January/February - the University Offices - University of Cambridge

getting practical
Making it
work
The challenges that new graduates
face in securing their first full-time
job has received much coverage
in the national media. But as Gordon
Chesterman and David Ainscough
of the University’s Careers Service
explain, Cambridge students
have many reasons to remain
optimistic
There are certain landmarks in the
life journeys of Cambridge students
that seem to capture the imagination:
interviews at colleges; time spent
studying; end of term balls.
Far less consideration appears to
be given to the process of leaving
the University – more specifically, the
transition that thousands of young
people make every year from student to
professional, in whatever shape or form
that might take. And yet, as recent news
about the challenges faced by 16- to
24-year-olds in securing employment
suggests, the business of finding a job is
an increasingly complex and difficult one.
At Cambridge, these issues are the
daily concern of the Careers Service,
which provides advice and information
to all current undergraduates,
postgraduates and junior research staff of
the University. Located in Stuart House,
Mill Lane, and staffed by a team of 15
advisers, the Cambridge Careers Service
has the highest rate of engagement with
undergraduates of all UK universities (90
per cent of all final years will have passed
through its doors by the time they leave)
and currently interacts with some 5,500
companies through a range of events,
presentations and placements.
The service is led by Director Gordon
Chesterman who, with Deputy David
Ainscough, is responsible for ensuring
that the provision of careers advice
is tailored to the specific needs of
the University and its students, while
responding to external pressures arising
from higher education reform, public
sector cuts, visa restrictions and an
uncertain economic climate.
There are competing interests to
balance. A Careers Service that is fit for
purpose cannot ignore the possibility
that students who will eventually repay
tens of thousands of pounds in fees may
now place greater emphasis on where in
the job market their Cambridge degree
may take them. On the other hand, the
value placed in independent thought and
scholarship – whether at undergraduate
or doctoral research level – is precisely
what makes Cambridge graduates so
attractive to employers.
The tension is neatly summarised
in a story that Gordon tells about
a representative of a major energy
multinational who visited a University
department and started to advise
students on what they needed to do to
come and work for his company – only
to be told by the head of department
that his students were busy working to
put him and his bosses out of business
by the application of research into new
technology.
Fortunately, employers are attracted
by the calibre of Cambridge students
and the quality of education that
the University and colleges provide.
“Cambridge graduates enter a whole
spectrum of careers,” says David. “The
graduate of history can and does go on
to work in a whole range of professional
roles and sectors. Employers are just as
interested in the intellectual rigour and
skills required to complete a degree at
Cambridge as they are in the subject of
that degree.”
Gordon and David are passionate
advocates of their own careers – moving
from thoughtful analysis of the effects of
changes to higher education policy on
today’s students to an impressive grasp
of the detail and data that pass through
the Careers Service office. A question
about alumni is met with a flourish of a
nearby folder entitled ‘Numbers, lots of’
6 | lent term 2012 | UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE Newsletter