By Robert Lalah, Staff ReporterMANY COLLEGE graduates, despite having invested huge sums of money to acquire a tertiary level education, say they are having a difficult time finding quality jobs particularly in corporate Jamaica.
According to some graduates, the type of jobs that now require a first degree from a recognised institution "are becoming increasingly menial."
Gizelle Hutchinson, a graduate of the Engineering Department at the University of Technology (UTech), said she was contacted by a company in Kingston in June for an interview. She, however, made an enquiry on the telephone about the vacant position before the date of the interview.
"The company wanted telemarketers. You would basically sit in a cubicle and call people at home and advertise products. They would have paid me $100 an hour and you would only have been allowed to work for a maximum of six hours per day," she said.
Ms. Hutchinson said the information she received caused her to disregard the job offer.
Niketa Knight, another university graduate, said she was called to an orientation at a company on Half-Way Tree Road in July. She admitted to not knowing much about the company when a representative contacted her by phone, because it was through a job placement programme at UWI that they received her resumé.
WANTED TOUR GUIDES
"I went (to the interview) with a happy heart. When I got to the company the situation changed. I realised that they wanted tour guides. I'm not a proud person so I would have taken the opportunity despite the fact that I honestly expected something better, but then I was informed that I would have to pay the company almost $7,000 for training before I would even be considered," she said.
Ms. Knight said that having spent close to $1,000,000 to gain her degree at UWI, the thought of spending thousands more to become a local tour guide was unacceptable.
Dr. Leachim Semaj, chief executive officer of The JobBank, a job placement outfit, however, feels that graduates of tertiary institutions today have an inflated sense of what they are worth.
"In the United States, it is the college students who are employed by places like Burger King and McDonalds. It seems as if no university student in Jamaica would be willing to do this kind of work. They don't realise that the important thing is to get their feet in the door," he said. Education only gives you a trainable mind. It is training that makes you employable."
SELL THEMSELVES SHORT
Dr. Semaj noted that that job seekers often sell themselves short by suggesting to potential employers that they would be willing to take 'any vacant position'. "If you don't state specifically what it is that you are applying for, then how can you then blame companies for offering any job to you?" he asked.
The Gleaner reported last Sunday that according to a recently-conducted poll by Don Anderson's Market Research Services Limited, unemployment is high on Jamaicans' list of national concerns. Forty-five per cent of the 1,200 persons aged 18 and older interviewed by the pollster and his team, identified unemployment as an area that needs urgent attention from the Government.
