Any unemployed Grads here?

A_fiend_for_life

OP have you checked what is available through your university for research / research assistant / teaching assistant posts?

starsinmycrown

sturll wrote: »

Thank you for the lovely compliment. It really is nice to read x

Believe me i know how difficult getting a job can be. I know how difficult a degree is! People think its simply a turn up and write your name. It isn't, for 4 years i had so little time i used to eat my dinner whilst walking from one class to another. And i know im not alone. Its bloody difficult at Uni, regardless of degree.

In terms of employment i really do symapthise with you. When you have a degree and apply for a job its only natural you feel like you have a little more worth than someone without a degree.
But, if anoyone comes on here or indeed anywhere and says "to get a job do this..." ignore it. Its not that simple, every person has different consequences. Perhaps i did fall lucky? Im fortunate that i do have a natural 'gift of the gab' I remember saying to people "if i can get an interview ill get the job" Arrogant i know. But i was desperate, although it was difficult having an interview and trying to appear confident when in reality i was in absolute desperation.
When you don't get the job - when you think your interview went great and you get the call saying you weren't chosen its a huge blow. But stick with it; Ask why you didn't get it.

I applied for maybe 30 jobs (in the legal area) and had about 9 or 10 interviews. Including applying for vacational work etc ill bet ive sent over 100 applications. And yes it was depressing, there were times i thought id never get a job. But i always aimed high. Always. Im sorry if it sounds arrogant but i knew i was better than working in Mcdonalds or doing some warehouse job (although i have absolute repspect for those that do) Eventually it worked out for me. I do count myself lucky, and there isn't a day that goes by where i dont remember how life used to be.

On a lighter note, my mother brought us up with less than nothing and has always lived as such. She still lives in the same council house, still gossips with everyone and attempts to put the world to rights whilst never bothering to vote - Every single problem within the UK can be directly attributed to an ethinic family and she still goes completely over the top with her Christmas decorations. Anyway, i took her to Florida January just gone. She didn't see me see her but as we drove under the huge Disney sign on the way to Disney World i saw tears coming from her eyes - Make of that what you will; I guess we all hope for something better.

Haha! I love this parochial image of your mother and know what you mean because my grandparents are the same. Nevertheless, something very warm and charming about it.

I don't think you need to apologise for anything you have just written. It's honest enough and I think people often aren't honest on this forum for fear of being judged. If you try and make a sacrifice and work hard for years to better your situation, then somebody goes "why don't you work in mcdonalds" it's not a little insulting to your efforts. Try and kick somebody when they're down, why don't you?

I also agree with this "to get a job do this" attitude. The amount of times somebody has picked out some kind of job for me to do and gone "why don't you do that?" is beginning to irritate me. There is a difference between seeing an actual vacancy and somebody dreaming one up for you to apply for. There are sadly no hard and fast rules. Like you, i'm good at chatting in an interview and i'm usually first or second choice, once i get in there talking, but getting an interview these days is very difficult, especially with the number of applicants recently. On the TES forum, i often hear of people who have ALL the right qualifications on paper, experience, follow all the advice, but after 50 applications are still unemployed after 4 years of training and it is saddening. I'm sure all of us will find something, we just have to keep plugging away. There seems to be a bit of a dearth of decentish jobs at the moment, but i'm sure one day i'll open the jobs paper and see a dream job. I've got an application for nursing in progress, so I'm not totally without prospect, I hope. I've also been lucky enough to find temp work almost straight out of university, albeit only um, temporary.. Nevertheless I feel desperately sorry for some friends who are graduates who are working in min wage jobs with the feeling "this is it now" and theyre in a spiral that they can't get out of. it's one thing to go to work every day in a !!!! job, whilst dreaming of your route out, but to then go down that route and find it a dead-end is soul destroying.

A_fiend_for_life

starsinmycrown wrote: »

The amount of times somebody has picked out some kind of job for me to do and gone "why don't you do that?" is beginning to irritate me.

Ah! Sounds like my parents. It could cost me a new phone. Glad they don't have access to email.

KG

Apologies if this has already been posted here, but I used to be a uni careers adviser and there is a site for graduates offering some pretty decent info and advice.

It was started up way back by a university careers service so, although they are now a company and do have advertisers, the site is much more grad jobseeker orientated than some recruitment company-led sites.

It's also specifically aimed at graduates or people soon to graduate. It doesn't offer miracles but some of you may find the info useful, especially in the current climate.

The site is www.prospects.ac.uk

Sharon87

gingerdad wrote: »

only on experience, my best mate did it and he was serious about it shame everyone else was just there for the beer and to come out and say hey i've got a degree.

I wish you luck.

You do get some people who go to uni and get drunk and that's it. Most of them fail, have to redo a year or get a low grade.

Technical subjects seems to be mostly memorising things that you need to do the job (sciences/engineering/maths.etc). Media and other creative subjects you have to think more, and form an argument when writing essays. If you regurgitate theories you've read without commenting on them you will fail the essay or maybe just a pass mark. I had this problem when I first went to uni as I done a BTEC (ok, so that was quite a 'soft' course most of the time lol). I didn't do much critical thinking during the BTEC as there were only a couple of theory modules.

I agree that anyone can get into uni these days. My friend got in to one and all she needed was 2 Es I think. She kept mucking up her A-Level exams, so she didn't think she'd get enough grades for better unis! And just to think before she started her A-Levels she was hoping for 3 As! She's one of these drunk students now!

Sharon87

Double Post

chunkeebum

I am also an unemployed graduate. Having opted for doing a "soft" course like Media, I am left without a job. Whilst at college, we were visited by a Uni representative and were told, if we went to Uni, we would earn upto 75% more than someone else doing the same job who didnt have a degree. So I went to Uni, struggled for 4 years, graduated, looked for a job. All of them require experience. I don't have experience because I chose to spend my time studying. Now I am doing a little work as a Graphic Designer, but need a steady reliable income so have applied for literally everything I could find. So far I have applied for at least 60 jobs in the last 3 months, and I have had 2 telephone interviews and one face to face, The problem for me isn't a lack of jobs, but there are just so many applicants and they probably look at my CV and think, oh she has a degree, as soon as another job comes along she will leave. Like many, I am overqualified for a min wage job, but not experienced enough for what I went to University for.

Rosie75

A_fiend_for_life wrote: »

OP have you checked what is available through your university for research / research assistant / teaching assistant posts?

These will require a PhD, particularly for posts in the Humanities departments where competition is fierce.

snowqueen555

Not from what I read, there are hundreds of scholarships available for postgraduates, but its a fixed 4 year term, and 4 years of education isn't what i wanna do... You would be earning research Masters and a pHd. I expect compeition would be fierce, but there are certain scholarships that aren't getting filled and they are extending deadlines etc so maybe they are more desperate in those subjects?

On the positive side I got my first job interview next week, but its for minimum wage in a retail place so I would actually be getting paid less p/h then what I was before. I am wondering whether to just take this job if Iget it, or just wait a little longer. If I take this job how can i go to any other interviews?

A_fiend_for_life

Rosie75 wrote: »

These will require a PhD, particularly for posts in the Humanities departments where competition is fierce.

Hi rosie,

A couple of my friends have managed to secure roles as research assistants in science departments. May or may not be as competitive as humanities but worth a try I think. Their qualifications were to batchelor level and almost certainly were not as well paid as more qualified staff. Also the access to further training is a plus too I think.