To think salary is very low for this job ad

@Gremlings Thanks I do agree to an extent, I’d say I’m not chasing one career path as when considering my friends irl they didn’t put all eggs in one basket and didn’t necessarily have a linear direction. Many thought they wanted to do xyz, couldn’t find job in that area (despite some even having directly linked degrees) or wasn’t what they thought so got another job then that back up choice job ended up opening doors in something they never initially considered. Two friends who did same uni course, one worked as junior BA but is now a product manager. The other started started working in client support but is now in PR

As someone without luck in current job market I worry it’s not good enough for me to hold out for one path, I’m trying to stay open minded to any job I can get which may have better prospects. Very few people I know were passionate about doing a career and stuck to it, most gradually figured it out and each job they did helped. I didn’t think the traditional route was the only option.

You mention eg of marketing. When I was a student I thought I wanted to do that. I did my placement in this area, carried on working part time at it during final year, and then my first grad role was also in marketing. Only two senior people in dept had CIM qualifications and this was in large company. Most people didn’t need it to get their role, didn’t have marketing degree either, they started career by doing an entry level marketing role. I left bc wasn’t passionate enough AND junior salaries were very low

People in ‘good’ roles at my company, the majority did not have related degrees to what they currently work in. Two seniors even did the same role as my current one, but then moved jobs internally. I wish I could do the same but hiring freeze currently.

I’ve already considered grad schemes, in fact dreamed of landing one even before starting uni, hence chose industrial placement degree to increase future chances. They’re arguably the most competitive type of job for grads. I got to assessment centre rounds before but never landed one. My odds even slimmer now as no longer fresh grad so don’t meet entry reqs for some companies.
According to my uni careers advisor they’re often the most prestigious but a minority of graduates actually land them. If I’m struggling to land junior jobs even with some exp, I think I need to be a bit more realistic

The placement and first grad job were Marketing roles so perhaps don’t count anymore.

Current role (3yrs) is more project support/ operations within a bank but fear it may be perceived as glorified admin to some recruiters. I’ve picked up additional responsibilities which def don’t think are admin level (tasks that are usually for two grades above me). Current job title is slightly ambiguous too, not as clear as something like ‘Payroll Manager’ which everyone understands, and easily grasps the responsibility level.

Bc my experience isn’t translating well to external recruiters, and I often don’t meet all reqs for mid level roles, I thought it makes more sense to take a lower level role with hopes of gaining better quality experience that speaks for itself

Apologies I’m bad at explaining this but I feel 1 year in a role with ‘valuable’ experience that translates well to recruiters is better than remaining stagnant for 3 years in role that doesn’t

Thanks, understand where you’re coming from but then I do still see companies hiring for junior project related roles. I have been invited to interview (but no luck). I know of people who land these roles without being an expert in an area, only having junior exp. I def wasn’t expecting to land a PM/PO/BA role. Think mentioned before I understand that picking up extra responsibilities matching what xyz role would do, doesn’t suddenly make me eligible to be one. However I naively hoped that the additional responsibility could have lead to junior bridge roles, away from glorified admin. My roles have all been in the same industry if that counts for anything

Random eg but civil service has a project delivery career pathways doc which shows you can start at EO scale for most proj delivery roles (working way up to higher responsibility roles). EO is pretty low scale and my own role has higher responsibility than EO (appreciate not all industries work same as CS)

Anyway I’d already stopped focusing solely on those roles and now just exploring things that may have lower barrier to entry, then continue to build up related experience in that area. I’m trying to stay open minded to jr roles that don’t require specialised education but can still lead to better prospects.

Theres not enough vacancies going for me to solely apply to one type of job area, and I have added pressure of time passing me by. When I was a new grad I also applied to different types of roles but prioritised ones I naturally fit better, or had some transferrable exp. Some very kind MNetters have PMed about jnr role suggestions which don’t expect direct exp too

& Theres roles I’ve excluded bc I’m not well suited, can’t force myself to become something I’m not

Crazy! Even in less ‘desirable’ areas of London, rooms in shares can go for £1200😅

Thankfully I pay less now but my first room was £1050 in a ‘undesirable’ part of London with only DLR instead of tube. That was in 2023. I personally felt safe but I know many people claim it’s a rough area

@Gremlings Thanks, I’d agree a BSc degree is worth much less these days (*some exceptions).
I was aware of this as a student, so made sure to do the industrial placement and work part time in same industry during final year but it didn’t pay off for me. I took advantage of free support from career advisors team at uni whilst others didn’t bother but still I ended up as the one without the career, Sod’s Law 😂. I also did a women’s coding bootcamp course alongside second year to strengthen my CV too. I didn’t think my degree was enough to guarantee a job.
I’d been thinking to prioritise getting new experience rather than extra education as could be wrong but thought once you’re in a role, many employers will fund further study or exams if needed for the role. Also I don’t want to risk extra debt if masters doesn’t pay off (I have lower risk appetite due to career failure)
I like getting involved in improving processes, implementing change, and working with different stakeholders. I think I would prefer to work in less trad environment like start ups and specifically Fintech over FS. I’ve noticed once you’ve got in they then have less rigid requirements to progress and a faster paced environment. I was interviewed for a fintech role last year and interviewer was at management level, she joined company at entry/junior level but before that she worked 5 years in retail banking as branch customer advisor. It took her much less than 5 years to get to management level at her current company, and first promotion was under a year. No one has been promoted in 3 years within my team. Also thibk it’d be nicer to work smaller company where can have a more noticeable impact on things
All my friends who work in these types of companies have had much better experiences. A few do complain workload is high but then my own workload is still high here despite low prospect role. I have to log on this Sun evening to finish some work for tomorrow

When you use welcometothejungle it will include examples of ‘people progressing’ what they joined as and what do now. Some egs include people joining entry level then pivoting roles very soon. Now I’m not saying cherry picked example is a guarantee that will happen for others who join that company, but I do know the culture is still generally different at my work place. I have stalked practically everyone I work with on LinkedIn and it’s very rare for people to get promoted within two years, let alone one. One of the mentors I was paired with last year, a lovely woman but was in her first junior role for 8 years in our company - she is much older and management level now but it again makes me want to leave. I can’t wait around that long for an internal opportunity

Thanks for sharing, may I ask where are you based?
Agree 25k would be extremely tough in London… anything under 30k would be hard tbh, but out of desperation I’d maybe consider 29k in exchange for better experience/prospects to ‘unblock’ me but it wouldn’t be sustainable long term. It’s still a gamble because I couldn’t guarantee it will definitely lead to better paid job within a year😞

“I've read all of your posts and what comes over is you don't really have a passion or know what job you'd enjoy so that makes it harder for you to narrow your search” @Gremlings

^ Thanks and you’re right 😞 I think after each year passes where I’ve failed to land a new job offer I lower my standards/ start widening the search. I started feeling delusional putting all my eggs in one basket and not being more open minded to other junior roles. Ashamed to admit this but during the first year in my current role, when job hunting I was previously only considering roles in similar industry which paid more than current salary. I will confess I was naive for thinking I would find something within a year because in past always eventually found new job offer within year.

Now 3 years later stuck in bad role, I’m the most panicked I’ve been and just desperate for a fresh start I can work my way up from really. If I only hold out for an offer that is a desired role I could be waiting another few years, meanwhile my current CV looks worse for staying in low progression role so long. I’ve had friends who within the 3 years I’ve been in my bad role, started a new junior role after redundancy or career change and been promoted once or twice, they now have solid prospects.

I never had a passion for a specific job when younger, partially because I didn’t know of all the different jobs that even existed. A lot of my job search was simply aiming at jobs that related the most to existing experience (better odds).
As a student applying for industrial placements I had prioritised HR roles as I enjoyed a related uni module. I ended up landing a paid placement offer in Marketing for FS, (declined unpaid HR internship). After that, bc I realised I could potentially start a career from it I carried on doing role part time in final year (only student who was offered to extend placement part time - I may be stupid, lack passion, no clear prospects but I do know I can work well with others and go beyond my responsibilities).

After graduating I did the same role at a larger company, same industry but paid more and better exp. 10 months in with 2nd company I had a significant pay rise. During this time though is when I worked very closely with project coordinators, PMs and BAs so I first started thinking of a job role pivot. I noticed they tended to get paid much more and crucially had more varied, interesting roles. Outside of my company and industry, I noticed some marketing roles had pretty low salaries (I did B2B marketing within FS). For eg job ads which were scales above my role, asking for more years of experience and sometimes more specialised skills paid less.

I attended a few events at a digital festival which gave me better understanding of Project delivery related roles and people shared how they got into it (different stories which inspired me).

I then relocated to London for hopes of fresh start and more opportunities. I remember posts on MN where people would say working in London was best thing they did for career.
I took first job offered which was Operations/Delivery related in same industry but I fear perhaps glorified admin in some ways, and no progression from it. I have still taken on extra responsibilities and have some experience of acting as project lead. It’s just my experience is not good enough to land similar junior role in this area. I have interviewed at other places but either role dissolved, or losing out to stronger candidates.

Embarrassingly only had 7 interviews last year. I found it easier to get interviews as a student when I not only had zero office experience but also was very naive about what people actually did at work