Stephen Poloz understands the problem. He just didn’t articulate the solution well.
Last week, the Governor of the Bank of Canada sparked his first public kerfuffle when he suggested recent university grads struggling to find full-time employment in their field should avoid the “scarring effect” of long-term unemployment and consider gaining experience by doing “something for free” in the short run.
“Get some real life experience even though you’re discouraged, even if it’s for free,” he said. “If your parents are letting you live in the basement, you might as well go out and do something for free to put the experience on your CV.”
Admittedly, his message set the wrong tone. Using language dismissive of youth (the old ‘parents’ basement’ trope), he conjured up images of a lay-about generation avoiding the real world by playing video games and leeching off mom and dad. That said, the ensuing media avalanche has been a joke – knee-jerk snarks at 140 characters. Such is the level of our current political discourse.
To surmise this father of two does not understand the problems facing the younger generation is beyond silly. His words let him down; his sentiments were dead on.
Last year, I interviewed Poloz, MA’79, PhD’82 (Economics), on his rise to the top banker post. During the conversation, we strayed into discussing his advice for the current generation of university graduates. The chunk never made publication, but his words came to mind last week.
Here’s what he had to say:
I am old enough now to look and see what really helped me. I exposed myself to as many different things as I could. Everybody wants to specialize in something they like. They should always do that – invest in something they like – that will become their strength. But do the minimum amount to specialize, and then let the rest run free.
As I said to my kids, it’s about doing things that maximize the number of choices you can make in the future. You never know when one of those extra choices will make the difference for you. It might only make you a better conversation partner at a dinner, but it could also mean when things go a little off the beaten track for you, you have other avenues that, with a bit more investment, you can open up for yourself.
Everything is always changing. And the percentage of things you see outside your window that are new are so much higher now than when I was a kid. What that means is, in order to appreciate, or even capitalize on, what you see you have to have a bit more preparation.
And university is the place to do that.
We’ve come through an intense period of restructuring in the Canadian economy. And it’s not done yet. If you are a graduate today, when you looked out the window four years ago, your forecast of what were the job growth categories was way off. Even the products and services we use on a daily basis have changed a lot during your time as an undergraduate.
You cannot really plan for that or forecast it.
Instead, you need to take a risk-based approach to your education. Say to yourself, I need to be ready for more things. I am going to invest in these one or two things I like the most, but I am going to do lots of other things, too. So when I got an interview, someone will say, ‘Wow, it looks like you could adapt to many things. That’s great.’
You’ll have the ability to grow, as opposed to being in a specific channel and maybe feeling less and less meaningful in your work as the world changes.
By avoiding certain wording, Poloz’s point becomes palatable, almost inspirational – diversify and keep learning. Not bad advice for anyone.
Too bad all the noise over a few words drowned out that important larger discussion.