One Spark - And a region in Chaos

As much as I enjoy writing about my hopeless self I am also going to use this forum to talk about what is happening in the worlds of Politics and Economics after all that is where my training lies.

Anybody who has shown any interest in the news in the past few weeks can't help but have noticed that wave of protests and revolutions throughout the Middle East with Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Morocco and Iran just a few of the countries to have experienced political strife. So what are the lessons which we in the West can learn from these protests and what can we expect to happen in the coming weeks?

1) We, the people, CAN make a difference if we come together in unison for a common cause. Far too often in places such as the UK protesting, whether it is against Government Policy or local planning applications, is frowned upon because it is a 'waste of time.' If enough people care about an issue and are willing to voice that opinion then things can change.

2) Like it or not the world is one large community and we are ALL going to feel the consequences of this wave in the coming days, weeks and even years ahead. As I type this Libya has suspended all Oil exports. Considering Libya accounts for just over 2% of world supply this is going to cause problems and we have already seen the price of crude spike by upwards of 6% ($5) today alone. The actions of one despot will mean another increase in inflation which I am sure Mervyn King is very happy about.....or not!

3) It is dangerous to encourage reform by revolution. In many of these countries, such as Egypt, there is a real danger of a power vacuum being created and we have no idea who is going to step into the breach. Protests are continuing in Egypt despite Mr Mubarak having left because it is reform but the 'right' person has not materialised to replace him.

4) We must remember that the original spark for all this was a young person in Tunisia who was frustrated by the lack of opportunities in his homeland. Despite having a University education he was unable to find work and was barely scraping by. Is this really that much different to the situation in the UK today? Lets look at the facts

• We are sending far too many youngsters to University - having a target of 50% is simply stupid. We should go back to the time when only the best and brightest would go to Uni and not a system where it is a right of passage (and an expensive one at that)
• The UK job market isn't very good. It isn't simply me who cannot find gainful employment. Last week we had figures stating 20% of 16-24 year olds were unemployed. Granted it isn't as bad as places like Tunisia but we must avouid having a lost generation which we will never be able to recover from. 
• People are, in my opinion, getting frustrated. When you have 30 people applying for a 1 day job and cuts dominating the home agenda people will eventually boil over and I don't want to be around when they do.

I hope that the region calms down over the next few days, however it happens, and while people should celebrate new democracies forming please remember that democracy is not a panacea in itself and there willbe frustration and complaint along the way. 

Just another (not so) manic Monday

As we all know the weekend is not 'prime  time ' in the world of recruitment - if there ever is one.


So what to report - Saturday Manchester United played at home to non league Crawley Town in the 5th round of the FA Cup. I have at least been able to get Match day work at MUFC (in the catering side) and so had an interesting day with the Crawley fans as I was doing the away section.

I do enjoy this work - at least it gets me out of the house - but do feel it highlights some of the problems which employers in general have at the moment. The vast majority of staff are University Students, from both Manchester and MMU, and generally bring with them a very lazy attitude with them just standing around chatting instead of mucking in to get the job done quicker. This does get very annoying as we atr paid a flat fee so have the incentive to get out as quickly as possible.

I am also shocked by the lack of numerical skills that some who are studying at University have. Needing a calculator to add up 7 figures (cash denominations) is a tad depressing.

Now Monday morning and you hope to wake up full of enthusiasm and ambition for the week ahead right? Sadly for me this isn't the case today although this is probably because the weather is so depressing and cold today. Usual job websites are as pointless as ever with 90% of new vacancies in a fashion shop which is opening (if you saw me you would know I am not a fashionable guy)

Welcome to the Blog!

Good Afternoon!

With so much attention at the moment on the Economy, Unemployment and Political Rhetoric about the 'Work-shy' sponging benefits when they should be off to work I think it is important to try and put the opposite side of the story across.

My name is Chris Smyth and last year I graduated from the University of Warwick with a First Class degree in Economics. You would think that with a top qualification from a top University I would at least stand a chance of securing employment - not a chance.

In the 7 months since Graduation I must have applied to over 100 jobs of which about 10% bother to respond in any way and failed at interview on 3 occasions. It is all very well the Coalition setting out to punish those who have no intention of finding employment (and on the whole if you listened to an interview of 'Matt' on the BBC News Channel yesterday why ever we waste resources on people like him I don't know) but the majority want to work and need an Economy in which that is possible.

On this blog I hope to relay the actual story of what life is like at the moment in the real world. Life without a job is purposeless, demoralising and frankly I am wasting air right now.

Hopefully this will change but with the current course of the government appearing firmly entrenched I don't hodl out much hope!