My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Higher education

what to do with a BSc - Business management and economics 3rd class !

30 replies

2512BC · 03/06/2016 21:03

That's it really what can my son do - he is only just sitting on a 2:2 - he is waiting for 2 more results which in total he needs 98 - to keep the 2:2 - realistically and going by his past grades it is very possible he will drop to a 3rd - he wanted to go into recruitment but they all want a 2:1 - he has worked in shops all through his studies but doesn't want to continue this -He has had lots of interviews for recruitment in the past couple of weeks - but no success. As they feel his work experience and responses to tasks / questions don't make up for the grades as obviously it's quite competitive. Even agencies want experience. Uni careers office is not much help to be honest - he shows them his cv before showing me and they approved it and sent it off for jobs although he had used incorrect terminology in some areas. How do you get an entry level job in an office these days without previous experience.

OP posts:
Report
2512BC · 03/06/2016 21:06

We are in London by the way.

OP posts:
Report
ItsLikeRainOnYourWeddingDay · 03/06/2016 21:19

He needs to get a 2:2 minimum. Coming out with a third, sorry to say this but ,he'd have been better off not going to uni.

Report
ItsLikeRainOnYourWeddingDay · 03/06/2016 21:19

Could he do volunteering or internships to build up his experience?

Report
baggyleggings · 03/06/2016 21:25

Agree with pp - it looks worse than no degree if he leaves it like this. He needs to get in touch with his personal tutor and look into re-taking some modules. I guess it depends on whether he's got a 3rd because he's not really up to degree level work, in which case he should try to build on his shop experience and work his way up or whether he didn't work hard enough, in which case the re-takes could improve things but he'd probably have to re-do (and pay for) the final year at least.
University careers office should also be able to help. Sorry not to have been more positive...

Report
2512BC · 03/06/2016 23:06

Thank you :-(

He found the analysis difficult that,s what let his grades down. He's been told he can only retake modules that he fails - I.e below 40% - but he seems to get 40's not 30's -

OP posts:
Report
RedHelenB · 04/06/2016 10:15

Being based in London should surely give him more opportunities volunteer wise. Could he try to get work experiemce in recruitment? If they can see he's up tp the job his degree might not be so important.

Report
Unescorted · 04/06/2016 10:21

My brother got a 3rd in economics & anthropology. He now heads up the IT department for a large multinational. All is not lost - he will need to get his head down and prove to prospective employers that his high jinks days at uni are over. My Bro went back to retrain as a MS engineer - took him 2 years while he held down another low paid job.

I suggest that he works out what he wants to do first - if he struggles with analysis, maybe look at vocational careers.

Report
Forestglade · 04/06/2016 14:05

My ds scraped a 2:2 but managed to get a job fairly quickly although not at graduate level. He didn't have much previous work experience. Not earning that much but happy. They think he's great and I'm sure he will work his way up. All is not lost but your ds will need to be flexible.

Report
thesandwich · 04/06/2016 17:26

Sounds like he will need to reinvent himself. What work experience/ skills does he have? Did he do any placements? Does he have any connections who could offer internships/ work shadowing? Volunteering for charities is good- but he is going to have to put some real hard work into this himself. Check out the do it website for volunteer options.

Report
DumbDailyMail · 04/06/2016 21:19

What were his A'levels like? and what type of Uni was it. If it's a very high tariff uni then might employers might be more forgiving.

Report
Just5minswithDacre · 04/06/2016 21:54

He needs to get a 2:2 minimum. Coming out with a third, sorry to say this but ,he'd have been better off not going to uni.


Helpful Hmm

It's not all doom. Not at all.

Park the issue of the degree classification for now.

What were his A levels or equivalent? What grades did he get in those?

What does he enjoy? (Hobbies, enthusiasms, spare time activities)

Report
Just5minswithDacre · 04/06/2016 21:57

With the right combination of volunteering, working his way up and maybe another course (not necessarily postgrad) he could be really well set within a couple of years.

The important thing is not to panic and pick the next step wildly. He still has a wealth of choices.

What made him pick his degree subject?

Report
Dozer · 04/06/2016 22:02

He has a lot of retail experience and a relevant degree (albeit with a poor result - he'll need to explain why he didn't do well). retailers might well like that. He might consider remaining in retail but applying for different types of retail or types of role.

Or perhaps a role in a small business.

What are his talents? Any that could help him identify a field?

Report
Dozer · 04/06/2016 22:03

If recruitment appeals what about other types of sales roles?

Report
Coconutty · 04/06/2016 22:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

2512BC · 05/06/2016 11:47

Thank you - his A/levels were CCC

Economics. Sociology. Business

  • I don't think he can retake any modules as apparently you can only re/take if you get below 40 - he seems to get between 40 and 56 but mostly 40's -


My calculation is that he has totalled 442 over 9 modules - which averages 49 % so he needs 58 in the final exam to reach 500 / 10 - to get 50% 2:2 Does that sound right? -
I think if he can get a foot in to his first office job he will be fine - we just need to find a way in / so volunteering might be the way to go. We don't have the connections for internships. He has read your posts Smileand you have all been really helpful.
OP posts:
Report
Just5minswithDacre · 05/06/2016 12:00

Tell him to check his course handbook for compensation and condonement procedures. It could be that the lowest module grade is ignored when degree classification is calculated, or even that failing a module entirely would be advantageous at this point.

Report
Just5minswithDacre · 05/06/2016 12:05

Otherwise, CCC at A level and a relevant degree are a good basis for an office career, just not necessarily for the 'schemes'. Volunteering and then smaller firms is a perfectly viable route.

He could also look at professional exams such as CIPD (human resource management), AAT (accounting), ILM (management) if something like that appeals; they are available by distance learning as well as evening classes.

Report
mumeeee · 05/06/2016 14:55

If he is getting at least 40% it won't be any good him retaking modules as retakes are capped at 40% unless the student has been granted mitigating circumstances.

Report
Shirkingfromhome · 05/06/2016 15:07

Most universities have a careers advisory service, I appreciate they may differ in terms of quality though. Can he book an appointment to discuss his options?

Report
senua · 05/06/2016 17:04

Get him into temping. There must be a fair amount of holiday-cover needed at the moment.

I can see a path that goes: temp, permanent office work, move to HR department, make lots of contacts and then - bingo - move to recruitment.

Report
newname99 · 05/06/2016 19:37

Does he know what recruitment is about? It's mostly sales, if that's the path then there are lots of entry sales jobs.Internships are advertised in Uni or via websites, it's not just contacts.

I also really agree with additional courses, maybe AAT, for finance as he could study evenings and get a basic level quickly.

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

newname99 · 05/06/2016 19:40

He's also needing to work on interviews as so far his CV is getting him to that stage.

Unis are usually good at this so he needs to access all resources

Report
AppleMagic · 05/06/2016 19:52

Dh left uni after one year (failed and was told not to bother trying again). He found a temp job (data entry/some analysis), ended up staying (sales) and never looked back. Now he is very high-flying, works in management for a prestigious company and regularly gets head-hunted. I know things have changed in the last 10 years and the job market is more competitive now, but if he can get a foot in the door and work hard/be ambitious, there will come a time when his degree classification won't matter anymore.

I wonder if retail management into buying roles might work too? Worth him investigating which companies have good internal recruitment from supervisor level.

Report
purplefox · 06/06/2016 13:00

Has he been doing any internships/work experience during his degree?

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.