SOME UNIVERSITY graduates are not being employed, or are not landing their preferred jobs because they lack critical employability skills, says an executive of the Jamaica Employers' Federation (JEF).

According to Rickert Allen, JEF vice-president, many university graduates are just simply unprepared for the jobs they are seeking. He bemoans that job seekers often come to interviews without the requisite knowledge of the sectors in which they seek employment, or even an understanding of how they can add value to the organisation with which they want to work.

"A lot of the times we sit with persons coming for interviews and you ask them: 'What knowledge do you have of the particular industry where you want to work?' They have zero knowledge. No research was done," says Allen, who is a human resource specialist.

Problem-solving skills

Rickert Allen, vice-president -Jamaica Employers' Federation.

Adds Allen: "You ask them what is happening in the economy that would influence me to determine that you can add value to me? They can't answer that question, they are dumb. I'm not going to ask them about the principles of sociology and so on. That's not my role!"

He points to the findings of a study of job interviews attended by university graduates at a corporate institution, which show that, of 14 unsuccessful applicants, 50 per cent lacked basic problem-solving skills; 28 per cent lacked initiative and creativity, and 35 per cent lacked customer service skills.

Allen argues that many graduates, though possessing a high-quality degree, are nevertheless deficient because they do not demonstrate the capacity to think critically or to analyse problems - an important quality that most organisations seek.

"(Their responses) might be illogical, but it tells me that individual has the profile to think, and when you can think we then can provide you with the development strategies," he says.

Allen recommends that employers should seek to build more partnerships with universities in an effort to help shape the curriculum to include more work experience.

"We need to get it going so we can develop maturity," he says.

Carolyn Smith, director of career and employment services at the Northern Caribbean University, points out that the qualifications the labour force demands have changed over time, requiring graduates to be more than mere holders of a degree or other levels of qualification. They must be able to add value to the workforce.

New curriculum

Allison Pearson, Northern Caribbean University student.

"My bandwagon is now to train young people to go to school, so you can create your own job," Smith states, adding that entrepreneurship skills must be fused into the curriculum from as early as the high-school level.

Tracy Dolcy, a student at the University of the West Indies, goes a step further, suggesting that training for the workforce should start from the primary school or even the home.

"You can't bend the tomato tree when it is old. So you cannot expect three years of university to change a student from being a dunce to some kind of genius because anybody can swot CXC's, cram and get some excellent grades," she argues.

gareth.manning@gleanerjm.com