Will my university hinder my chances of getting the job i want?

scotthem

Riq wrote: »

I actually do tuition at MMU in the evenings, I was there last night in fact. Have you had a lecturer called Kieron for any of your subjects?

Accounting theory and practice lecturer? Top man if he is.

Thanks for the advice, i guess it won't be the end of the world. My grandad has a friend who i think owns his own accountanct practise, i'll speak to him see if i can get some work experience over the summer.

Failing that i've got a good few months free until i start again in september, so i'll ring around anywhere and sell myself out for nothing to get experience if it would better my chances.

melancholly

to the OP - you have some work history (ok, not the most relevant to what you want to do, but it's a good reference and shows that you are reliable in the workplace). that's good and more than a lot of students have. work experience is a great idea if you can get it - and through contacts is often the best way. it's probably a bit late for summer placements now, but you can also go on lots of useful days organised by big 4 employers that prove your interest in the job. they all have different names for the schemes so it's worth trawling through their websites but here's a link to something at PWC to give you an idea (i picked Leeds because it seemed like the closest location to manchester):
http://www.ukcareers.pwc.com/PwCGradWeb/Portal/PwCFormPage.asp?pageId=Vacancy_View_Public&source=CurrentVacancies&objectId=251A90028211413BA990080181433F24

to the anti-oxbridge comments by others, as a cambridge graduate, i think they have no place here! it's thinking like that which can make an oxbridge degree a hindrance to getting jobs that aren't in the city. it is just as offensive to say that all students from lower ranked universities are stupid (which i think is completely untrue and i'm just using it to make a point) as to say that all students from oxbridge are awful. stereotypes help no-one! there is no university these days that is a guarentee of a job at the end of it - some help more than others, undoubtably, but it's what an individual does with it that makes the difference.

Voyager2002

I would just add that Accountancy firms used to have a reputation for ignoring degree results and selecting people by 'A' level grades. Which was tough on my friend who got a good degree, but as a mature student had never done 'A' levels and so could not even get an interview to train as an accountant!

OP, I think you will be fine. Make sure that it is very clear from your application that you were in a position to go to any university of your choice (good grades at 'A' level) and chose a course that interested you. Give reasons for your choice. And provide evidence that your performance has been better than that of the average MMU student. Any employer who failed to consider you after that would really not be worth working for, and I hope that very few are around.

The discussion about obnoxious 'Oxbridge' graduates has surfaced again. I have met a number of such people: they tend to be graduates from places like Exeter and Durham, and develop their arrogance to compensate for not quite getting in to Oxford and Cambridge. People who do actually go there are far too busy coping with the workload there to play silly games and be snobbish. (Although one of my lecturers was like this, and was indeed a Cambridge graduate, but when I met him he was teaching me at Durham.)

Cardelia

kyussmondo wrote: »

A proper university? Snobby or what? The fact is that a degree is a degree. If I was an employer and I have 2 graduates come to me, one is from Cambridge with a 2:1 but never worked a day in their lives and one from Man Met, who has the same 2:1 but has work experience, then I would take the Man Met student any day.

A degree is not a degree. In an ideal world every university would be as good as each other with identical standards across the board. However, we live in the real world, where universites are not equal and standards are not identical across the board.

In the example above, take out the work experience angle and then see what happens. Would you still employ the Man Met student over the Cambridge student if the only way you could differentiate between the two of them was the place they obtained their degree?

Blacksheep1979

kyussmondo wrote: »

A proper university? Snobby or what? The fact is that a degree is a degree. If I was an employer and I have 2 graduates come to me, one is from Cambridge with a 2:1 but never worked a day in their lives and one from Man Met, who has the same 2:1 but has work experience, then I would take the Man Met student any day.

Yes a proper university - I'm sorry but the standards at some 'universities' is a joke including (maybe not his department) the ops - I knew someone who was doing english there and their coursework that got high 2:1's was barely of A'level standard. Are you an employer - no, that's probably due to the fact you don't know what you're on about.

kyussmondo wrote: »

To the threadstarter. The uni you studied at is not everything. You also need to be a well-rounded person. Do stuff like taking part in activities or volunteering for charity work. This summer start asking around if there is any experience you can get in an accounts job. If you know someone, or your parents know someone in accountancy even better. There are thousands of graduates a year. Try and stand out from other students and you will be fine.

This part is true - you do need outside interests and activities that show you can function in a group, do things off your own back etc

kyussmondo wrote: »

My friend graduated from ARU about 3 years ago. Already she is earning about £70k in the city in investment banking. ARU is Anglia Ruskin which is about 100th in the league table, so let's stop these snobby comments about going to a proper uni, whatever that is.

Not doing so well then is she? Do you think her university is holding her back? People I know (obviously depending on what they're doing) get pretty much that as a bonus after that period of time....

Lokolo

Blacksheep1979 wrote: »

Yes a proper university - I'm sorry but the standards at some 'universities' is a joke including (maybe not his department) the ops - I knew someone who was doing english there and their coursework that got high 2:1's was barely of A'level standard. Are you an employer - no, that's probably due to the fact you don't know what you're on about.



This part is true - you do need outside interests and activities that show you can function in a group, do things off your own back etc



Not doing so well then is she? Do you think her university is holding her back? People I know (obviously depending on what they're doing) get pretty much that as a bonus after that period of time....

I think thats wrong. All universities have standards which they have to keep up to continue the courses.

Personally I don't see a difference between universities apart from the arrogance of some people.

And where did your friends go that 'earn £70k as a bonus after 3 years'?

celyn90

I guess I can only echo what the other posters have said. As someone who has been involved in interviewing and selecting candiates for both employment and further study, I can say that yes - an employer will look at where you studied, so a highly regarded institution is likely to count in your favor. It isn't the be-all and end-all by any means as it is just one of many many criteria you will be judged on; a good grade, work experience, employment history, a good interview performance, personality, good performance in any selection tests and exercises, whether you are right for the company etc etc.

In my first job I was paid a team-leader salary for a graduate position. I didn't ask for it - in fact they laughed at the low level of salary I said I would work for - which was quite embarrassing. I suspect my educational background was part of the reason I was offered the money, but I hope it was more to do with the fact they thought I'd be right for the job and the company.

I think it's quite sad to hear such general and dismissive comments about the students from any University. Not everyone I've met from lower league table universities has done badly, not everyone I've encountered within the Oxbridge system has done well or is arrogant. Every single person is different and nobody deserves to be pidgeon-holed like that. There are courses in the same subject that are harder/easier/different at different Universities and they do not have to be the same level nationally to be accredited and to allow for the award of a degree. When I first started tutoring undergradates, I had to work incredibaly hard to keep up with them as the subject areas and depth where I had done my first degree was very very different to the level I was teaching at, but to me that adds to the fun as I could learn something from them too

Voyager2002

Lokolo wrote: »

I think thats wrong. All universities have standards which they have to keep up to continue the courses.

Personally I don't see a difference between universities apart from the arrogance of some people.

And where did your friends go that 'earn £70k as a bonus after 3 years'?

I have worked at a number of different universities over the years, and the fact is that the standard varies widely. However, even the worst of universities produce very able and successful graduates, and even the best of universities have failures.

melancholly

Lokolo wrote: »

I think thats wrong. All universities have standards which they have to keep up to continue the courses.

Personally I don't see a difference between universities apart from the arrogance of some people.

it's not about arrogance at all. how can you expect two courses to have the same standard of degree when one requires AAA and another EE?! a lot are very similar, and the uni you go to is clearly not the be-all-and-end-all of your career opportunities, but seriously, in the real world there is a difference. you can try and deny it and think it's unfair all you want, but it's true and is accepted by almost all employers - it is entirely unfair and misleading to give the impression that all degrees from all universities are equal (or even that all degrees from the same university are equal!). that does not prepare graduates for the job market and it is irresponsible to not tell students how the real world works.

Lokolo

melancholly wrote: »

it's not about arrogance at all. how can you expect two courses to have the same standard of degree when one requires AAA and another EE?! a lot are very similar, and the uni you go to is clearly not the be-all-and-end-all of your career opportunities, but seriously, in the real world there is a difference. you can try and deny it and think it's unfair all you want, but it's true and is accepted by almost all employers - it is entirely unfair and misleading to give the impression that all degrees from all universities are equal (or even that all degrees from the same university are equal!). that does not prepare graduates for the job market and it is irresponsible to not tell students how the real world works.

The reason is so that they can get higher in the league tables!!!

Why would oxbridge want candidates at E A level grades? They wouldn't. Why? Because if the student starts failing then it reflects badly on them.

Simple as.