Final Year students, start applying now for jobs!

The_One_Who

Getting on a graduate scheme is not the be all and end all, it is not the only way to get a job for next year. Of course, for a lot of industries it certainly helps, but not all.

Running_On_Empty

The_One_Who wrote: »

Getting on a graduate scheme is not the be all and end all, it is not the only way to get a job for next year. Of course, for a lot of industries it certainly helps, but not all.

It certainly is the be all and end all if you want to use your degree level education and get your working life off to the best possible start.

On the other hand, you might wish to continue with a Masters degree or maybe just get a job that you could have got at 16 with GCSEs.

melancholly

Running_On_Empty wrote: »

It certainly is the be all and end all if you want to use your degree level education and get your working life off to the best possible start.

actually it isn't.

plenty of industries don't offer them to start with and there are too many graduates for most to be able to get on one.

they can be great, but not getting one isn't the end of the world. a standard graduate scheme will use very few of the details of your degree anyway. it is completely untrue and unfair to make students feel like they have failed for not getting onto some city scheme - there is a wider world out there!

The_One_Who

Running_On_Empty wrote: »

It certainly is the be all and end all if you want to use your degree level education and get your working life off to the best possible start.

On the other hand, you might wish to continue with a Masters degree or maybe just get a job that you could have got at 16 with GCSEs.

I'm not saying that they aren't good, and of course it will get you on a faster track, but it's not the end of the world not getting on one. There are simply too many graduates for the places offered, and there are usually plenty of other routes into the same business.

Running_On_Empty

melancholly wrote: »

actually it isn't.

plenty of industries don't offer them to start with and there are too many graduates for most to be able to get on one.

they can be great, but not getting one isn't the end of the world. a standard graduate scheme will use very few of the details of your degree anyway. it is completely untrue and unfair to make students feel like they have failed for not getting onto some city scheme - there is a wider world out there!

I did not for a moment suggest that graduates who don't get onto a graduate scheme have failed or that they should feel like failures.

I did not suggest that the schemes use the detail of the degree, what I referred to was degree level education.

Nor did I suggest that they are 'some city scheme'. There are many sectors and roles that are not city based and are included in grad schemes.

You are doing final year students no favours by damning the grad schemes with faint praise, 'they can be good'.

I am very aware that not all graduates can get onto a grad scheme but if final year students do not apply, and do it soon, as Simon11 has suggested, they certainly won't get a place.

You don't have the monoply on your knowledge of HE, BTW, and while you are of course entitled to your opinion, it is wrong, in my opinion, to dissuade students to research and apply for grad schemes now.

I will acknowledge that many employers target the Russell Group of universities for their on campus recruitment drives and prefer to spend their recruitment budgets where they know they will get a good return. However, students from the remainder of the HE sector are fools to themselves if they do not apply.

So, yes, actually, they are the gold standard and students should be aware of how beneficial it is to their future prospects to get a place on a grad scheme.

melancholly

Running_On_Empty wrote: »

IYou don't have the monoply on your knowledge of HE, BTW, and while you are of course entitled to your opinion, it is wrong, in my opinion, to dissuade students to research and apply for grad schemes now.

never have, never would. the best type of careers advice gives options - that there isn't one route you have to follow that will be best for everyone.

realistically, most people won't get onto a graduate scheme (which is not the same as a job requiring a degree). i think there are many more options - you think it's the best way, and by saying that it's the gold standard, you are effectively saying that not getting one is a form of failure (intentional or otherwise).

the best thing to do is allow different opinions (or at least that's how i see it). in many unis, the graduate schemes are the only careers that have a campus presence which gives a blinkered view of what is available.

anyone looking for any kind of job would be best advised to see their careers service who can give tailored help - seeing someone who can see your degree subject, experience, grades, interests etc etc is the best thing to do!

Running_On_Empty

melancholly wrote: »

never have, never would. the best type of careers advice gives options - that there isn't one route you have to follow that will be best for everyone.

realistically, most people won't get onto a graduate scheme (which is not the same as a job requiring a degree). i think there are many more options - you think it's the best way, and by saying that it's the gold standard, you are effectively saying that not getting one is a form of failure (intentional or otherwise).

the best thing to do is allow different opinions (or at least that's how i see it). in many unis, the graduate schemes are the only careers that have a campus presence which gives a blinkered view of what is available.

anyone looking for any kind of job would be best advised to see their careers service who can give tailored help - seeing someone who can see your degree subject, experience, grades, interests etc etc is the best thing to do!

Yes, quite.
This was my post this afternoon:

A tip: use your university's careers service for access to graduate trainee schemes for entry next September. Many will have password protected jobs boards.

The_One_Who

I totally agree Melancholly. It really is all about giving options and showing that there are different routes into the same things.

Recruitment fairs also have a geographical bias, with a lot more being in the south of the country. There is usually one or two large graduates fairs in Scotland, but they cover the whole of Scotland, with some companies doing individual university events. Head south and there are a lot, lot more events. The companies that attend these things are often very narrow in their focus, usually quite a few engineering and accountancy firms, along with all the usual players.

I am certainly not trying to disuade anyone from applying to these, I think they are great for the few who do manage to get a place. All I am saying is for students/graduates not to set their heart and their futures on getting onto one of these schemes, and to not be disheartened.

Browntoa

click the spam button on freeways post , referral link not allowed anywhere but the referrals part of the forum

*Kat*

I've applied for about 9 graduate schemes this past month and been turned down for all of them...

I keep trying but now I'm branching onto just junior jobs *depressing* but ... can I apply next year too? I graduate in May so can I apply after I graduate? I can right? I mean if I get a job for just this year will they be more or less inclined to employ me?