Education 7 - The Job Application Jungle

There are excellent curriculum in secondary schools that ensure, hopefully, that students learn language, mathematics, and science but, then, what happens when they move on into higher education, will they graduate towards wonderful lucrative jobs.  I wonder.

I had cause to travel through the huge, increasingly developing and expanding, campus of the University of Western Ontario, recently.  It seemed to be the moment of the mid-morning break because there was a great army of undergraduates diligently walking between one destination or another.  Besides walking, some were forced to use one of many bus services, others were still braving the cold weather on their bicycles.  I am trying to create a picture of thousands of students moving through a system of academic creation (Almost a manufacturing enterprise) and the ultimate horror of a graduation ceremony, as they ponder their next move into the uncertain jungle of job searching.

Actually, it is not uncertain.  We know that most of them will become unemployed (Not unemployable).  Many will, sensibly, volunteer overseas, others will move back with their parents, and we shall wonder if the government is doing enough ... or if it knows what to do.

And pundits, like myself will try to offer wise platitudes ... if that is not an oxymoron. 

But, related to this, is my experience trying to break through the job application jungle for a friend.  Forgive me if I say that it’s not like it was in the good ol’ days.

Were you aware that the unsolicited submission of one’s resume is obsolescent.  Auto-generated replies of, “We do not accept CV’s” has become commonplace.  Yes, all CV’s (period) not only those unsolicited.  There are many interesting jobs advertised in the Times Higher Education supplement, and they all ask applicants to go to a website to find an online application form ... and only an online form, i.e., do not attach a CV.  Put simply, "if you ignore this request, your application will be deleted".

It could be argued that, thus, the application process becomes an equal playing field.

Do we want an equal playing field for aspiring teachers who are proficient in completing online forms, but cannot demonstrate their ability to write a couple of simple English paragraphs, or prove their distinctive traits above others.  Of course, every employer will tell of the impossible number of applications aimed at any one particular job, but can a computer software writer produce a successful software algorithm capable of selecting the best candidate?  I suggest that the quality of higher education will decrease with this approach.  Computers are excellent at manufacturing robots.

And educated robots will move back in with their parents.