Creative Review

Creative Review’s question of the week on 11th August 2009 was ‘How do you organize placements?’ and the posts soon began to discuss the wider issue of whether education was preparing students correctly for the world of work. The full discussion can be found here, but what follows are some of the more relevant posts.

One of the key messages to come out of the report (referring to ‘FUTUREFIT’ which we discuss later) was the need for universities and businesses to ‘up their game’ in the development of employability skills in students – both in terms of the number of placements on offer and in terms of course content. Both universities and students need to recognise that employability skills should not be treated as an ‘add on’ but as an essential part of the university curriculum. Geoff Gradwell 2009-08-11 17:13:19

I’ve given this a lot of thought and I think the problem stems from degree courses. The sad truth is that half the people—while maybe having a good student portfolio—do not possess the skills required to do the job. Many do of course, but it’s always a gamble. If people are not taught key industry skills on their degree, how else are they going to learn until they are equipped enough to become a junior designer? James 2009-08-12 16:41:06

PS - I agree with James that university’s and colleges leave their students woefully under prepared for the real working world. Trevor Collins 2009-08-12 17:12:57

“My suggestion is that universities run a module through which a placement is arranged by each student for themselves, and is carried out in term time. For a university to actively encourage students to go on a placement would surely be a good alternative to simply telling them about ‘professional practice’ in a classroom. This way the students have the guidance of tutors if needed, and could work for free as they still have the money from student loans for life’s costs.” Matt 2009-08-11 17:17:53