Why are there so many unemployable graduates and college leavers

There appears to be a common problem globally as most students that undertake studies via universities/colleges/high schools do not get the opportunities to actually apply their learning skills whilst undertaking the many years of study and it’s in many cases all theory they learn. Potential employers do not have the resources to allow these students to work in their business models as all are too busy trying to run the business and make profits to survive.

Students undertake temporary work whilst undertaking their university studies just to survive and mostly these types of rolls are in areas that have no relation to the actual career they are seeking to obtain the qualifications for. Examples maybe that many drive taxis yet they are studying to become say accountants and once they obtain their accounting  degree many are still not able to gain employment as they have no prior experience.

The issues actually lay within the delivery of the training and education and there needs to be a revolution of the current education systems globally. Currently we have lectures that stand in front of the students working through work books and reading materials on theory but students do not actually get the experience from the delivery on how to apply the knowledge. Many people teaching the subject matters have been doing so the same way for many years and many are not actively involved in the day to day workings of the subject matters/professions being taught.

Matters that need to be addressed;

• Students at higher level of education can already read so why are they wasting their time sitting in a classroom listening to the trainer/lecturer read from or working through the learning materials.
• Why are higher level of education institutions allowing lecturers /trainers to stand in front of the class and speak on subject matters that are changing daily, yet the lecturers/trainers may not have been practicing in the area for some time and hence really do not understand the subject matter, that relates to today’s requirements.
• Are all trainers/lecturers required to update their professional skills and knowledge constantly on an annual basis and is this being audited  and by whom
• Lecturer’s and Trainers roles have evolved but the profession has not, overall.
• Does the weighting of the institution come ahead of the overall student’s outcomes whereby the lower ones are cut from the lists to maintain the overall rankings?
• Lecturers /teachers roles have now evolved to require them to teach “how to” apply the learning’s from the materials, not to stand there reading from the materials that students can already read.
•  Many high schools are not preparing their students to be job ready and this is a must as the students should be trained and prepared to enter the workforce if they cannot afford too or do not wish to go onto university.
•  Some subjects being taught in many classrooms have no or little value outside the class rooms and subject matters covering life skills and how to enter the workforce with confidence and apply your new learning’s in your chosen field are what the secret of education is really all about.
• Technology has caught many governments and countries sleeping as in today’s environment skilled workers now are required to only do what computers cannot do, yet we are still producing students with learning’s required for job roles and positions that either no longer exist or have changed considerably since the learning guides and materials have been written.
• Many countries need to have learning materials upgraded to ensure each unit of competencies have assessment processes that measure skills and knowledge testing along with employability skills relevant to the subject matter.
• Throwing money at a problem does not fix a situation and it’s a matter of understanding the issues and causes and fixing them.

Until there is a complete review of the whole delivery and learning process globally there will continue to be a very high unemployable workforce of graduates and students coming out of universities, colleges and high schools. Social unrest will continue as disenchanted students who have spent many years studying and having paid large sums of monies only to find there is no work available for them to undertake with their new found qualifications.

Today is nothing like yesterday and nor should our education system be either.

Please understand these are the thoughts of the writer and there is no doubt some institutions are making the required changes to meet the new worlds requirements but sadly there will also be many that are not.

Compelling reasons to offer Self Managed Superannuation as part of your service offerings

SMSF conversations have been active for some time now and whilst the actual product is not new, many continue to sit on the sidelines wondering if they should get involved in this area of investing or advising. From an investing point of view whilst there were 425,000 funds and 810,000 members of these funds totalling $387 Billion at 30/6/2010 with latest data showing 466,000 with an average of 838,800 members, the potential clients list continues to grow.

Let’s now look at what you are potentially missing out by sitting on the sidelines;

• Access to advising the large growing numbers of members/trustees as mentioned above, stats show there are currently 30% of planners with qualification to discuss in this area but only 10% actively advising. Imagine how many those mentioned above are actually waiting for you to knock on their door to advise them, they will not come looking for you as in their eyes they are already doing “stuff”.

• Fastest growing sector in the Superannuation Industry over the past 5 years as members are now seeking to take control of their own investment and retirement plans

• Assets in SMSF grew 122% over the past five years compared to the 60% for standard super funds • Investments in these funds have moved away from the traditional listed shares, listed trust and managed investments towards safer investments in cash, fixed interest, term deposits and real estate.

• Property is at a low from where it has previously been at least 10 to 15 percent below previous pricing, rents are rising due to shortages in rental properties.

• More younger people are now taking a more active view in managing their own self managed super funds this now provides you with a pool of clients to advise for the long term future. Basically advising and partnering with them to assist them in the areas you are authorised to advise in.

• New FOFA (Future of Financial Advice) legislation soon to be released has many advisors who have traditionally relied on commissions wondering if they should stay or go, when in fact the way to solve the cash flow cycles is to diversify your service offerings and when one area is down other areas are up.

Your are required to undertake the minimum education of the Advice in Superannuation course and the Advice In Self managed Superannuation course to satisfy ASIC and some Dealer Licence holders may also want you to hold the Full Diploma of Financial Services Financial Planning. Please understand without qualifications and being an authorised representative of a Dealer Licence or owning your own Australian Financial Services Licence, you cannot discuss these areas or give any advice to your clients.

Nothing has changed from a client’s point of view they are all time poor and are still hunting for the right advisor that can satisfy all their financial needs without the need for them to tell many advisors the same information every time they are seeking advice on different areas. Finance Brokers, Financial Planners, Accountants and Real Estate Agents the time to decide and take actions to secure ongoing and long term relations with your clients is now.

Talk to an AAMC representative today or enrol directly online at www.aamctraining.edu.au today.

If you think you have seen it all, then think again

Technology changes are happening daily around us all and with the advent of continual daily release of new technologies it will require new work practices that have not even been thought of yet.

 

Here is a small list of some changes coming through; and I emphasize small as there are many more that I am also unaware of but it makes me realise that I too must focus constantly on changing the way if do things and the way my business runs. It’s just like sailing a yacht, the wind will change throughout the day and all business models must be adaptable to change directions as technology changes.

 

• Soon to be launched, new innovative technology which combines habits of people with their moods will change the content access on all devices and make lives of consumers easier.

 

• Learning with Tablets & Mobile – Apps that transform education: Developers and users both should be involved in ideation phase of making apps. Without either, that app may be weak as finally it should be attractive to both the consumers i.e. developers and users. Tablets’ current shortcoming – limited multitasking – could be their greatest asset in education, as it forces students to focus on one task at a time.

 

• The rise of Superphones Tablets & eReaders: Café Coffee Day’s outlets will soon have interactive touch tables, to engage customers more than ever before. Touch tables are already being used in many businesses and is also a great tool to sell concepts, products and services albeit cost prohibitive at present pricing should drop to meet market needs in the not too distant future.

 

• 25% doctors in US use iPhones as stethoscopes.

 

I emphasize small as there are many more that I am also unaware of but it makes me realise that I too must focus constantly on changing the way I do things and the way my business runs. It’s just like sailing a yacht, the wind will change throughout the day and all business models and their work practices must be adaptable to change directions as strong winds of technology changes.

Exciting times for us all and it has been a long and exciting journey from the early days when we had no technology and not even adding machines to now racing towards a stage that by 2025 or even sooner, technology will not need humans to assist them with their thinking.

Time has come for all superannuation Trustees, to hold qualification

We are constantly reading of the many self managed super funds that breach regulations in the areas of excess contributions, lending of funds to related parties, using their super funds as their personal cheque account and failing to lodge the funds tax returns on time.

One area that causes a lot of grief is the breaching of the superannuation contributions caps and to further educate the 460,000 Self Managed Super Fund, their Trustee’s and their advisors, the Australian Taxation Office has released a new learner guide on excess contributions tax (ECT) to assist with the gaining of an understanding of the rules and regulations

The learner guide explains:

• what Excess contributions tax (ECT) is;
• how to estimate the ECT you or your clients may be liable to pay;
• what happens when an ECT  assessment has been raised;
• what  your payment obligations are;
• how and when you or with your advisors assistance, can apply for the Commissioner’s discretion to disregard or reallocate their contributions; and
• What you can do to object to an assessment.

The guide contains useful examples and exercises to test your knowledge.

Useful link

http://www.ato.gov.au/taxprofessionals/content.aspx?doc=/content/00302422.htm&pc=001/005/066/001&mnu=43904&mfp=001/005&st=&cy=

AAMC Training Group has been delivering the Advice in Self Managed Superfund courses too many professionals and this same course can be broken down into required segments to assist the many trustees to fully understand their roles and responsibilities to meet the regulatory requirements. Clients that undertake the selected trustee units and complete the assessments with be awarded a statement of attainment for the units completed. The regulators do not accept ignorance as a defence for any breaches, so the cost of education is the cheaper alternative.