The Graduate Apprentice

The Main Thing. September 18, 2009

I went to a seminar this morning and relearned some business lessons that I have heard many times and read hundreds of times.

You see I’m an avid reader of management textbooks and take any opportunity to listen to managementspeakers.
I’m not stupid, either. People often complimented me on my commercial vision. But no matter how many times the lesson has been repeated. I will still catch myself, being less than perfect and forgetting that as Stephen Covey said “The main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing.”
But that’s the thing, nothing is perfect. It may look perfect, but a true specialist will find the imperfections. So the lesson, we repeated this morning about objectives and the 80/20 rule applies not just to management, but to life itself. The greatest business lesson is, I believe, to truly know what the important things to do are, know how to do them, then do them. Knowing full well, you are not perfectly prepared to start or finish them is the natural order of things.

Applying this business lesson to life is even harder. Prioritising the truly important things in our personal lives, is rarely done. But we don’t have to be perfect to start or to make a diference, because getting it nearly right is  okay. Our children want us to spend some time sharing things with them, not being a comedian or circus clown. Our partners want to be listened to and paid attention, not to always be funny or organising trips.

So, we all know the great lesson of business and life and, it’s OK if it’s nearly right, as long as it’s the main thing.

Thank you once again to all at DCS and particularly Jenny, Simon and John, a great team. http://www.dscca.com/events.htm

Vardera-the student job for all new graduates July 23, 2009

I’ve just learned that a Vardera is ” one who is prepared to work for no pay initially in order to gain experience and to learn the rudiments of the business” Mel Dyke wrote about it in Barnsley and Beyond, descibing the early career of Stephen Moody, a famous son of Barnsley, now an international stylist.
I grew up hearing about but not really understanding terms like indentures and apprenticeships and my own sister worked for a whole year for no pay to learn her business. These terms and routes into a job were never associated with graduates . When you went to University you got a meal ticket to opportunity and, unless you did nothing toward getting a job, were usually able to find a role, on a reasonable salary.
Now we have had a surge in university entry and we seem to have created an unwanted generation, so that the only way of getting on is to become a ‘Vardera’ in the profession that you choose.
I am not against Verderas. I just think that it shows that business really doesn’t value a current university education and that for many students they really would have been better getting that experience at 18 or even 16 in some cases. (I believe a very good case can be made for starting at 13/14 but that is another blogg!)
So, we have the new graduate apprentice, a Verdera. My prediction for 2010-onwards is that we shall see fewer graduate schemes and a lot more Verderas in the future. If you do not show you are prepared to learn the basics for nothing then many student job-seekers will not get anywhere.
Anybody know the word for ‘one who pays to learn the rudiments of a profession’?

Boiling Frogs July 16, 2009

We’ve been turning the heat up on the undergraduate Frogs recently in the UK, they’ll be completely boiled soon but no-one has noticed.
Jim Knight the employment minister, was on Newsnight last night. He nodded sagely in agreement as an unemployed student described how he planned to work for nothing, in order to gain experience and a foot in the employment door. Did students feel any change in temperature, as more expense was transferred to them? I doubt it. In the same way they perceived nothing when recently, the University officers turned the heat up by asking for increases in tuition fees payable by students. Watch out for 2012, whoever is in power in the UK, the heat will go up. With fees of a least £5,000, student debts will be in the region of £25,000 to £30,000. We are going to have a graduate crunch to follow the credit crunch. Oh, and then there will be the tax increases to pay for the last crunch. More heat. With people working for nothing, followed by salaries of two thirds of the average wage, together with £30,000 debts, more students will get off the degree podium and then say, “what was that for?” There’ll be plenty of time for them to think about it though while they are working in non-graduate jobs, you see there are pensions to pay and people are living longer. That means a little bit more heat.

I don’t know what it is exactly, but the cost of sending someone to university must be £50,000 at least. For that sort of money a small business could do a lot to develop a young person for life, big businesses could do a huge amount. University develops people but leaves employers unhappy with students’ employability skills, demanding more positive attitudes, realistic work experience, business awareness and high self management skills. At Investinpotential we’ve been one of the few voices trying to change cooking style, or at least add some taste to the recipe.

It’s not as though we haven’t got an alternative recipe booklet. Apprentices nowadays get allowances and businesses get subsidies for good quality training. There are massive initiatives, for Apprentices and new Diplomas, with big marketing budgets to tempt both employers and students. We’ve got role models in Branson, Sugar and others who worked their way up without university and seem to have done alright. So why do we carry on boiling Frogs?

Think Exam Stress is bad? Wait for Student Loan Stress! May 14, 2009

Stressed out about Exams?-wait until you have to deal with loans!

Debt and loans creep up on people. If you are, or know someone doing A levels right now, then it is likely that in four years time, they will have a very large, student debt. Some calculate it could be £25,000 or more. This will have slowly crept up over three years at University, even though they thought they lived a relatively thrifty life, with no excessive indulgences, just a bit of ‘socialising’ now and then. University is a very costly business. People can help themselves and it’s best to start early.

Understanding  and Controlling Finances.

Sixth form students should get a bank account and start to use it responsibly from day one, live within a budget and never get overdrawn. Nowadays its hard to live without a credit card, but if someone gets one, make sure that it is under control. Always pay off credit cards immediately, it is very expensive debt. Use  part-time work money, allowance or birthday money, to set a weekly budget and stick to it. See how hard it is with small amounts of money before students start playing with tens of thousands of pounds.

Cost of University Living

Find out how much it costs for rent and living at the shortlisted universities, living costs vary greatly and this could mean thousands extra on loans. If undecided between two universities, do the sums. You can see a rough comparison  on http://www.rbs.com/media/news/press-releases/2008-press-releases/2008-08-11natwest-student-livi.ashx which is an annual survey. This could mean the difference between a reasonable debt and big stress.   A couple of years ago interest on Student Loans got to 4.8%. On a £20,000 student loan interest would have been £960 per year which has to be paid before you can tackle the loan. Now that’s something to get stressed about! A loan over £20,000 growing by £20 per week. As the jobs market gets harder, so salaries will get smaller. Students can help themselves by keeping to a budget and starting to  develope  a CV in the 6th form toward the career they want.  Help can be found for 6th formers toward getting careers and experience at www.investinpotential.co.uk

Is it a privilege to attend University? May 5, 2009

David Lammy thinks so, and he is the top man in the ministry.  It must be true.

However, the changes to university admission have changed the whole dynamic of what attending university means.  Now that students have to invest in the region of £25,000, in order to attain a degree, and that there are over 40% of the population going to university, is it really a privilege?

£25,000 is a major investment that students are making in their own careers, not to be undertaken lightly.  Unfortunately for the majority of students, it is not an investment decision that is subject to rigorous analysis.  There is very little thought into whether or not to ‘invest’ simply where to spend the money that is offerred up-front.

  If business were to invest this sort of money, they would do a real cost benefit analysis, why don’t students do the same?  They don’t do it because people like David Lammy continue to tell them that the investment is a no-brainer, that they are bound to earn at least £100,000 more than their friend, who does not go to university. What is it about three years of a degree course that creates this sort of change in someone? When will people realise that some of the most talented people we have in this country did not attend University, it is not for everybody.  It is not for all occupations.

Many students would be better saving their investment, doing without the privilege and getting some job experience, straight from sixth form.  This would allow them to be trained on the job with periods of relevant ‘off the job’ training as required.  The CIPD (personnel professional’s body) reported last year that on-the-job training, was the best method.  If this is the case, how can the average university lecture be the proper preparation for all careers. It is probably right for some (see It’s not brain surgery.)

Is it a class thing, are we all trying to meet in the middle somewhere? The real need for diversity is apparent in the vast range of jobs we have and will have in the UK in years to come. I still see a need for plumbers, plasterers and shopworkers, none of whom would be effectively trained via a University system. These jobs are all best served by job related learning as are thousands of others.

When something becomes available to all it is no longer a privelege, it may simply be the wrong choice for lots of increasingly indebted young people.

Can we always have the top jobs? April 20, 2009

Iwas intrigued to read that the government wants British workers to have jobs ‘at the top of the value chain’ see http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page19037. Now I think it’s a great idea that we sit in our offices and design and finance stuff that other countries’ workers then make but how long is this a sustainable model?

It’s a bit of a throwback to another century when we had an empire and we organised others to do the dirty jobs for us. In the new economic future there will still be roles for people like van drivers and cleaners.

It’s as though there is no view of a balanced economy, only a growing one where we fight to stay in the top jobs. It’s why we have such a poor view of the service industry in our country, people in ‘top jobs’ look down on them.

We need to appreciate the value in all jobs. We also need to find the best jobs for all our people so that they are  really using their talents. Watching a good waiter or builder at work is fantastic-they exude confidence and enjoyment while at the same time producing first class results. Where would we be without artists who give so much pleasure.

We need to look beyond the jobs and think about how the whole of society fits and works together. I liked the Ken Robinson Tedtalk http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

We need an approach to preparing everyone to make that contribution, it will be hard to find in some but worth it. Efficient and effective societies will bring out the best in all their people, that means we shall have to work together and we cannot all have the ‘top jobs’.

It’s not brain surgery. April 20, 2009

We probably need to send Brain Surgeons to university but do we have to send Call Operatives?.

Apprentices and university students never used to have a lot in common. That was in the old days when university was the aspiration of  academically high-achieving students. Apprenticeships were the entry point into most vocational occupations and therefore at the opposite end of the spectrum. However,  medical students, probably the most highly academically qualified students, follow a course of career which, after a basic period of upgrading of individual competencies, starts to look like an apprenticeship, with role models to emulate and regular on the job practice of skills. 

Over the past few years we’ve seen the opening up of university to almost 50% of school leavers. It now attracts people whose talents lie in wider spheres than academia and the model has changed to suit the population. Now we have fewer end of course exams and more continuous assessment with repeatable assignments for those who cannot make the grade at the first attempt. The increase of student numbers, has of course been funded partially by government debt. With the government hoping that they have invested in the right ‘projects ‘ that will repay their investment. Students will be leaving university shortly with up to £25,000 worth of debt,  which is a lot when you work in a call centre. They’ll face  a job market that is shrinking and salary levels often falling. I predict that a significant number of students will never repay their debt and it will be written off after 25 years of credit struggles.  

The solution to this problem lies in really modern apprenticeships. The medical apprentice model is an excellent example and should be copied for less demanding careers. That would mean that if you do not need 3 years of teaching to develop the sort of knowledge a doctor needs to absorb, then you do not do it. For many careers that would mean starting getting some job experience at 18-preferably a lot earlier on a part-time basis. I’d go further than they do at www.Investinpotential.co.uk where they focus on school leavers and helping university stundents, I’d like to see a whole lot of work/education links where students can see what current business and work skills look like. Stopping full time education at about 14 would be good. Replacing it with real lifelong learning for all would be perfect.

 The new diplomas which have been introduced to give a more vocational slant to staying on at school are good opportunities to introduce a really modern version of apprenticeships, ideal for jobs like call centre operative. They could be the first phase of a move to better links between business and the educational world. I’d like to see them introduced lower down the school so that students could start getting involved with some serious work experience at ever younger ages. I’m not suggesting we bring back children in chimneys here, just to question the model that says you wait until you are 21/2 before you try a serious taste of what a career may look like.

Since the young of today will be working for about 50+ years (the pensions guru, Steve Bee, recently confirmed my worries that current students may have to wait until around 72-4 years old, before receiving any state pension). It would be good that they found a career that allowed them to use their talents. Do we really think that university is doing the job of developing these efficiently? Even if we do or we think that university is a ‘good thing’ for all, we shall soon find out that it is not affordable. The world is changing too fast for all universities to keep up and for the market in university education to work.

The experiment in extending full-time education for all is a blunt instrument which will not prove effective. We need to follow another lead of doctors and keep updating our work skills for a lifetime. Investing £25,ooo may be fine for brain surgeons, it is a bad investment for call centre operatives.

Hello world! April 20, 2009

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