ON THE THRESHOLD OF THE LABOUR MARKET

Thousands of students will graduate in June. How do they see their future? What do they expect from their job and career?

Tia Spiessens is excited to start looking for a job soon. She hasn’t started yet, because she is still focused on her studies. But she isn’t too worried about finding a job. “It will be fine. My degree in social-legal services offers plenty of opportunities in professions characterised by labour shortages.”

“I am happy when I can help people”

She does wonder where she’ll end up. “How do I find an employer that suits me?” she asks herself. Because, above all, she wants to like going to work.  “A good atmosphere is very important to me. As well as good colleagues, because you share an office with them daily. So it is important that you get along,” she says. “An employer who manages their team well, but also listens to ideas presented by the employees is also important.”

The job content also has to be right. “I chose this degree because I want to help people. I want to help them find their rights in the sometimes complex legislation. Or I want to refer them correctly to services or organisations that can help them with their specific case. That is what I want to do. During my internship, I noticed that it made me really happy if I can help people. So I definitely want to have that social component in my job.”

And in terms of salary? “Well, the salary has to be good too, of course,” she laughs. “But I am realistic enough to realise that I will begin with a starter’s salary. And that’s OK.”

She’ll soon start her professional career, for the next 40 years or so. She laughs when she hears that. “Time flies. Especially if your job allows you to do what you love. And that’s what I intend to do.”

Rumeysa Avci is ready to start her professional career as a marketer. But she doesn’t feel entirely confident. “Every company wants people who already have experience, and as I’ve just graduated, I don’t have that.” She also hopes that her foreign ethnicity won’t be an issue for employers or colleagues. That fear is hanging over her ambition like a dark cloud.

“Appreciation motivates me more than a strict boss”

But she doesn’t let those thoughts bother her too much. She is excited to start working. “I know what I’m capable of. I am ready to start working.”

She hopes to find a job in a company that isn‘t too authoritarian. “I really wouldn’t like that.” I am most productive in a structure where my colleagues and I can make a difference together, where I feel appreciated. That motivates me more than a strict boss. I do know that discipline is necessary. But authoritarian leadership is something else.”

For that reason, she wants to be a little selective about where she applies for a job. “After all, it’s about my future. I hope to build a long career with my employer. So I’d better find a job that I like.”

But she immediately makes a comment about that long career. “My real dream is to start my own business. A restaurant with a lounge,” she dreams out loud. Isn’t that dream something completely different from her marketing training? “Not really. My marketing skills will come in handy there as well. I have noticed that many of my friends and acquaintances want to be ’their own boss’. That’s really popular with young people.” The fact that starting your own business is also a big risk doesn’t really scare her. “I really do want to try. If it fails, that’s fine by me. But I would regret not trying …”

Evan Wauters is finishing his last internship period. He hasn’t decided yet whether he’s going to start looking for a job immediately after. “Maybe I want to study something else first,” he explains. But he might start working, and potentially study something else later on.

“In a good team, you can count on your colleagues”

In any case, his internship has taught him that work is different from school. “A school timetable is different from going to work every day,” he says. Not that he didn’t like it. It was and is a fun and enriching experience. Fun colleagues, varied work. That’s what he wants when he starts working. “Variety in my job is very important to me. I can’t see myself doing administrative work all day long. But it is part of the job. I prefer to be challenged to step outside of my comfort zone.”

He also hopes for sufficient flexibility. “Not that I want to work in shifts or do night work,” he says. “But I do want the necessary freedom to organise my work so I can find a balance with my private life. I have seen how that’s possible during my internship. One day we might work a little longer or we have a meeting in the early evening, but another day we are allowed to start a little later. It all fits together nicely. That is the ideal scenario for me.”

He is aware that, as a newcomer, he will probably have to learn a lot ‘on the job’. But with a good team and a good framework, he’s totally up for it. “In a good team, you can count on your colleagues for help and advice. That will certainly be necessary in the beginning. Because as a beginner you have a lot to learn. I hope I’m allowed to make mistakes, but I’m still given the confidence to tackle things independently. That’s how you learn the most.”