To be panicking about DC’s employability post uni?

Ffs, how can interest and attention towards your child's career be qualified as "overinvested".
Reminiscent of that topic where the mum was wondering whether the kid should pick Imperial over Manchester Uni as she was worried he won't find drink buddies in the former (to much support of the audience).
OP is absolutely right. 19 is not old enough to ge let sail and do bartending post graduation if this can be avoided

You are very over anxious and also so unhappy about your own workplace, which sounds vile. Maybe because you’re highly focused on the corporate world, this has blinkered you to the whole giant world outside yours? Leave her to it, she’ll find her path and you’ll have a much better relationship with her if you can unclench a bit (meant kindly!)

Social value,marketing, participation, UX, community engagement and research consultancies all seem linked to her degree and interesting.

Try to calm down. She's different to you and your job sounds like it brings plenty of problems. She may never get housing etc to the standard you would like but all the roles I've listed above have a lot of potential for interest and for earning.

OP, coming back to this thread, my DD is doing a comms internship and really enjoying it. She got it through her uni. Not sure of the long term prospects, but all her internships have involved some level of comms.

There are tons of non finance grad schemes.

HR marketing & comms, sales/commercial roles, account management in a range of industries, general management rotations at big corporates like unilever etc. Lots of universities have programmes to go into the management & administrative side of those institutions. Then there's civil service or local authorities including the major london councils. Nhs management. Teaching.

I can only speak for my own career (law). Around 50% of trainee solicitors are law graduates and around 50% have done something else and then the law conversion course. I think firms like it that way because they get a decent split of people who have lived and breathed law since they were 18 and have a better foundation in legal theory, versus people with other experience and skills which can be highly complementary. I have been involved in recruitment. I would see a 2:1 in anthropology from a decent university as a very good thing. Even more so if she had a first. It's a well respected discipline but rather unusual and I would be interested to hear more about that at interview. She's also got real world work experience which I think is becoming increasingly rare and would be a real plus from my point of view.

In short, I wouldn't worry about her academic credentials at all. The main thing is that she needs to start thinking hard about what it is she might like to do, and applying for things in that field. Unless she decides she'd like to be a doctor or an architect, I can't see any reason why having a degree in anthropology should hold her back. If anything it's more likely to make her CV stand out amongst the sea of economics graduates, which you acknowledged in your OP are hard to tell apart from each other.

Believe it or not, I limit myself to asking her about her job search to once every 5-6 weeks.
This really stood out to me. I have a DS going into year 3 of his degree. We haven't had a conversation beyond 'Got a clue what you want to do yet?'. I think you are overly invested. She will show more interest when term starts and her peers start talking about their hopes and plans. This is what I am expecting with DS who also has no internship. He's got 2 weeks relevant volunteering and is working in a bar this summer.

There's millions of people that did a degree in something that they're ultimately not working in. Many of them are also successful!

Do you not have any faith in your daughter? Come on now.

YABU and micromanaging.

It's her life, not yours. She may not want high-flying corporate or to follow in your footsteps. Pressuring her, even if unintentionally or indirectly, may have completely the opposite effect from the one you are looking for. She may feel like nothing she does is good enough.

Let her learn to ask for help if she needs it.

Odd to use the word “classic” twice in your OP for what is actual a very minority pathway.

Would she be interested in the Royal Navy, OP?

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/careers/joining-options/officers

You’re being very black and white.

A career in finance/law/management and happy

OR

unemployed and miserable?

What about journalism, photography, advertising, NHS, hairdressing, make-up artist, psychotherapist, road sweeper, social media consultant, recruitment, writer, editor, admin, pilot, games developer, artist, social worker…? All off the top of my head.

To me it sounds like you’re panicking she’s not going to be wealthy. God forbid she won’t be able to afford a Rangerover.

There really is more to life. And it’s HER life. She’ll find her way.

For any of the unsure potential grads try the freehttps://www.16personalities.com
Based on Myers briggs to give some ideas of potential careers/ paths.

Let her find her own way. It's not your decision to decide what she wants to do next.

A great career springboard is to join the military as an officer for 3 years. The people management skills are unmatched in civilian life at that age, fantastic experiences and a chance to learn more about the world before deciding on a long term career path.

OP this is really your DCs issue now not yours. She is an adult. Let her be one. She will be fine. She might make some mistakes along the way but dont we all?

I did an anthropology undergrad and anthropology masters, then grad scheme in the charity sector. There’s a few of them around. I’ve had a whole career in charity sector and have found well paid, interesting and impactful jobs in London

What does she actually want to do?
I work with an HE careers service and would suggest she has a browse of www.prospects.ac.uk for some ideas, information and maybe inspiration. It’s a fab resource. Once she has an idea of the direction she might like to go in, talk again to her university’s career service. She should get much more support if she has at least some focus.

Or just let her get on with things in her own time - she’ll learn more if she works all this stuff out for herself!

It seems to be a very weird world out there at the moment. DS has had a couple of jobs ice graduating - one an unpaid internship and the other an awful cold selling on commission.

Other than that he hasn't even had any interviews for jobs, although he has applied for many. I have no idea how to help him, although friends of ours have given him loads of advice, checked over his cv and so on.

Having said all this, you sound like you do need to step back and let her get on with things on her own.

I found your comments about your own firm very sad. I am sure your DD will have picked up on your views of the corporate world and may want something quite different. We currently have a super keen and very nice Oxbridge summer intern, but in the past I selected a non RG student working pt in the supermarket cutting meat - lovely woman now doing really well in her career. Her CV stood out from those with heavily curated, bought placements abroad and no real-world work. One of my ex- colleagues had a doctorate in anthropology, working in qual and quant research and insight. If she wants to do a doctorate and study in Borneo, let her.

I think you should look at why this is making you so anxious. I understand that you have that recruitment oversight, so you’re viewing your dd’s next steps through that lens, but so do lots of people and you do sound particularly stressed. If she asks for help, I’m sure you’ll be all ears, but barring any really catastrophic decisions (which does not include pursuing alternative career choices to the ones you’ve pre-vetted), I’d take a big step back and think about how to manage your own stress levels around this, which aren’t your dd’s issue.

No, and I guess she is too relaxed which makes me even more anxious. If she hadn’t been so relaxed she’d have secured an internship (or at least tried).

She is probably too relaxed because she knows Mum will look after her and pick up the pieces.... if she doesn't land an internship of job, send her to the local job centre to find anything that keeps her busy. Maybe she will learn the hard way, after a stint shift working in hospitality or retail that she creates her own destiny and might pull her finger out.

Market research? Look at national centre for social research - their website gives a good view of the types of roles available, suits people with an interest in people, society, etc.

I'm an academic in the Humanities. So I get the other side - students turning up saying my parents are stressing me the f* out by asking me what my plans are/when I'm going to get a job/what they are going to do with their lives.

My students do lots of different things - some stay in arts allied fields, others go into law/accountancy/grad schemes, lots into teaching, some to MAs (not always wisely). They mostly come out ok in the wash.

Your daughter has her whole life. She will work until she's 70+ probably. Let her spend a year bumming in a coffee shop if that's what she needs to work out what's important to her. (I wish I'd done this. I've been on the academic treadmill non stop since I was 18, as you say about your ex OP... It's brutal.)

For what it's worth, I tell my students that they should either think about a type of job they want to do and look for that, or a type of organisation and apply for anything that they remotely fit. Internships/very badly paid temp work is sadly common in museums, cultural institutions, especially on the curatorial side. If she's wavering at all, don't do any kind of post-grad until she's sure - it's too expensive to waste if you hate it.

For crying out loud, when did mothers of today become so anxious and think Molly coddling is the answer.

Ask yourself this, what's the worst that happens? She leaves university and there's a job shortage or recession. Poor mite is rejected from every interview she lands or worst still can't land any.

What are the consequences? Low self esteem? Feeling frustrated? I guess she will still live at home and won't have to pay rent and bills or have a family to support....

Have you ever thought she might learn life skills in the process that will help out later. Or do you plan to hold her hand well into her 30s too?

As someone who left university in the 2008 recession, couldn't get a job, and didn't have any guidance from my parents, I eventually decided to leave the country - went to work abroad and had a great time. I was able to secure a job between uni and travel (nothing worth holding onto) and between that year long job I really did not like and my year abroad, I came home with a fire in belly to succeed, I felt I was left behind by my school and uni peers in the career stakes, so failing was not an option. I also had a tonne of communication skills from my travels.

Guess what... I got creative with my CV, jobs I was applying for, dropping my guard and going for contact roles. I 'snuck in' through the back door of my first big company by applying for a receptionist maternity contract. Once my foot was in the door my fire in my belly didn't let up and then they bent over backwards to find me a perm job. I worked there for 12 years and got up to Director level - from graduate, no work experience and receptionist contractor.

Don't think I would have achieved the above if mummy had spoon fed me my career, the grit and determination is from your own downfall, not someone wrapping you up in cotton wool.