After uni plans?

[howwillthispanout]

I know this isn't strictly about HE but thought best place to ask.

DD is in her third year and has no concrete plans post graduation - think she wants to stay in uni city a bit longer which is doable as she's got a part time job that pays well enough.

She has looked at graduate schemes and possibility of postgraduate study but is in no rush and wants time to think.

Go your DCs have firm plans or are they the same?

[HotelEuphoria]

Yes and no. My DD graduates as a HCP next May. She wants to stay in her uni city for at least another year, not much difficulty in getting a job in her profession so all good. She wants to squeeze another footloose and fancy free year in, whilst not having the stress of exams and having a reasonable starting salary to live on, before moving back home to save for a house.

She can actually still work in her uni city and commute from home if needs be.

I am encouraging it.

[LittleCandle]

DD2 got the chance of a Master's so is doing that. After that? It depends. She knows what she wants to do, but is not committing herself to anything yet.

[1Mother20152015]

Trying to emphasise to my two (who are not in year 3 yet) the importance of thinking about it in well in advance (eg law firms recruit at least 2 years ahead from people who work on their vacation schemes in university holidays) so for some careers they need to think about it a bit sooner than the last year... although I am probably talking to a brick wall with my two.

[BubblesBuddy]

How can you save for a house if you don’t get a grad level job back home though? What about friends?

My elder DD planned everything from about end of Y2 of a 4 year degree. Another two years of studying after graduation and volunteering and then training and then work. For some careers you have to plan meticulously. Younger DD was far more fluffy and goes from job to job. However their degrees were utterly different and they are very different personalities.

I think Work experience over the summer is vital if you really want to impress an employer for getting into a grad scheme. I think planning how you get the job and putting together a good cv is very important because employers get so many applications. Also 2:1 or 1st is a great start.

[SeekretSquirrels]

DS is a second year and has no clue what he wants to do. He's been going to career's fairs and is supposed to be sprucing up his CV. His uni seems quite hot on "employability" unlike DS1s uni.
He says he envies those with a clear idea of what they want to do.

[1Mother20152015]

I have been saying to mine okay you have no idea what you want to do so just pick something (I can give you a list of 5 careers to choose from if you want) and start it and do it for say 4 years and then switch to something else. Just pick anything and work on that.

No one of course is listening to me.....

[SeekretSquirrels]

I know the feeling mother!
What's on your list of five? Law, I imagine, but what else?
I have pointed out to DS that this time next year it will be his final year and he should expect to be applying for jobs. If he feels under pressure now that is as nothing compared to next year and absolutely anything he can do this year towards that will be helpful.
You can lead a horse to water...

[sleepingdogslying]

DD graduated last year June.

She is currently at home applying for a masters to start next September, working in a temporary job with plans to spend 6months travelling in the new year. Her friends are mainly doing similar things with the exception of 1 who has now got a place to do medicine, 2 who went straight on to do masters and 2 who are on graduate schemes.

[homebythesea]

DS in 2nd year actively seeking internships for next summer with a view to getting a job offer to take into third year. I think he's sensible to be thinking about it now, at the worst he gets 2 bites of the cherry by starting early

[BubblesBuddy]

The universities put on comprehensive careers fairs so anyone not sure about a way forward should take time to go and have a look around. Even if it leads to discounting career paths it’s not a bad thing. What degrees are your DCs doing who are not sure about what they want to do?

[scaryteacher]

Ds is doing is MA, having graduated with a First this summer. Hopefully the MA will lead to gainful employment!

[Stopyourhavering]

Dd 1 did MSc TESOL post grad qualification after her MA....she's now teaching English in China and loving it...already able to save £1k / month as her accommodation is heavily subsidised and cost of living is very cheap where she is...she also doesn't need to repay her student loan yet either as she's abroad
Dd2 is on a placement yr with her HR degree ( only about 2 in her year secured a placement )... she's being paid £16k/ yr and also gets her maintenance loan...and hopeful that the IT firm she's working for will employ her when she graduates...however she's also done a TEFL qualification, so she may also spend some time travelling/ teaching abroad....she's had a part time job since she was 15 and is very driven
Ds has just started first hr and doesn't have a clue yet, although he's considering a year/ semester abroad as part of his degree
I have a feeling I'll have travel abroad to visit them!

[MrsBartlet]

Dd is in her final year of an English degree. She is hoping to a masters in gender studies next year but it is so expensive! She will get the £10k post grad loan but the MA is £10k so that leaves nothing to live on. Dh and I have said we can contribute to the same level we are at the moment (currently pay her accommodation which is catered) but as she wants to go to London that is not going to go very far!

[BubblesBuddy]

Where does Gender Studies lead regarding a job? Sounds like expensive fun!

[howwillthispanout]

where does gender studies lead ..? Probably a lot of places given recent debates.

[MrsBartlet]

She wants to write and her main area of interest is women's issues. She has started a feminist magazine and a feminist society at university but feels like she needs a more formal education in gender issues in order to be able to write more professionally. She is also interested in getting involved politically, so who knows where it could lead.

[MrsBartlet]

Bubbles I do get where you are coming from, although I wish that we didn't have to think of the value of education in terms of what job it will lead to you - but sadly I think that is the case these days. Dh and I did tell dd that we would only support her through an MA if we could see that it would be of use in terms of directing her towards a career. We wouldn't have funded her to do an MA just for the sake of prolonging her education and putting off life in the real world.

[Needmoresleep]

Bubbles, I assume she is thinking of the LSE. I cannot see why a Social Sciences Masters at a world leading, research orientated, social sciences institute would not give someone some very transferable analytical skills.

Is it just the word "gender" that is causing the problem. Would research into any other area of social studies create the same problem.

Yes London is expensive, but for Masters I would be tempted to find the extra money. If I am right and it is the LSE, she should find that London is really a crossroads, and that she will be exposed to lots of different people and ideas, both from academics and visiting lecturers, but also from fellow students. The only word of caution might be that it is likely to be very hard work and quite rigorous, especially if she wants to keep he doors open for further research. DS is studying for an LSE Masters at the moment, and it is a pretty intense 10 months.

[MrsBartlet]

It is actually UCL. She has looked at the LSE course but it has way too much economic content (as you would expect!) for an English student She is very academic, so I am sure she will cope with the rigour of the course and we also think it is worth the money to be in London. She has wanted to get involved in various campaigns and volunteering which has proved difficult when not in London. Hopefully this should make that easier.

[Needmoresleep]

The big difference for DS was studying somewhere where, only a quarter of the students were from the UK. This meant that three quarters had already made quite a big decision to study outside their own country, largely because they thought their career prospects would be enhanced by a degree from somewhere with an international reputation. It means that next steps, internship applications etc, have been part of the conversation from the very beginning. Indeed students in their first term have to be limited to three appointments with the careers office.

It has made things easy for us, as DS has been able to work out at an early stage what he does, and does not want to do. And has understood, almost from the beginning, the results that are needed. He is also very aware, partly through experience, how ferociously competitive it is to get a good internship or graduate job.

He is the only Brit out of almost 40 on his Masters, though there are lots of Europeans and Americans. Quite a number, like DS, are hoping to be accepted for a PhD programme in the States. Again the peer support is providing invaluable. We have little idea what he is talking about, but he seems to know.

Looking back, DS will have gained as much from the ambitions and focus of his peers as from course content or careers office services. Its a bit like school. If your friends know what they want to achieve and are working hard towards these aims, you tend to follow.

DD is taking a more obviously vocational degree, and already is finding there is a tension between her 30 hours a week contact time and general University life. She may find it easier to share with other medics next year, even though she had hoped to avoid medic cliquishness, and may have to quit her University sports team in favour of the less demanding medic team. Effectively she too is having to focus on friends who share her ambitions.

[Needmoresleep]

Mrs Bartlet, UCL sounds great. The degree is bound to require academic rigour and hard work, both of which add to someone's portfolio of transferable skills. And being that bit older and more certain in what she wants to do, means it is easier to adapt to, and enjoy, London.

And right, probably, to swerve LSE if you come from a humanities degree. DS ended up doing some voluntary teaching of quantitative methods in his third year, as part of a Student Union (I think) initiative designed to give extra support to those from qualitative backgrounds on various courses. Clearly bridging the gap was not easy.

[MrsBartlet]

Your ds certainly sounds like he is in the right place and it is great that he knows where he is heading. Dd is not planning to do a PhD.

Quite a few of Dd's friends from university are intending to head to London after they graduate, either for post grad study or work and friends from the year above are already there, so I am sure she will easily transfer her university social life to London which is also part of the draw!

[Heartofglass12345]

Oh god please just let your kids enjoy themselves, i went straight from school to uni to working full time and it was so boring! Unless they definitely know what they want, let them carry on for now and just get their degree

[Needmoresleep]

Surely that depends on what you find enjoyable. It is not unusual for academic DC to enjoy academic stuff. Sadly interesting jobs can be hard to find, and it may require a long term sustained effort to land one.

Given how much of your life you spend working, is it not worth some effort to try to find a job which is not boring.

DS has just completed a fourth application for an internship with his preferred employer. He is getting closer, as last time he passed the assessment though was not offered a place. He will probably get there in the end, if that continues to be what he wants to do. People may then think he is lucky to have landed a great job, without understanding the effort and focus that went into having the right grades, and experience.

He would find economic analysis around gender inequality enjoyable. But not writing about it.

[BasiliskStare]

DS has done various work experience things and is gradually homing in on what he would really like to do ( I do sometimes think some of the benefit of work experience / placements / internships is actually ruling out what you don't want to do as well as what you do. )

Heart - I do get your point - but ( and and and I know it was easier in my day ) but my impression is , it is a bit more competitive now & I do think that some of these young people are more grown up ( than certainly I was at that age ) & are thinking about what they might want to do for the next x years. Not to say that is the only approach , but in our family we have tragically failed to give our DS any sort of private income so at some point he is going to have to fashion a living for himself. Whatever that might be. I am just glad he's thinking about it - and he is still not sure - many aren't at that age - no problem but a considered " next step " is OK in my book - whatever it may be. And if the answer is taking some time out to think about it - that's also fine.

I think this fence might have left some splinters