NOT HIRING QUALIFIED PERSONS IS A DISSERVICE

Aug 08, 2018 Editorial

Traditionally, we have been told by our parents or guardians that education is the key to a successful life. They have drilled into our psyche that taking our education seriously is the only avenue to obtain a career and a well-paying job that would in turn create a better living standard for us. We were also told that without education, we would not be able to achieve anything of significance. To some extent, both versions are correct, but success or failure in life does not only depend on having an education but also on the individual.
It is true that some of the wisest and most productive people in society are not university educated and most businesses in the country and elsewhere started with an idea, and not with a university education. However, increased government grants and loans have made university affordable in Guyana for the average person to obtain a post-secondary education locally or abroad in countries such as the United States, Canada and Britain etc. But at the end of their educational journey, whether at home or abroad, only a few could access good paying jobs. The reason could never be that the country was in a recession, because this has not been the case. In fact, getting a good job in Guyana does not depend solely on qualification, but on party affiliation or who one knows.
Quite often, most of the people with degrees have found themselves at job interviews trying to convince the employer to hire them. But after perusing their résumés, some employers would tell the job-seeking applicants: “Sorry, you seem like an asset to any company but we cannot hire you because you are overqualified.” Others would say “We are impressed with your accomplishments and the person you seem to be, but we’ll give you a call.” The truth is very few persons ever receive a phone call, email or mail from employers.
This is what many job applicants with degrees have to face, so they are left with no choice but to dumb down their résumés so as to make it more suitable to the job market. Some would remove their degrees from their résumés and leave only their Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) or the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) qualifications. It is belittling for them to be dishonest, but for employers to tell job applicants with university degrees that they are overqualified or not experienced enough is disturbing and ridiculous.
The fact that many university graduates do not get the jobs they dreamed of has made the assertion that education is the key to success comes across as , because there are others who have jobs and positions that they are not qualified for. These folks have political contacts or someone on the inside to do what is known locally as “pulling a string for them.” It is no wonder why we have such an inefficient, lawless and corrupt system.
It is not fair to the people who have made years of sacrifice to go universities, be it local or abroad, studied hard to achieve a career and met all the requirements needed only to have the door slammed in their faces. This has forced many qualified persons to take a job for a little over half of what they deserve to be paid in order to survive. It also proves that education may not really be the key to a better living but the opiate of the masses in which the poor will continue to get poorer and suffer while the rich become richer and prosperous.
Governments, past and present, continue to do a disservice to themselves by not employing qualified persons. It may lead to a brain drain. But sadly, it is governments that have drained themselves of the brain by hiring unqualified people based on who they know and rejecting those candidates who will migrate to a country that recognizes their worth.

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