for some people, a vacation doing such work experience - however stimulating it may be - is nearly impossible as the available placements on offer are unpaid. Whether it's living for two weeks in London or for three months in Ghana, the cost can be prohibitive. For the latter project, expect to spend over £2,000. Of course, the organisations rightly argue that they lack the funds to grant interns stipends, and that applicants should be sufficiently altruistic and motivated to overcome financial hurdles.
The flip side, however, is that the pool of talent which enters these sectors is restricted. It seems ironic that careers in international development or the media are labeled 'extremely competitive': in terms of allowing equal competition between those of different financial means, they are anything but. Furthermore, the product of such quasi-venal career paths is often a dangerous attitude of 'the organisation owes me' or 'I did it the hard way, so can everyone else' (viewpoints expounded at the OUUNA event by the head of UK United Nations Association, who had spent two decades working for Oxfam).
The popularity of the international development sector has admittedly grown exponentially in recent years, and the lack of structured career paths can perhaps be attributed to this. The media have no such excuse. The Careers Service is obviously blameless for the reality of employment structures, but it should pressure the media and NGO sectors, amongst others, to compete on the terms created by City firms. Better events might provide the groundwork so that eventually, when students head to the Careers Fairs, they can take their imaginations along.
For more information on 'alternative' careers, go to the Alternative Careers Fair on February 21st at Exam Shools
13th Nov 2003