Any unemployed Grads here?

poker_face

CHARDONNAY wrote: »

My apologies if this comes across wrong - but there are alot of graduates who think that by having a degree they have 'earned' the right to skip the bottom rung of the career ladder but it couldn't be further from the truth.

I have a couple of family members who are involved in recruiting professional level staff and most agree that they would not employ new graduates as they lack 'soft' skills and experience and tend to be of the attitude that they are just doing this job til something better comes along.

I think there needs to be a switch in attitude in this country when it comes to higher education - kids shouldn't be pushed in to it at 18 (anyone with remotely average grades was pointed in this direction at my school)

Out of the school mates I still stay in contact with, the ones who are happier in their jobs and earn more money didn't even go to uni while the ones who did go are unemployed, working in the customer service sector, or they did PGCE'S and became teachers (guess it's true what they say that those who can't, teach!)

Certainly the case with me. I dropped out of college and started working my way up from the bottom (woolworths lol). 4 years on and I have several jobs and enjoy all of them, whereas my friend has gone to Uni to study what I do now and has no chance of getting work, except when I give him some

3plus1

CHARDONNAY wrote: »

My apologies if this comes across wrong - but there are alot of graduates who think that by having a degree they have 'earned' the right to skip the bottom rung of the career ladder but it couldn't be further from the truth.

I have a couple of family members who are involved in recruiting professional level staff and most agree that they would not employ new graduates as they lack 'soft' skills and experience and tend to be of the attitude that they are just doing this job til something better comes along.

There are two types of graduates though - there are those with just a degree, and there are those with a degree, who held down a part time job, who volunteered and who were in every club and society.

One type is employable. The other isn't.

sturll

3plus1 wrote: »

There are two types of graduates though - there are those with just a degree, and there are those with a degree, who held down a part time job, who volunteered and who were in every club and society.

One type is employable. The other isn't.

Or there was me, had 2 kids, a home, a temp job, coached a Rugby League team and still walked away with a Degree in Law & Accountancy.

What i did was to apply for a job on each Mon, Wed, Fri. In between those days i would be looking and researching potential employers. I spent at least 2 or 3 hours on each application - If they didnt get back to me i would phone and ask why.

Since i had kids to support i had applied to be an Officer in the Army and had been successful and due to start 8 months down the line. I knew i didnt want to be in the Army but knew i had to do something. That was the goal i set myself. Get a job before the Army date.

My biggest problem was work experience, they all wanted to know why i hadn't done much of it whilst studying. Some understood that it was impossible whilst being a single father to work voluntarily others werent as sympathetic.

Anyway, it paid off, i now hold down a great job which takes me all over the world and one whereby i expect to be earning in excess of 60k within 5 years.

For the person who says grads should not expect to be able to step above low paid jobs - I invested 4 years and 20k in my self to get my degree. I had my kids sitting wearing 2 jumpers because i couldn't afford to heat the house, we ate beans on toast so many times i can't bear to look at it now. There were nights the electric metre ran out and we just went to bed at 5pm. We didn't holiday, go out, there was even a time i had to send my son to the lost property at school because i couldn't afford him a school jumper.
I put us through a life like that with one thing in mind. And that was so that i could drag myself and my kids out of the working class background we had been dealt.

angel00079

Sturll, while I agree that a degree should improve job prospects there are too many graduates that think the world owes them a living. I am sure that there are people who have not gone to uni would have worked their way up and done the rubbish jobs that no one else would do on poor pay. I do not think a degree in itself means an individual has the necessary skills to do a job compared to someone that does not have one.

I think it is about an individual's drive. There are people that work hard to better themselves to improve the lives of their family and others that wait for it all to fall into their lap. No one should have to work below their skill/experience but unfortunately I think that a lot will have to, myself included.

Oldernotwiser

snowqueen555 wrote: »

Meh, am applying for anything now. But no offense, if I start doing the minimum wage jobs, won't that look bad on my cv?

Not nearly as bad as being unemployed looks!

snowqueen555

3plus1 wrote: »

There are two types of graduates though - there are those with just a degree, and there are those with a degree, who held down a part time job, who volunteered and who were in every club and society.

One type is employable. The other isn't.

Well I worked part time throughout my degrere, the whole three years. I voluneteered for a year as a student rep for my faculty.

None of it is helping at the moment.

gingerdad

sturll wrote: »

Or there was me, had 2 kids, a home, a temp job, coached a Rugby League team and still walked away with a Degree in Law & Accountancy.

What i did was to apply for a job on each Mon, Wed, Fri. In between those days i would be looking and researching potential employers. I spent at least 2 or 3 hours on each application - If they didnt get back to me i would phone and ask why.

Since i had kids to support i had applied to be an Officer in the Army and had been successful and due to start 8 months down the line. I knew i didnt want to be in the Army but knew i had to do something. That was the goal i set myself. Get a job before the Army date.

My biggest problem was work experience, they all wanted to know why i hadn't done much of it whilst studying. Some understood that it was impossible whilst being a single father to work voluntarily others werent as sympathetic.

Anyway, it paid off, i now hold down a great job which takes me all over the world and one whereby i expect to be earning in excess of 60k within 5 years.

For the person who says grads should not expect to be able to step above low paid jobs - I invested 4 years and 20k in my self to get my degree. I had my kids sitting wearing 2 jumpers because i couldn't afford to heat the house, we ate beans on toast so many times i can't bear to look at it now. There were nights the electric metre ran out and we just went to bed at 5pm. We didn't holiday, go out, there was even a time i had to send my son to the lost property at school because i couldn't afford him a school jumper.
I put us through a life like that with one thing in mind. And that was so that i could drag myself and my kids out of the working class background we had been dealt.

yes but i think you are the execption (a great execption don't get me wrong). All grads don't need to start at the bottom as some have useful degrees for a job, but so many people i know, have interviewed, have worked with and have worked for me over the years did crappy degrees, wasted a lot of money, then expected to come out earning 20-30 k per year. that's not the real world from where i sit. but saying that in my family we have the following

My Dad - earning 100k + as a project manager in the middle east (no degree)
My Mum - now retieres worked in offices all her life low wages (no degree)
Sister - accountant 40k + per year no degree
Me - Co Director 30k + no degree
Brother - 100k + computers in the states (degree + Masters)
Wife - Teacher 30k (degree)
Sister in law self employed it trainer, 30k + (no degree)
Brother in law, 15k working in a college (degree)
MIL now retieres but worked as a teacher (degree)
FIL joiner self empolyed 25k +
Firend, office waller for DSS £15k (degree)

so i my family 5 people with degrees 3 with/had fairly well paid jobs, 2 with out

6 without degrees, 5 faily well paid/ one not.

i could list further but the maths stays roughly the same.

GD

sturll

angel00079 wrote: »

Sturll, while I agree that a degree should improve job prospects there are too many graduates that think the world owes them a living. I am sure that there are people who have not gone to uni would have worked their way up and done the rubbish jobs that no one else would do on poor pay. I do not think a degree in itself means an individual has the necessary skills to do a job compared to someone that does not have one.

I think it is about an individual's drive. There are people that work hard to better themselves to improve the lives of their family and others that wait for it all to fall into their lap. No one should have to work below their skill/experience but unfortunately I think that a lot will have to, myself included.

I half agree with your post.

First of all you are right that there are a good deal of graduates who expect to walk out of Uni with a social sciences degree and instantly walk into a 30k job.

But to say that you don't think a person with a degree has no more skill than a person without one is not strictly true. There will be exceptions of course, a degree is subject specific for a start. Let me use my degree as an example. I did a Law and Accountancy degree. To be a Lawyer in the UK 7 core areas of the law must have been studied (i think 5 at honours level) It is possible to become a Lawyer without a degree but it takes somewhere in the region of 12 years working on the job and even then from experiance many firms wouldn't touch you. Accountancy, again regulated and certain modules must be covered to exempt you from the exam.

A degree gives a person a basis of the knowledge required quick time - as in 3 or 4 years. What it does not do though is give a person the drive and enthusiasm as you state. But these are personal traits found in people both with and without degrees.

The fact remains that if you study a good degree and do well you stand more of a chance of getting a good job than someone in the same position at say 25 years old.

sturll

gingerdad wrote: »

yes but i think you are the execption (a great execption don't get me wrong). All grads don't need to start at the bottom as some have useful degrees for a job, but so many people i know, have interviewed, have worked with and have worked for me over the years did crappy degrees, wasted a lot of money, then expected to come out earning 20-30 k per year. that's not the real world from where i sit. but saying that in my family we have the following

My Dad - earning 100k + as a project manager in the middle east (no degree)
My Mum - now retieres worked in offices all her life low wages (no degree)
Sister - accountant 40k + per year no degree
Me - Co Director 30k + no degree
Brother - 100k + computers in the states (degree + Masters)
Wife - Teacher 30k (degree)
Sister in law self employed it trainer, 30k + (no degree)
Brother in law, 15k working in a college (degree)
MIL now retieres but worked as a teacher (degree)
FIL joiner self empolyed 25k +
Firend, office waller for DSS £15k (degree)

so i my family 5 people with degrees 3 with/had fairly well paid jobs, 2 with out

6 without degrees, 5 faily well paid/ one not.

i could list further but the maths stays roughly the same.

GD

I couldn't agree more in terms of the degree studied, i mean if i ran a Law firm i would hardly be interested in employing someone with a degree in Geography. Although stats do say most graduate employers do not require a subject specific degree. Of course there are still plenty that do.

Your family do appear to have done well but i suggest that in todays world a young person with no degree would have very little hope of earning 100k. If he ever did it would be after many many years on the job.
Your sister the accountant, she may very well have taken the relevant accountancy exams be it through CIMA or ACCA and they will no doubt have taken longer than if she had done the modules at University.

Since we are on a thread about graduates and most graduates are young or under 30 then it would be naive to believe that if they did a good degree they would not have better career prospects.
I don't think i am the exception since i have many friends who are well employed and have good futures ahead of them.
Needless to say i am 27, a Lawyer in Private Equity and last year including bonuses i took home over 40k, as i said in an earlier post, by the time im 32 i would expect be taking home 60k. Ill likely be retired by the time i reach 50.
What 27 year old without a degree can say that?

(nb please don't take my comments out of context, they are merely to illustrate a point and nothing else)

Oldernotwiser

gingerdad wrote: »

yes but i think you are the execption (a great execption don't get me wrong). All grads don't need to start at the bottom as some have useful degrees for a job, but so many people i know, have interviewed, have worked with and have worked for me over the years did crappy degrees, wasted a lot of money, then expected to come out earning 20-30 k per year. that's not the real world from where i sit. but saying that in my family we have the following

My Dad - earning 100k + as a project manager in the middle east (no degree)
My Mum - now retieres worked in offices all her life low wages (no degree)
Sister - accountant 40k + per year no degree
Me - Co Director 30k + no degree
Brother - 100k + computers in the states (degree + Masters)
Wife - Teacher 30k (degree)
Sister in law self employed it trainer, 30k + (no degree)
Brother in law, 15k working in a college (degree)
MIL now retieres but worked as a teacher (degree)
FIL joiner self empolyed 25k +
Firend, office waller for DSS £15k (degree)

so i my family 5 people with degrees 3 with/had fairly well paid jobs, 2 with out

6 without degrees, 5 faily well paid/ one not.

i could list further but the maths stays roughly the same.

GD

I don't really think that it's relevant to include earlier generations as far fewer people went to university then and a degree was required for far fewer jobs. (eg Teaching didn't require a degree until the 70s.) If your BIL is only earning 15K in a college he can't be a full time lecturer although perhaps he's heading that way? I also feel that the relatively high number of people in your family who are self employed skews the figures somewhat.