Recent years have been good to college graduates. Their unemployment levels are the lowest in almost a decade, thanks to a buoyant Irish economy and a recognition by domestic and international employers of the quality of Irish third-level qualifications. The range of those qualifications and the colleges offering them, can be bewildering when a student first takes a look at the CAO form and its accompanying literature. Ten years ago, it might have been easier to divide colleges into easily-definable categories: Regional Technical Colleges and the Dublin Institute of Technology were, in general, more specifically oriented towards technical and business subjects than the universities, which offered a broader base of courses, particularly in the arts sector.
Colleges are no longer so easily pigeonholed: Cork RTC, for example, includes colleges of both art and music; Dublin City University and the University of Limerick have a strong emphasis on business and hi-tech disciplines. These colleges also have distinct and individual personalities: UCD is a huge, modern, sprawling campus, with nothing which can really be termed a "centre". TCD, UCC and UCG, by contrast, are built around quadrangles surrounded by Victorian or pre-Victorian buildings. The RTCs are growing all the time, but most are smaller than the universities with from 1,000 to 4,000 students. The DIT consists of six colleges, each with its own distinct emphasis: music, for example, or technology, art or catering.
In terms of the qualifications on offer, the universities are still primarily degree-based, which means a three or four year course of study leading to a bachelor qualification (Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science). The RTCs and the two Insitutes of Technology in Dublin and Waterford offer a wider range of qualifications, from certificates (usually two years), to diplomas (typically three years) and on to degree level (again, usually four years). Through the RTC and DIT system, it is possible for a student to start off on a certificate programme and gradually work his or her way through to a degree.
If students find that they do not have the points to take a degree programme immediately, this "add-on" system enables them to get that degree through a different route by starting off a different rung of the qualifications ladder. It should be remembered that, for many employers, the degree is now regarded as the basic qualification.
That is a thumbnail sketch of the third-level system, excluding any postgraduate study which a student may take up after completing a degree programme. Once the system is understood, the next step for a student is to choose a course which will, in the end, bring enjoyment, personal development and a promising career. The first point to make is that employers first look closely at the person and not necessarily the qualification. Outside the technical sector, or specialist professions such as law or medicine, a very general qualification like an arts degree can prove just as useful as a more specialised business qualification. Secondly, while it is possible to point to employment trends and predict, to an extent, where the jobs lie for the next year or two, those trends may change.
In the end, students should choose their third-level course not on the basis of employment trends but because the course in question appeals to them, they believe they have an aptitude for it and they can study it for three or four years without going crazy.
That said, there are areas where jobs appear to be particularly plentiful at present. The location in Ireland of high-profile electronics/ computer firms like IBM and Gateway 2000 means that there is high demand for skilled employees. The computers and electronics areas are crying out for qualified personnel, which means that graduates with computer science, electronic engineering and electrical engineering qualifications are highly employable. According to the most recent figures from the Higher Education Authority, which each year surveys graduates to find out how they fared after they left college, almost 84 per cent of students with degrees in computer science were employed within one year of leaving college. A further 10 per cent went on to further study, which means that unemployment rates for these graduates were well below the norm.
Unfortunately, women continue to be under-represented in these professions. In 1995, only 20 per cent of university technical graduates were women. In the RTCs, only 10 per cent were female. Efforts are now being made by both colleges and employers to encourage women to enter what appears to be a male-dominated profession.
A less immediately obvious area of employment is tele-services, which involves using the telephone to assist customers, sell or market goods and services or handle international enquiries. The main requirement here is language skills: prospective employees should be able to communicate clearly in English and have at least one other continental language. While there are specialist teleservicing courses on offer, general business or language courses also offer a means of entering this area.
There are also areas where students do not appear to be doing quite as well. The Higher Diploma in Education, a postdegree qualification which enables students to take up a career in teaching, had a 6 per cent full-time employment rate in 1995. About 60 per cent of students completing the course got temporary, part-time or substitute teaching jobs. Yet these are specialist courses of study, while many students may opt to take a more general qualification in the arts, the sciences or the business area. Employers take the view that part of the purpose of a third-level course is to allow the student to develop personally and to build up a range of skills which can be applied to a job when they leave college. Research, communication skills, report writing, problemsolving and analysis are skills which apply equally to courses in English literature or economics.
In other words, an arts degree is as valid a preparation for a career as a business degree. The difference is that significant numbers of arts students go on to courses of further study after they complete their degree, in order to specialise in a particular area or profession, such as law, journalism, accountancy, banking, public relations and marketing.
According to the HEA, about 34 per cent of arts graduates obtained full-time employment one year after leaving college, while 51 per cent went on to some form of further training or education. By contrast, almost 63 per cent of commerce and business studies students obtained full-time employment one year after leaving college and only 29 per cent went on to further training or study.
What this means is that half of all students who take an arts degree can expect to spend at least another year after graduation in some form of vocational training or education. Their unemployment rates were slightly higher than other faculties, according to the most recent figures, but in previous years arts graduates have experienced lower unemployment rates than science students and unemployment rates that were similar to those experienced by law, engineering and agriculture graduates. There are no hard and fast rules. Most recruitment by companies takes place in the last year which students spend in college. This recruitment, usually by companies who visit the campus to interview interested students, is known as the `Milk Round' and starts earlier and earlier each year. Companies typically send out their recruitment material in early October and many have finished their interviewing by early in the New Year.
But in the end, third level is about much more than finding a library seat and, eventually, finding a job. It offers opportunities in the areas of sports, societies, relationships, leadership, travel and friendship which are completely different from anything second level students will ever have experienced before. The only difficulty is deciding where to start.
