Is it just me, or is this a really odd juxtaposition of complaints?
BRITAIN’S biggest companies gave warning last night that, despite a record number of graduates entering the job market this year, many will lack the basic skills needed for employment. Almost half of businesses said that they did not expect to receive “sufficient applications from graduates with the correct skills”...Managers cite a series of shortcomings in potential recruits. These include:
# Too much time spent working on degrees and not enough joining clubs and societies, where students might work in teams.
# Not enough experience of giving presentations in tutorials, leaving new graduates unable to communicate ideas in the work place.
# Poor spelling, grammar and mathematical ability mean that graduates are making basic mistakes, writing illiterate memos and are in need of constant supervision.
So, they're spending too much time working on their degrees, yet they're coming out illiterate. How would joining more societies make them more mathematically literate? And they have poor spelling, but the root cause of their communication issues is not lack of basic grammar or writing skills, but not enough experience giving presentations. How competent would they be with PowerPoint if they don't have a firm grasp of grammar and spelling?
Is the root cause here their lack of preparation when they enter college, so that they must spend as much time as possible trying to catch up on the basics they should have mastered years before?
Posted by kswygert at February 7, 2006 05:04 AM