:: Vinspired Voicebox ::

Stop thinking small?

16th October, 2009

The other day one of the volunteers who are looking after The Voicebot during its stay in Parliament met a guy who was in the building on official business, someone who has over 34 years experience as a civil engineer.  They immediately struck some common ground as our volunteer is a graduate with a degree in civil engineering.  Moving swiftly on from the topic of Voicebot the guy from the Olympics went on to ask (interrogate) our volunteer on what he’s doing at the moment (working in a call centre) and why he isn’t doing a civil engineering job.

When our volunteer explained that since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 and the start of the recession there have been very few jobs for inexperienced civil engineers, the guy suggested he move to another country to find work.  Somewhere like Abu Dhabi.  Flummoxed by this guys complete lack of comprehension of what its like to be a student with a back log of debt and a call-centre wage, our volunteer said nothing.  The parting comment from the man was, ’stop thinking small’.

In some circumstances this conversation would be perceived as a motivational pep talk from someone with more than three decades of industry experience, but on this occasion it seemed to be a pertinent demonstration of the glaring generation divide.  People who graduated from university in 1975 have very little grasp of the struggle for students graduating today.

I can appreciate that there’s no point in giving up or feeling sorry for yourself because times are hard, but I don’t think people should underestimate how difficult it can be for graduates entering the work force this year or next.

Tags: Parliament, Robot, v, vinspired, Voicebot, Voicebox, youth