The article in brief.
● He trained as an accounting economist, believing it was a booming market.
● After unsuccessfully applying for 200 positions, he gave up and criticized the school’s marketing.
● The company providing the training defends its marketing.
Andrée Theander had already been involved in music for several years when he decided to study business administration at a university of applied sciences.
The organizer lured people with the promise of great demand and good job opportunities.
That wasn’t the case.
– It feels strange because I know that I would have done this job well if I had the chance, but I never did, says Andrée Theander.
He says that he has applied for hundreds of jobs since graduating in 2024 but has now given up.
– They usually require a certain number of years of professional experience. Of course, I still applied for the positions, but it didn’t work out.
Andrée Theander feels educated and ready for the profession, but is afraid to advertise a booming industry.
– After all, it is a type of government agency that must approve these courses based on a need in the labor market. And then I think that you shouldn’t talk so much nonsense, says Andrée Theander.
He says he and several others were missing a spot during the first part of the important internship period. Then he had to do a school assignment instead and only complete the second part of the internship.
This criticism is anything but new.
A targeted review by the Norwegian University of Applied Sciences Authority (MYH), which began in 2024, found that 45 percent of programs had deficiencies in practice, primarily in putting all of them into practice, or that they did not meet requirements.
Andrée Theander says that several classmates managed to get internships with the help of their own contacts. He himself got a job at a company in Ulricehamn, which unfortunately did not lead to employment.
– They put all the responsibility on the students and justify this by saying that this gives us training in job hunting and contacting companies. I understand that there can be such an aspect, but it is also a very convenient way for them to avoid responsibility.
Andrée Theander emphasizes that it still worked out well for him with music, but he is disappointed and doesn’t believe that the business school kept what it promised.
The organizer Plushögskolan received 255 million in state funding last year, the most of all education providers.
– But I take all the lessons with me and move on. It’s not that bad for me, but I see a systemic failure where the state is being deprived of public money that should be used for more important things.
Maria Sandin, operations manager at Plushögskolan, regrets Andrée Theander’s situation, but does not believe that the school has been too aggressive in its marketing and promised too much.
– It’s very sad to hear this, but we’re really trying to be nuanced. Training offers the chance of a job based on studying for a shortage occupation, but we never have a job guarantee for communicating in this way. We could never have that, she says.
In her opinion, the school has a solid process for assessing labor market needs when planning training, but it is still a difficult task, she says.
The process of it It takes four years for the school to apply for training until students graduate and apply for jobs. A lot is happening in the job market during this time.
– We have to look and try to predict what it will look like in three to five years when we make the assessment, and there have been economic fluctuations and various challenges in the labor market. But the statistics still show that we at the university of applied sciences are very good at meeting demand, says Maria Sandin.
DN has been in contact with several other students who criticize other YH training courses but are afraid to give their names for fear that it will make it more difficult for them to find a job.
