Please help me:graduate jobs?

solarstone

I went through exactly the same disheartening process, albeit 14 years ago now. Whoever mentioned feet in the door was spot on. I started as a temp in a company that had just moved 500 people into a new office, as a database administrator. Not ideally what I wanted to do and for not much money.

I worked every day for 30 days (literally) and they took me on as permanent. Since then I've moved on but have had 14 successful years in an IT career, that would never have got off the ground had I followed the "milkround/applications to companies" route.

Someone else mentioned being in a job to get a job. That's true too, even if it's not what you want to do long term, you're getting money, you're getting the social side of things, and you're much more likely to to be objective in the search for your ultimate job rather than taking on the first one that "seems" good.

Sorry if I've covered ground on others posts, but it's my lunch hour and I didn't get time to read them all !!

Woby_Tide

Loopylou wrote:

Woby-Tide - hmmph, so a psychology degree is wooly?! I'm sure many of us with psych degrees would disagree with you there. It does kind of annoy me the way people seem to mock psychology degrees as though they are a joke & are not a "proper" degree. It's a lot different to how you might think & we cover such a vast amount including a great deal (far too much!) of statistics.

Sorry, that's why I did apologise at the time, I was more inferring how still alot of management/recruiters still see degrees as being 'disciplines' i.e. Business Studies grads will be good at 'business jobs', Economics grads good at economics, Zoology good at animals etc., Psychology good at...erm psychology(plus most managers/recruiters are !!!!!! scared you'd be analysing them at the same time...). It was more an observation how friends had found it harder to get a foot in the door with 'non-discipline' degrees than those with more pigeonholed career type degrees. Once you are actually working as others say, it's a different kettle of fish, eventually the degree subject will pretty much be irrelevant and the sheer fact you are a 'degree holder' is the over-riding factor

Loopylou_4

Woby_Tide wrote:

Sorry, that's why I did apologise at the time, I was more inferring how still alot of management/recruiters still see degrees as being 'disciplines' i.e. Business Studies grads will be good at 'business jobs', Economics grads good at economics, Zoology good at animals etc., Psychology good at...erm psychology(plus most managers/recruiters are !!!!!! scared you'd be analysing them at the same time...). It was more an observation how friends had found it harder to get a foot in the door with 'non-discipline' degrees than those with more pigeonholed career type degrees. Once you are actually working as others say, it's a different kettle of fish, eventually the degree subject will pretty much be irrelevant and the sheer fact you are a 'degree holder' is the over-riding factor

Hiya,
yeah, it's ok. I wasn't really angry with you because I realised you did apologise at the time, just generally annoyed with the way psychology is generally misconcepted! I know what you are saying though.

LOL about the analysing thing! I always get that!!! People don't realise that's not what psychology is all about! lol People may be surprised to learn that for instance, we did a lot on computational neuroscience & networks & the Von Neuman machine & all that side of things. So yeah, not all just about analysing people!

Woby_Tide

if you give too much away you'll lose the mystery, keep up the pretence that it's all about analysing people and ask the interviewer about their childhood, much more effective

Loopylou_4

ROFLMAO i can just imagine that. i'm sure i'll end up getting a job if i start questioning the interviewer about their childhood !

anyway just to say, have just received a phone call to say i got the job i applied for. It is for the company 118-118 (sure you've seen the many adverts! ) & it's working as a customer service representitive, so a far cry from a psychology job, although I did emphasise in the interview, how the degree enhanced my listening skills which is a most important skill for the job! They said they were impressed with my application form though lord only knows why.

I hope it will be ok & I suppose it's a job for now but I'll still keep an eye out for something more relevant to the area I'd like to eventually work in. I may now look into doing some voluntary work & perhaps that will lead me some where.

Just to add, they are still recruiting people so if anyone is interested just go to their website & fill in the application form!

Savvy_Sue

Loopylou wrote:

Sue - Hi, thanks a lot for your suggestions. I have done voluntary work in the past with MIND because I knew it was a good thing to have for what I wanted to do. I would consider doing voluntary work again with them or similar organisations, but I really need to be earning money. Once I have a job then I would try & volunteer for even just a few hours, so long as I am earning money. I just can't afford to do voluntary work. I do know though that it's a very good thing to do & it looks good because it shows you are dedicated. Thanks again.

I was suggesting voluntary work as well as working rather than as an alternative. Make sure you make the most of your previous volunteering on your cv etc.

Loopylou wrote:

Sarahsaver - thanks for agreeing that it's not a wooly degree! I will assume you read what I wrote above about voluntary work. As for the prison service, I am interested in forensic psychology & I'm aware quite a lot of people with psychology degrees do work in prisons, however, I'm not sure the people around me would be happy with me doing that sort of thing. A while ago, I saw something I was going to apply for working at the local prison but then I was put off by someone telling me they would not be happy with me working with such violent people (i'm a weak little female! :P) so now I'm not sure about that!
I do need to get in to the right mix though but it's so hard to get started. Every week in the paper there are jobs advertised for learning support assistants which I think may be a good thing to do, but the pay is just terrible. £6,000 for goodness sake! I wouldn't be too bothered but I really need to earn more than that because being at uni for three years drains the bank balance & I have a mortgage & bills to pay. & yes you are right about the teaching qualification to become an eduactional psych. It's a pretty long route to take as I did look into it.

Never mind the people around you, do YOU want to work in a prison? I think they take quite good care of the staff, train you in how to avoid violence (which was probably covered somewhere in your psychology degree?)

I work for a charity and our base is in a very dodgy area, we have volatile clients through our doors all the time, but very rarely do we have actual physical violence. My DH works in the same field in the same area, but he too rarely has actual violence. And in prison, I doubt the percentage of inmates sentenced for violence is that high - people are sent down for all sorts of other reasons!

Also, is the £6000 full time or pro-rata? I agree it's low, but if you're only working school hours and school holidays it may not be that bad!

Best of luck, anyway.

PS have just read page 2 of the thread and really glad you have got a job, even if it's not what you want to do for the rest of your life.

EconomyCarla

Hi Loopylou,
Glad you have got a job, like lots have said, it is better than not having a job! You sound as though you are lacking in confidence, when you mentioned that you don't know why they were impressed with you application form. STOP! You have to believe in yourself, because no one else will. You have to inspire people with confidence and tell yourself that you CAN do things. I have been in loads of temp jobs where I have had no idea what was going on, but I just got stuck in and acted as though i knew what I was doing. It is amazing what appearing confident can do for people's perception of you. If you act as though you can't do something, people won't think you are capable. Sorry, lecture over! Anyway, you can get help with stuff like that at a careers office if you ever need it in the future. They can help with application forms, interview technique, mock interviews, all that sort of stuff.

The Graduate Scheme that I mentioned in my earlier post is the NHS Graduate Training Scheme for HR Management (Human Resources). The NHS has had a General Management and Finance Scheme running for about 30 years, but they only started the HR Scheme last year. There are only 18 of us across the country in the first cohort and they have recruited 28 this year. I am basically training to become a HR Manager, and I have to do 3 placements in 3 different NHS organisations (Mental health, Primary Care, Hospital). I also get to spend 2 months in another organisation of my choice. Have a look at the website: http://www.bringingleadershiptolife.nhs.uk/england/index.asp

They usually start the recruitment process about now for starting next September. Have a look and see what you think. If you want to know any more, just ask.

Congrats again on the job.xx :T

tompparker

Hi Loopylou,

Congratulations on your job, hope it goes well.

I don't know if it would help but a book called 'What Color Is Your Parachute?' is great for helping you figure out what where you would be happiest working and how to get the kind of job you'd feel best in.

Your local library would probably have a copy (it is updated yearly and the 2006 edition will be out 15 November).

All the best.

trace-j

Hi Loopy

Hope the job works out for the time being. I know nothing about Phsycology but know about how hard it is to get a grad job.

Are their any trade/professional journals you can subscribe to or an Institute of which you can become a member. If you aren't working in a profession you want to at the moment, you may need to keep an eye on developments.

If you do come across a particular job you want, you also have to bear in mind there are many other qualified and capable graduates in the same boat as you. You need to find a way to stand out.

After getting turned down for 4 postgrad jobs I changed tactics. I telephoned the person named in the ad for 'an informal chat' and when I asked if I could come and have a look at the office where the positon was based to which they agreed. I made a 2hr journey for a 10min guided tour, any longer and it would have looked I was sucking up big time. Whilst in the area I bought local papers etc, to see what was going on and also to she what rented accomodation was available should I need to move to the area.

It worked I came across as being interested and they remembered I actually took the time to see where the post is. Most importantly I was honest throughout the interview process, I'm not the kiss !!!!!! type afterall you'll need to work these peeps afterwards.

Well thats my 2p worth, good luck!

tiger

i think the trick is not just to sit back and apply for graduate jobs that are advertised in main stream papers.imagine how many ppl graduated from say say physcology and related fields? how many applied for these posts? one time when i was looking for graduate job and saw an advert, i asked the HR lady how many application they got she said 30-40 for two posts.so i think the competeion os quiet high and the trick is to find unadvertised jobs or those are advertised by recruitment agencies