School-leavers too highly qualified

Press, 10 November 1981, Page 34

School-leavers too highly qualified

From

KEN COATES

in London

For many young people in Britain there is a bitter twist to their unsuccessful search for jobs when they leave school — they find they are too highly qualified. Recession-hit firms which are still offering jobs either want temporary labour financed through Government schemes or young people who. are happy to stay with them after training. ■ Bright, ambitious schoolleavers who have more than the required qualifications' are turned away. Take the case of James Grigor, aged 18, of Tonbridge, Kent. He left school in June with seven 0 levels and three A levels in economics, mathematics, statistics, and history but be is still unemployed. He has applied for jobs in banking, insurance, retailing, publishing, the National Health Service,,and industry.

When he went for a job as a laboratory assistant he was told they wanted people only with 0 levels.

A medical insurance company wanted only an 0 level in mathematics, and when Mr Grigor applied for a trainee manager’s job in a do-it-yourself supplies store he was told that the firm did not require any qualifications.

His friend, Nigel, aged 19, has six 0 levels and three A levels in French, English, and mathematics. He has tried for jobs in banking, insurance, and public corporations. But he says that at interviews, people look down on him for applying for a job when he has so many examination level passes. Among the boys’ former A level classmates, one is a woodworker, another is a fork-lift driver, and a third is sweeping roads. But at least they have jobs.