10 | CAO - CHANGE OF MIND
CAO - CHANGE OF MIND | 11
That ‘nagging’ feeling Jill Barrett offers some Change of Mind thoughts for parents, guardians and ‘significant adults’
“T
here was an explosion at breakfast,” said my friend. “Electrical or gas?” I asked. “Human,” he said, “came from nowhere. Sometimes I wonder if I’m getting any of this parenting stuff right at all.” “So it came from nowhere?” I asked. “Really? What do you think might have brought it on?” “Ah,” he sighed, “it’s the Leaving Cert.” Having brought them into the world, we want our children to have the best life possible. As they get older, however, most of that is beyond our control. We imagine, as we do of our own
lives, that their lives will be infinite. What if we knew how long we would all be here, would our approach to ‘advice giving’ be different? A number of my good friends and family have lost children to terminal conditions. I can’t say for sure what any one of those parents’ answer to the question that follows would be but I think I can imagine it: “If your children had survived to their late teenage years would you have liked them to be living the life and making the choices that they believed were right for them, or living the life that you believed would be right for them and choosing the options that you believed they should?”
Most of us only want the best for the adolescents in our lives. We want them to be happy and, understandably, where finances are an issue, we also want to limit the impact on the family piggy-bank from the fallout that may result from any so-called ‘bad’ choices. So, what can we do that is useful, but isn’t making their career decisions for them?
1
Ensure they have completed a career interest profiler, preferably with at least some initial help from a well-informed, life-experienced guidance professional.
2
Once they’ve done the above, encourage them to research their main areas of interest, both by accessing online resources and also by speaking to college staff and people working in the careers that interest them.
3
If they are hugely undecided, ask them if they’ve thought about taking a year out. Most of us didn’t consider any career choices seriously (if even then) until sixth year – and don’t you remember what that time was like? Juggling study, socialising, music or sports, a part-time job, hormones, relationship or lack-of-relationship blues, worries about the much-heralded “most important exams of your life” (Leaving Certificate) and the “most important decision for your career” (CAO), oh, and did we mention, the nagging parents?
4
Finally, check out the ‘Guide for Parents and Guardians’ on cao.ie and while you’re there, enter the most significant dates from the ‘Important Dates’ section into your diary so you will be reminded of important events in the CAO calendar. If you’re very well informed and have done research, your input into your child’s career decisions may benefit them hugely and many will welcome your views. The big question is, are your opinions on their career choice based on fact or just on a thought or feeling that you have? The best that you can do as a parent or guardian is to make sure that the children in your care have access to as much support and as many resources in making their decisions as is feasible. After that, it’s up to them.
Is an arts degree
‘the one’?
If you’re feeling uncertain about your CAO choices, you should give an arts degree a chance, says Clodagh Dooley
B
ack in 2010, when I was doing my Leaving Certificate exams, I still had no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life or what career I wanted to pursue. When you’re only 18, it’s very difficult to visualise where you see yourself 10 years on. During my school years, I was going to be everything from a librarian to a teacher but choosing which course I was going to do was tough. I loved art, writing and working on computers, so I narrowed down my top choice on the CAO to a web designing course. However, in the run-up to the Leaving Certificate exams, I developed cold feet and doubted my choice. What if the only aspect I actually liked about computers involved typing and browsing the web itself? If I didn’t enjoy web design, I would only be qualified in that specific area, meaning career prospects wouldn’t be as diverse. I wanted to feel confident my choice was one I would love and one that didn’t strictly limit me to one specific career path. When the Change of Mind option dates came around that year, I switched web design with a Liberal Arts course in Limerick – but did I make the right choice? Bachelor of Arts degrees are incredibly diverse, encompassing a wide range of courses including marketing, media, English, history, music, theology, psychology and languages. I began studying English, media, psychology, German and IT in first year, before choosing English, media and IT as my subjects of focus for the following years. However, arts is most commonly seen as a gateway degree, with many Irish students advancing to a specialised postgraduate degree, which can cost thousands, in search of long-term employment. Many students are encouraged at second-level to study science, engineering, technology or business-related subjects. But while approximately 77 per cent of computer science graduates with an honours bachelor degree were in employment nine months after graduation in 2014, compared to only 36 per cent of arts and humanities graduates who were hired, this doesn’t necessarily mean an
arts degree is a waste of time. A study by Oxford University has shown that humanities-based degrees, such as languages and literature, are of vital importance to society and the graduates who hold these qualifications. This study focused on students’ long-term career achievements, rather than six months after graduation, and found that approximately 80 per cent of graduates found careers in sectors including education, media, law, finance and management. The report also stated that we need to be careful about stereotypical assumptions about disciplines, and arts may in fact “contribute to much more societal cohesion and sustainability” – it may be the literature scholars who have greater economic impact. Arts degrees have been known to develop a whole range of personal skills, that will always be in demand among employers. These include: understanding and assessing issues, critical thinking, presenting coherent arguments, working in teams and on your own initiative, writing formats and conducting research. During my four years in college, not only did my writing and communication skills improve significantly, but I became confident in myself and more analytically aware of the world around me. I fell in love with media, and I even got the opportunity to learn the basics of web design during information technology classes – which I soon learned wasn’t for me! The course also offered me the opportunity to partake in a one-year Erasmus programme, in which I moved to Cardiff alone to study journalism, one of the most enriching experiences of my life. It was also the moment when I realised I was headed down the right career path. Just before I attended my official graduation ceremony last year, I became a writer. Whatever degree you choose to pursue, whether that’s arts, science or anything else, you only get out what you put into it. It may be a long route to get to where you want, or it may be short, but you don’t need to have a fixed plan for your future career – it takes time to find out what really interests you, but when you do find the one, you’ll know.
It’s in the science A science degree isn’t all white coats and lab experiments. If you’re considering a course in science, here’s what you have to look forward to
Last year, a survey conducted for the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition asked students which subjects they thought offered the best career opportunities and 86 per cent said STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths). Meanwhile, the IDA has predicted that 40 per cent of new jobs in the coming years will be in the technology and science areas. But how do you know if an undergraduate course in science is for you? If you have a fascination with natural phenomena, an ability to solve problems and an enquiring mind, then a course in science may be for you! Science is a broad term for a range of disciplines, from biological to pharmaceutical, and is a highly valued degree because it allows students to think logically, structurally and analytically. With scientific and technological innovations becoming increasingly important in today’s society, company leaders recognise the need to adapt to the changing ways of doing business in a globally competitive environment. To succeed in this highly
technological environment, students should aim to develop their abilities in STEM to much higher levels than before. There is a wide variety of career opportunities available to science graduates – biotechnology, conservation, forensics, agriculture, chemistry and diagnostics. However, that’s not all – other areas where a science degree may be useful include banking and finance, teaching and scientific publishing.