Today's presentation by Andrew Hofmeyr was a profound insight into the dynamics of the job application process and the world of work training. Indeed, he helped me understand how one can apply his (her) skills to the world of work, no matter what skills these are indeed.
For example, Andrew Hofmeyr talked about how a BA student could be more appropriate for the world of business than a B.Com student due to his ability to think analytically and critically. In this sense, the world of work training seems a long process in which you need to apply all the skills that you have learned throughout your previous years of education-skills that you initially believe that are not relevant to your chosen career or job-related field. As he said, your skills and knowledge can lead you to a career that you expect the least. Therefore, one needs to apply them to a great degree, as he (or she) is not sure what options might arise as a result.
In addition, the exercises that Andrew Hofmeyr asked us to do helped me realise once again the importance of team-work activity as an essential component of the workplace.
3 comments:
Hi Valentin
Good to hear that Andrew Hofmeyr is positive about roles in the wow for Humanities and Social Sciences postgraduates.
More good news. There are a few researchers (e.g. Torben Drewes, Associate Professor of Economics, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario) who have found that while we Humanities and Social Sciences postgraduates may battle to enter the workplace initially, things do get better for us.
Drewes found that Humanities and Social Sciences postgraduates over the age of 45 actually experienced significantly fewer weeks of unemployment over the survey period (5.4 weeks vs. 9 weeks for the applied grads). A similar story holds true for wages where hourly wage rates for both genders with Humanities and Social Science degrees catch up and then overtake those of their applied counterparts in the over 45 year old age group.
It must be the critical thinking skills that give us the advantage!
Only thing is… how do we market our critical thinking skills, so that we Humanities and Social Sciences postgraduates become sought after?
Valentin,
Could not have said it better my self. Yes i believe that critical and analytical skills are very important in the workplace. But, i am more intersted in the writing ability that every speaker in the workshop have alluded to.But hey! valentin nice of you to have catured that.
Hello Valentine,what I have enjoyed from the variety of styles and insights on each person's blog is the variety of views captured from the sessions. I am learning so much from reading everyone's take on what we've been taught.
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