OU degrees and internships/graduate schemes?

youngbuck2

I'm 28 and considering starting a BA(Hons) Business Management degree on a full-time basis through the OU (yes I'm ok to do this and afford to do it). My long term goal is to graduate with a 2:1 or above and get a place on a graduate scheme with a well know company like Volkswagen/Audi, BP, Sky, John Lewis etc in a business management/consulting/marketing role.

I'd also like to be placed in a 6 weeks/3 month/6 month internship with a well known company. I know a lot of bricks and mortar universities have 4 year Business Management degrees with a 1 year placement/internship built in. The OU does not and is 3 years (full time).

However, searching Linkedin and Google, I can't find any evidence of someone with just an OU bachelors degree either getting an internship or a graduate scheme role. Is there a good reason for this?

Has anyone managed to get an internship or graduate scheme with just an OU degree similar to what I'm aiming for?

Will being 30/31 (when I graduate) disadvantage me getting an internship or graduate scheme place?

Will my OU degree disadvantage me over any other university ("normal", not Oxbridge/Russell Group)?

Should I even bother? The lack of OU graduates in internships and good graduate jobs is worrying me a bit.

GothicStirling

It could be purely down to the reason that when people talk about their degrees, unless you went to Oxbridge its not something you talk about. When someone asks me, I usually just say I have an English degree.


If you get the opportunity for an internship (they are highly competitive, and most of the time unpaid) then you can take a year's sabbatical from studying.


But to be honest, I graduated in 2011 and there is high competition for good graduate jobs no matter what university you went too. I just started working for the NHS in June, for the last four years I've been working a series of temporary, zero hour contracts, non-graduate jobs, while attempting to kick down a few doors.

tomtontom

The OU may have statistics regarding what people do after taking a degree with them. For the CS Fast Stream 3 people were successful in 2013, a 4% success rate. Friends at Sky and on the NHS Graduate Scheme are not aware of anyone from OU in their intake years. That could be for various reasons, not least that OU students are often already in work so a GS would not be suitable for them.

Is there a particular reason why you want to study with OU?

youngbuck2

tomtontom wrote: »

The OU may have statistics regarding what people do after taking a degree with them. For the CS Fast Stream 3 people were successful in 2013, a 4% success rate. Friends at Sky and on the NHS Graduate Scheme are not aware of anyone from OU in their intake years. That could be for various reasons, not least that OU students are often already in work so a GS would not be suitable for them.

Is there a particular reason why you want to study with OU?

The only reason is that I didn't complete my A-Levels as wanted to start earning money - I could take another year completing them but at 28 (nearly 29) I want to get on with things. If there was a distinct advantage of going to a bricks and mortar uni over the OU then I'd take the extra year, which I suppose is why I'm asking here if anyone has any experience of having an OU degree and being turned down (or accepted) for grad schemes/internships.

youngbuck2

GothicStirling wrote: »

It could be purely down to the reason that when people talk about their degrees, unless you went to Oxbridge its not something you talk about. When someone asks me, I usually just say I have an English degree.


If you get the opportunity for an internship (they are highly competitive, and most of the time unpaid) then you can take a year's sabbatical from studying.


But to be honest, I graduated in 2011 and there is high competition for good graduate jobs no matter what university you went too. I just started working for the NHS in June, for the last four years I've been working a series of temporary, zero hour contracts, non-graduate jobs, while attempting to kick down a few doors.

I could take a sabbatical year you're right, and overall that would be the best option.

I heard someone else say that the reason there aren't a lot of OU graduates in graduate jobs is that most OU students are already mid-career and are just obtaining degrees to bolster their CVs/add to their work experience rather than using a degree to gain a job.

Mrs_Soup

Have you tried applying to a brick university as at 28 you count as a mature student and different rules apply for entry quals. The application cycle does take a year though so you'd be looking at sept 2016 start though you could use that year to maybe do one a level at evening classclass. Alternatively if you start with the ou and do well some places will let you start into year 2 using the credits you have.

Mistral001

Apart from the vocational degrees like medicine there are very few degrees where there is a job waiting for you when you graduate. Even degrees which you think might be vocational like Law there are only a relatively small percentage of graduates end up being lawyers. I am not sure about degrees in business studies but I would suggest that even fewer graduates up fully using their degree in say management accountancy in large companies etc.

tomtontom

Mrs_Soup wrote: »

Have you tried applying to a brick university as at 28 you count as a mature student and different rules apply for entry quals. The application cycle does take a year though so you'd be looking at sept 2016 start though you could use that year to maybe do one a level at evening classclass. Alternatively if you start with the ou and do well some places will let you start into year 2 using the credits you have.

No reason why the OP cannot apply through clearing this year, even the most popular of courses can have places become available.

DomRavioli

I hold both a brick uni degree and I'm almost at the end of my OU degree (both undergraduate). The brick uni degree has got me jobs but not in a relevant field - not even close to what I trained in - but the OU degree is valuable to some because it shows dedication to further yourself. I got my current job through my OU study, and I'm 120 credits from graduating with a BA (Hons) Business.

Let me be very realistic though - you can only study full time with the OU if you have literally nothing else to do - the courses are very intensive at level 2 and 3, and it is almost impossible to complete 120 credits a year with a job as well.