My Sad Situation - Help :)

grey_lady

What about a graduate training scheme rather than a job, would you be prepared to relocate?

magic57

I totally agree that a speculative letter and CV are not as likely to get results. But when I got my job doing that my employer said it showed initiative and prooved that I was keen.

Best of luck anyway. I feel so lucky that I have work as I wouldn't like to be jobhunting at present.

mountainofdebt

Speaking as a parent whose son will be doing his A levels next year, what career did you have in mind when you chose your degree subject ?

I do agree though that employers may be put off evening interviewing you for retail / office jobs as they may consider that you are only gap filling until you can get into the career of your dreams

ceridwen

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I do agree with this (and the rest of your post) but I have come across the situation where a speculative CV has landed on someone's desk just as they were about to advertise a vacancy, the person called in and the job offered. Considering it just takes a little time, together with some printing and postage costs, I always think that there's little to be lost by this approach, as long as you don't expect too much from it.

I've got a job before now doing this too...

ceridwen

mountainofdebt wrote: »

Speaking as a parent whose son will be doing his A levels next year, what career did you have in mind when you chose your degree subject ?

I do agree though that employers may be put off evening interviewing you for retail / office jobs as they may consider that you are only gap filling until you can get into the career of your dreams

But then....I've seen my own employer "rub their hands with glee" at being able to get much "better" candidates for their low-level jobs than they had expected to - and promptly taking them on.

chriswatts

As well as speculative letters you may want to check and see how various companies recruit their prospective employees. For a lot of companies interviews are completely pointless, I call them corporate JB's, most interviews candidates go in, a lot of lies are usually passed between both sides and the person who puts the biggest smile on the employers face and makes them feel like they've found the next best thing since sliced bread gets the job. Only to find a few months down the line they're completely inappropriate.

At one company I worked for they only recruited from a particular agency and at first offered three month or temporary weekly rolling contracts. In that time they could actually see what the person was like, the unsuitable candidates were told that the work had dried up, a new candidate requested from the agency and the successful candidate was then offered a permanent post.

Part of GKN didn't actually employ anybody, their whole human resources section was outsourced to a agency and employees were employed by the agency.

Other companies only accept graduates through their graduate recruitment programs and any attempt to gain employment without experience is often fruitless.

Saying that you may want to check your CV and see if it's specifically aimed at the company your applying for. I use to have a generic CV that was sent to agencies and posted on job search sites like monster and every job I applied for got a specific CV written to enthuses the points they were looking for in the advertisement.

Also make sure your course subjects are clearly laid out, putting enthuses on the subjects that are relivant to the post. If on your course you've used any programs or packages that are relevant in industry list them. I can't think what they would be in Geography but in computing it would obviously be computer languages you can program in, Physics it would be experience of Monte Carlo modelling and electronics experience of packages like Labview. Quite a few jobs have their favourite packages and schemes, it may pay to look at job adverts see what is commonly asked for and read up on it.

Also make sure you put down what your hobbies are, I know that section is usually considered padding and usually just shows other attributes of the candidate, but I have previously been selected for a interview purely on what was listed as my hobby and not just my qualifications. Obviously as stated by career advisors many times don't list all your hobbies if they don't show you in a good light. Wine making might be excellent if your going to work in a brewery but add that to clubbing and they'll start to think your a alcoholic who's attendance is not going to be good!

lili2008

Lamby1985 wrote: »

Here is my rather bleak situation.

I have been unemployed since completing university in July. I graduated with a 1st class honours degree in Geography. As well as my good education I have an okay work history including numerous retail jobs and a couple of office based jobs.

The thing that really is disappointing is still being unemployed. I look daily for jobs and post CV’s and Cover letters when appropriate. I must apply for about 3 – 4 jobs a day or at least send off my CV. I have had very little response from any employer and even less interviews.

What is it that I am doing wrong? I think my CV is pretty neat. I have listed all my experiences and skills I have acquired throughout my work history and education.

To make things worse I now have to go to some kind of 2 week job search, where they help you to fill out application forms and write your CV. I don’t really need this help at all, but it is not optional.

Do you guys have any advice at all? Been reading some of the posts on this forum and you are a bunch of helpful people.

I’m depressed

You don't say what you *want* to do.

Have a look at the Civil Service Gateway (google it). With a first class honours degree you can probably find something decent within Govt. Lots of Departments have offices in Manchester.

Good luck anyway. Rough times for you youngsters.

Ninja_Seb

The most sure fire way of getting a job is to use agencies, allthough less so in these economic times. Now the problem with agencies is that it's a lottery. You will end up in any old job and it will most probably be temporary. In the 7 years since I graduated I have only managed to get one permanent job through an agency and that turned out to be the worse job I have ever had and had to quit 3 months later. My CV consists of only temporary and fixed term contracts allthough some of those positions have provided me with good experience. Basically it's a nightmare and you just have to keep going and realise that work is not life.

GrammarGirl

I have just started a brilliant job, which I got by sending a speculative CV and covering letter to the company. It worked for me and above everything, it won't hurt to try so you might as well do it!

Agencies can be good at finding positions a normal job search wouldn't uncover. Having two types of CV is also a good idea, and going along to the workshops again won't hurt, so you might as well. You'll probably be told lots of things you wouldn't have thought of before.

Your situation is really unfortunate, especially because you have such great qualifications. But you're not alone in this - there are so many graduates struggling at the moment. Keep at it and you'll get there in the end. Good luck!

Samantha83

You're definitely not alone. I have a First Class Honours in English and graduated in 2007.
Yet the only job I have had since graduating was a 3 month temporary contract as an Office Junior over the Christmas period. I hated it and was overqualified for it, but I'd take the same again if it was available because it was a job and I was able to pay off some bills with the money I earned during that period.

Since then I've been doing the same as you. You've just gotta keep throwing the mud at the wall; the more you throw, the more chance that some of it will stick!! Keep sending out the CVs. The way I see it, even if 90% of them go in the bin, you have a better chance of success than if you keep them in your drawer.
Tip: I get my CVs photocopied en masse at a local stationers as it is cheaper than printing my own. Then I have a steady supply to send out and/or enclose with job applications.