This is getting out of point. Anyone who wants to add anything to the discussion should write to me on tuni.soluzzjoni@gmail.com

If that’s how you see it Baxxter, so be it. In that case I will soon be giving up this “cushy job” to return to half-witted Lilliput. Clearly, you don’t know how an activist’s mind works.

Baxxter, you seem to me an inteligent and well educated man. The real H.P. Baxxter should certainly be proud that you have used his name as your nom de plume.

As you must already know, he had no luck in his early life, so instead of becoming a lawyer as he had hoped he became a musician and moved on, and blamed no German politician for his missed opportunaties.

I am sending out gazillions of applications overseas. Back when I was growing up, university really increased your chances of employability. Things started changing around the mid-90s.

By “science based” you mean biochemistry. That’s the only area of research that’s flourishing at the moment.

If you obtained your Ph.D. to find a better job, perhaps you should have carried out a supply-demand survey on the local job market and found out which Ph.D. enhances your chances of employment. Or else you could apply for a job overseas. If your specialisation is science-based, buy the New Scientist. There are literally thousands of jobs, some of which I can’t even pronounce.

Every time I come across this extremely immature idea that people go to university to improve their “employability” I feel like banging my head against the thickest and hardest wall I can find.

It’s no wonder people complain about university being a glorified secondary school, if it churns out people thinking like this.

To start with, it is not true that the people seeking jobs with low skill requirements are low-skilled. It’s just that they’re the only jobs available. I invite anyone to look at the ETC job list, and perhaps visit an ETC job centre. The people queueing to sign on for the dole are no longer the plaster-bespattered louts. I should know, being in that queue myself with a fucking PhD (no unemployment benefits for me however, I hasten to add).

Then there’s the issue of excessive salaries. What can I say? When some spotted curly-headed wanker is appointed CEO and gets 40k a year plus benefits for doing jack shit, and when his qualifications and experience are equal to mine, it pisses the hell out of me. We’ve got university lecturers (in the engineering faculty, if you must know) who can’t even spell. Can’t even bloody spell. And Masters graduates with a desperately-needed specialisation in 16th-18th century arms and armour who teach art in bloody primary school, because some dilettante got onto the Palace Armoury’s payroll forty years ago and hasn’t moved since.

Gonzi drives me up the wall when he talks of “opportunitajiet”. The only “opportunità” is the one you can grab on the strength of your connections.

Now I know Daphne will take issue with my rant, because she believes in making your own luck. I have nothing to say in my defence.

However, many people are seeking such jobs cause of their low level of education and this is due to the previous Labour governments. Even in certain tenders, these are awarded to the lowes bidder, so how come the government expects that these people get well paid.

I know of tenders that awarded to bidders with an hourly rate that not even the minimum can be paid so they have to cater for the contract with part timers or illegally employed employees. On the other hand yes it is true that people with IT cerificates are low paid too. But I wonder why the government itself is forking out very high wages to certail people, like for example at the Malta transport.

It has come to my knowledge that certain people with very low level of education are being paid 66,000 Euros a year in the enforcement section. I can’t for example understand why people working within the same government authorities are being paid more than the ministers themselves, and some of them even more then the Prime Minister. To me this is crazy, and I believe that the government should lead by example. I think this attitude in itself will not help the PN in the next general election.

Perhaps you avoid brushing shoulders, but I bet you’re licking your chops when that monthly pay cheque is due.

Kudos to you for landing a cushy job, Kev, but let’s be grown men and stop being hypocrites, shall we?

Not at all, Baxxter. I even avoid brushing shoulders with them if possible. The belly of the beast still contains all sorts, even if most are on a career trip. A remnant of democracy, perhaps, before this place becomes a People’s Congress.