Advice for graduating students
In the last few weeks, I received several emails from students similar to this: “I'll be graduating with a Bachelor degree this month and look for job but very few companies are hiring, and the ones that are hiring aren't interested in new graduates. They all want at least two years of experience. Where could a student get that kind of experience?”.
The financial crisis has hurt a lot of people including graduating students. Last month when I was in Beijing, I was told that there were 8 million newly graduates that could not get jobs and the enrollment for next years in many China universities has declined significantly. This situation is also true in many countries, especially in the U.S and Europe where the crisis has really impacted. However, as I look closely to these data, I find that there are some interesting facts. First, many companies are not hiring because they do not have money and not because they do not need people so when the situation is getting better, they will begin hiring again. Second, almost all students who are majoring in Finance, Banking, Business, Global trading will have problems finding jobs because supply already exceeds demand. Third, there are jobs available in some areas but could not find enough people: Medical, Healthcare and Software industry. The evidence is many countries are still having problem hiring qualified people in these fields. The U.S and Europe could not hire enough doctors and nurses for their hospitals and have to “Import” hundred thousands nurses from the Philippines and India to meet the needs. The software industry in India and China is still hiring software engineers, despite the crisis.
Overall, it is really about the law of supply and demand and it is up to you to determine your future by following this rule: You need to think of yourself as a person who has certain skills and knowledge. Either you have the skills that company want to hire or you don't. If you want to convince an employer to hire you, you need to think of your skills and ask: “Do I have the skills that they need or not?”
Few years ago, the “Hot skills” are Finance, Banking, Business and Global Trading so students are enrolling in these fields in large number but no one would predict about the financial crisis. Today the demand has changed and the supply has more than half million people in these fields who could not find works.
Today, the “Hot skills” are Medical, Healthcare, and Software. Based on my research, currently these fields do not have enough people and the enrollment in the university is still low as compare with the global demand. So my advice for new students is to consider these fields of study if you want to have a good jobs when you graduate. For the students who are graduating this year, you could take additional short term training in the “Hot skills” to better your chance of finding works. In this crisis, where job opportunities are limited, you must be prepared for the upcoming better time. There is no reason to be bitter or depressed because taking additional training to improve your skills is a good decision. Life is about learning and improving and lifelong learning is a fact of life. Do not consider a degree as the goal but only a milestone in your journey in life with many milestones to achieve. You will need a lot of persistence and patience in this journey because even with the best map, your journey may change due to other unexpected factors. As long as you are learning and moving ahead, you will reach another milestone so enjoy your journey because life is a journey not a destination.
Good luck.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
