Have a degree and overqualifed

TEDDYRUKSPIN

vaporate wrote: »

"The reason you are struggling is because so many people are looking for work and not because you are academically superior".

Actually, truth be told, I think degrees these days are no more important than say simply passing secondary schools with acceptable GCSE grades. (apart from Law and Doctor degree or from top 30 uni rating.)

I only got the degree for personal ambition, and a long term dream of teaching English in an exotic country (degree being visa requirement)[/QUOTE]

Slightly agree with this. Too many BSc degrees about nowadays. So called, ' Mickey Mouse' degrees have ruined it all for people.

A 2.1 in something like, soil control can't be as good as 2.2 in Biochemistry.

Anyway, never give up.

vaporate

TEDDYRUKSPIN wrote: »

Actually, truth be told, I think degrees these days are no more important than say simply passing secondary schools with acceptable GCSE grades. (apart from Law and Doctor degree or from top 30 uni rating.)

I only got the degree for personal ambition, and a long term dream of teaching English in an exotic country (degree being visa requirement)

Slightly agree with this. Too many BSc degrees about nowadays. So called, ' Mickey Mouse' degrees have ruined it all for people.

A 2.1 in something like, soil control can't be as good as 2.2 in Biochemistry.


I also agree.

There are 112 universities in the UK, why dont they close the bottom 12 and spread the money into other unis and scrap degrees like 'wine studies'?

Anyway, never give up.[/QUOTE]

jollivee

impress the employers on why they should hire you. it's not about being overqualified because you have the degree, but your capacity to do the job is what matters to them. good luck!

olly300

OP you are not overqualified.

In IT companies have always wanted people with experience.

A degree is just the icing on the cake and to be honest the majority of the places I've worked, my family and friends' have worked are not actually interested in the fact that the degree is in Computer Science. I've work and worked with people who have language degrees.

I also suggest you be a person who is willing to work anywhere in the country and in places in Europe if you want a permanent or one/two year fixed term contract IT job.

krdrummer

coffee_prince wrote: »

Just keep going and odds are you will get an interview after a while.

They won't reject you because of a degree.

I have worked for and with agencies for a long time. They will discount you for having a degree especially if the role is low level. The main reason is because people will use the role as a stepping stone to other things. The longer they can keep you in that role, especially if it's a temp role, the more profit they make. As soon as you leave they will have to find someone else. Which is why they don't like to have people who are too ambitious.

I do agree with your other point about it being a numbers game. Keep smiling and keep applying. One thing people generally forget to ask for is feedback. Less than 5% of people ask for feedback in recruitment. Even if they reject your application form ask for feedback. "What could I do to improve my chances?", "What experience would I need?". The more you ask the more you will find out about your limitations.

Good luck

coffee_prince

a temp role is temporary, they aren't expecting you to stay there for long

book12

Looks like some of you have been accepted or doing jobs right now, which doesn't relate to your degree.

I've got experience in the temp work I want to do before going to uni. Hopefully, that will still give me an edge.

coffee_prince wrote: »

a temp role is temporary, they aren't expecting you to stay there for long

Yeah, that's true.

The agency specalises in temporary contracts and 'temp to perm' contracts. I specifically ask them to look for temporary contracts for me. The reason is that if the agency staff pass my CV to the employer who has a 'temp to perm' contract job, the employer will reject my CV without interview, as the employer knows that I will leave before becoming permanent.

Surbybird

A degree doesn't necessarily make you overqualified but trying to enter an already saturated market is always going to be difficult, degree or not.

From an employer's perspective, this is my experience.

I am an IT Manager and I got my degree after I'd started working in IT 10 years ago. I got in through a friend of a friend in a lowly role but soon worked my way up.

I am currently recruiting for an assistant and it is a nightmare (last chap left to devote himself to full-time gaming!). I am not looking for a degree but I do want experience. I really don't want to spend 6 months training someone who then leaves and I have to start again. I need someone who can hit the ground running. Most of the graduates that have applied have said they are looking for a stepping stone so they don't make it to second interview.

Typically, any time I advertise an IT role I get in excess of 150 applicants for what is essentially a support/SysAdmin role in quite a small company so if you applied you'd have a good deal of competition. Just having a degree wouldn't be enough as around 50% of the applicants are recent IT graduates. Unfortunately, I have to reject almost all of them because they have no experience so they wouldn't be able to do the job.

Good luck in finding something and the only advice I can give you is to have a USP if you want to be successful. I call people to interview who have something that makes their CV stand out amongst the others.