University graduate & can't find a job ANYWHERE! Please please help!

newmumincov

1) To second what another poster has already said - get some voluntary work to fill the growing gap in your CV. It doesn't have to be directly psychology related - anything working directly with people will help you develop transferrable client/patient facing skills. This will help you build up work-based skills/experience and earn you referees who can at minimum vouch that you turn up on time and get the work done. If you manage to get something in an area you'd like to work in anyway, the bonus is that you'll hear about more work - lots of specialist vacancies get advertised by word of mouth, though industry organisations and so on, just because the cost of advertising through agencies and job papers is quite high.

Some local volunteering possibilties include
http://www.wmvolaction.org.uk/
http://www.wokinghammentalhealth.org.uk/
http://www.rethink.org/

There might also be the possibility of volunteering as a research assistant at Reading Uni if you go and canvass staff at their psychology dept.

2) Consider widening your net. London is reachable from Windsor - I had a boss who did it, and I also later did the commute in the opposite direction by car for a while.

3) If you went to Leicester, you could also consider looking for work back up in the Midlands.

4) Get your CV looked at by people who have experience in recruiting, and make sure that you tailor it to each job application you make.

5) Make sure you are still in the loop for physchology-related issues - through professional organisations, events, expos, email discussion groups, forums and so on (contact your old uni lecturers for advice if you don't know of any). You'll hear about more work, plus then you'll also be able to show that you've kept abreast of current issues etc.

t0rt0ise

If you're single and have few ties then you're better looking for jobs anywhere in the country. That's what I did at your age. Worked in hospitals and lived in various places moving from hospital to hospital. It's much harder later when you have local ties but by then you should be established in work.

cashbackproblems

I work in the City and know people commute from Windsor, so why not try finding work in London?? There are many admin/entry level banking roles out there through agencies etc you just have to apply

skintandscared_2

I would widen your search area definitely, but not necessarily spend TOO much time applying for jobs you are clearly way too over-qualified for. I had several applications for a junior secretarial position with me from recent graduates and I'm afraid I didn't even consider them. To be brutally honest, I wasn't going to waste my time training a junior who would leave at the first sign of a job which better utilised their education. Best of luck with your search.

TeaCake

skintandscared wrote: »

I would widen your search area definitely, but not necessarily spend TOO much time applying for jobs you are clearly way too over-qualified for. I had several applications for a junior secretarial position with me from recent graduates and I'm afraid I didn't even consider them. To be brutally honest, I wasn't going to waste my time training a junior who would leave at the first sign of a job which better utilised their education. Best of luck with your search.

Thats a shame, prior to signing up for my college course I applied to about 10 junior secretarial / admin positions. I wasn't looking for a stop gap job but something which would pay me a wage and enable me to gain new skills / build on skills I already have and let me work up the ladder in the company.
I didn't hear back from any despite telling them this in the covering letter. Not all recent (and not so recent) grads want to jump ship at the first sign of a new job, maybe you could have given some a phone interview to find out their long term goals?

smileylondongal

OP, don't feel bad - 5 months is nothing for most people in this job market and typical at graduate level as you have the grades but not the experience.

A few things came to mind that I thought might be helpful:
- I say do apply for JSA - nothing wrong with it and it can really help you get through the week financially
- I agree with other posters - widen location such as London, Slough, Reading. Lots of companies now work out of the two latter.
- It sounds as if you've been applying for all sorts and perhaps this means that you've not been able to give the focus you need to the jobs you really should be eligible for - if you had a choice, what kind of role would you do? work from there, and start researching agencies that cover this area. E.g. with psychology, you could start off in HR admin or something of that ilk...
- Once you've worked out a plan of action for the type of career you'd like to do, be focussed in your covering letters and CVs - tailor them to every single role, and I mean EVERY single role. It genuinely makes a difference.
- Get some structure into your day - mine used to be: 8am wake up, brekkie, start 2-3 online search for jobs, then I'd spend the afternoon either doing something in the house that had purpose or voluntary work - do-it.org is excellent for stuff in your area.

HTH!

Deep_In_Debt

Agree with others regarding widening your search area and doing voluntary work. London is not that far for you; I commute into London and live about the same train distance out as you - it's not that bad, less than an hour.

Also, I know it's the end of the "wedding season" but why not apply to pubs, restaurants, hotels etc who may well be recruiting staff now that the uni students have gone or are going back and these places would like staff for the Christmas season also. I'd suggest apply to these places in person - that's what I've done in the past.

I know it's not in your line of work but it's a start and will bring some money in and can be good fun also.

Good luck.

skintandscared_2

TeaCake wrote: »

Thats a shame, prior to signing up for my college course I applied to about 10 junior secretarial / admin positions. I wasn't looking for a stop gap job but something which would pay me a wage and enable me to gain new skills / build on skills I already have and let me work up the ladder in the company.
I didn't hear back from any despite telling them this in the covering letter. Not all recent (and not so recent) grads want to jump ship at the first sign of a new job, maybe you could have given some a phone interview to find out their long term goals?

I do totally understand what you are saying and I agree it probably doesn't seem fair. Thing is, I'm a very busy PA and I honestly don't have time to ring graduates with Accountancy and Business Studies degrees and ask them why they want to come and answer my phone and do my filing. I'm not being flippant, honestly. I just know what the job entails and that they will be bored in a day!! I was just trying to be honest to help the OP.

System

skintandscared wrote: »

To be brutally honest, I wasn't going to waste my time training a junior who would leave at the first sign of a job which better utilised their education.

Some interviewers have pretty much said this to me.

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Have you tried widening your search area?

Deep_In_Debt wrote: »

London is not that far for you; I commute into London and live about the same train distance out as you - it's not that bad, less than an hour.

I have actually considered this, my main concern is the cost of travel for interviews. Aren't the living costs very high too?

LondonDiva wrote: »

Which agencies have you signed up to so far?

A few. I did not sign up to ones that charged upfront fees.

Pupnik

I think your best bet would be to contact some of the major employers in that area- probably not Windsor but Slough and Reading for sure (don't they have major companies like Nestle, Microsoft and tons more there?) and ask whether they need any temporary staff. A lot of big companies hire their own temps rather than going through agencies and they are much more likely to give you a chance than the agencies. Don't get me wrong, agencies have their place but in my experience unless you have the exact experience for a particular role they won't even consider you. Big companies and also institutions like universities, hospitals etc are much more likely to give you a chance and you can build up work experience while you carry on looking for something more long term. Good luck- 5 months isn't so bad in this climate, and those first months after graduation really are the worst time to be looking.