Building Connections for the Future

Translation: Julie Summers

The UI Student Council’s Committee of Finance and Economic Affairs deals with issues pertaining to students’ finances and connections to the job market. Sindri Snær A van Kasteren, a 23-year-old studying business with an emphasis on accounting, currently serves as the committee’s president. The Student Paper asked Sindri about the committee, the work they do, and what’s currently on their agenda.

Photo / Helga Lind Mar

Career Days in February

The goal of the Committee of Finance and Economic Affairs is to help students foster connections to the job market. At the moment, the committee is focused on Career Days (Atvinnudagar), one of their primary projects each year. Career Days will be held virtually this month, so students can attend online. Sindri says that UI’s Career Days are similar to Framadagar, an annual career fair hosted by Reykjavík University’s AIESEC. In fact, the committee works with UI’s Student Counselling and Career Centre to organize the event. “Career Days offers a variety of lectures and presentations that should help students learn more about job opportunities and what they should keep in mind when applying for jobs,” adds Sindri. The committee is also currently preparing a survey for UI students related to job training and writing CVs. The first half of the year was rather low-key due to gathering restrictions, but the committee used the down time to plan for the second half of the year. “It seems like the public health measures are relaxing, so hopefully we’ll be able to do some fun things, like visiting companies or something like that,” says Sindri.

Competition on the job market

Asked what he believes is the most important thing the committee has to offer, Sindri says it’s important for new students to have a clear path into the job market after graduation. “The most important thing is that the committee is trying to strengthen students’ ties to the job market. Breaking into the job market can be difficult for students, as they often lack experience. Some have worked very little while studying, so it’s important that they get information that will help them apply for jobs after school or even while still studying,” says Sindri. As a follow-up, we ask Sindri about recent graduates’ job prospects these days and what factors come into play. Sindri says the outlook is worse now than it was before, but he thinks that’s probably a result of the coronavirus pandemic. “The global pandemic is causing significant unemployment in Iceland, and recent graduates are feeling it just like other people. High unemployment means there’s more competition for those jobs that are available. That can mean that students, who often have less work experience than people who have been on the job market longer, are less likely to get the jobs they apply for. But that doesn’t always have to be the case. For example, recent graduates may have better chances of landing jobs that require specialized knowledge, compared to applicants without university degrees. That’s why it’s important for students to network and get all the job experience they can, especially over the summer,” he adds.

Important to reduce expenses

In closing, we asked Sindri if he had any financial advice for young people, especially university students. He says students should try to reduce their expenses as much as possible. “While we’re in school, it’s particularly important for us to take care and try to reduce our expenses. We have to make sure that our expenses don’t outpace our income. It can be really helpful to estimate your income for each month, list your expenses, compare the two and see where you stand. That’s especially important for those who can’t work while in school and have to rely on student loans,” says Sindri.