Andrew Adamides
Cypriot high-school graduates see their futures in business, aspire to managerial positions and rate job security high on their list of priorities, according to a survey released yesterday.
The survey, carried out by the Cyprus College, gleaned responses from 431 school leavers in May and June this year, quizzing them about intended further study and what they saw for themselves beyond that.
Eighty-three per cent of those questioned planned to go on to further study. Of those, three per cent intended to get degrees in the information sector, and the same number intended to do military studies. Four per cent want to do accounting, six per cent literature, six per cent the ever- popular business studies, seven per cent intend to go into the sciences, nine per cent will study medicine, 10 per cent economics and a massive 23 per cent hope to go into teaching.
The dilemma of whether to go for big bucks, or enjoy job satisfaction split the students almost 50-50, with 50 per cent in favour of the high salaries and 48 per cent opting for a job they liked doing. Forty nine per cent said they’d rather work in a high-salaried but unstable profession, while 46 per cent said they’d prefer less money and more stability.
When it comes to choosing an employer, two out of three said they’d prefer to be self-employed; confusingly, however, the same number said they’d rather work in the public sector. Many of those who said they’d rather go public also said they aspired to top positions. Three out of four said they’d rather work for a large company than a small one, and the majority of graduates also preferred the idea of being a manager in the private sector to being a civil servant.
Overall, the graduates thought that public sector employment offered the best job stability and highest salaries. Next most popular were banks, and it was felt that the public sector and banks also offered the best career enhancement opportunities. The private sector, however, offered the most job satisfaction, the graduates said, and banks had the best working conditions.
Two out of three graduates were playing it safe, and aspiring to managerial positions, a choice especially popular among males and those who had taken economics in school. The main reasons for wanting these positions were given as high pay, the respect they commanded and the potential for career enhancement.
But with so many aspirants, it seems that just a quarter of the graduates are likely to get such a fulfilling position, and these are more likely to be those who live in towns, have high grades and educated parents. This is because these are more likely to have family businesses to work in, are ready to work hard and believe they have the necessary qualities.
When asked what qualities they thought were necessary to get such a job, the graduates listed a good education, hard work and connections, adding that luck was far less important. Interestingly, girls rated hard work higher than boys, who felt connections were of far greater importance.
