Why are junior posts in IT so difficult to find ?

[Mynameismynumber]

DS has just graduated with a decent degree in computing and is really struggling to find a job in his chosen field. He’s actually struggling to find any kind of employment tbh. Had 2 interviews so far which sadly led to nothing, one in retail, one in a coffee shop and it’s really starting to affect his mood. He’s now going to apply for some voluntary work to keep him occupied and gain some customer service skills but he’s starting to doubt that he’s good enough for that.
What we’ve noticed are the large numbers of ‘IT apprenticeships’ paying the same amount (£20-23k) as jobs asking for IT experience which sadly DS doesn’t have. He can’t apply for apprenticeships because he’s too qualified and yet he’d be quite happy to work for NMW just to get his foot in the door. I’m reading and hearing about lots of other recent graduates unable to find work, particularly in IT. It seems weird that companies are falling over themselves to offer apprenticeships rather than employ relatively skilled graduates. Anyone in IT give us any advice ? Anyone’s DC in a similar situation ?

What area of IT is he interested in working in? You describe him as a "relatively skilled graduate" but what actual skills and experience does he have (both IT and soft skills)? What advice has his university career department given him?

I think to find a job you need to work backwards. Find the job he would like and work out what he needs to do to satisfy the job criteria. This might be IT certifications; it might be gaining customer services skills in a non-IT role.

I meant skilled in comparison to IT apprentices which seem to be the only posts going that don’t require previous experience. Appreciate your other advice. He’s already doing or has done some other short courses. As for careers advice from his uni, none.

What do you mean that he us “too qualified”? In IT I don’t think it is possible to be over qualified, and I am saying this as someone who had been in the industry since 1983.

DD’s ex boyfriend used a recruitment agency to line him up with interviews. This was a couple of years ago. He also got a self employed friend to give a fake reference saying he’d been working for a year which obviously I wouldn’t advise. But I think you’re right experience is important. No idea how you get the experience. I have seen a l9t of stuff on social media about unemployed computer science grads so he’s not alone, not much consolation though.

And yes, maybe apply for the apprenticeship jobs. Nothing to lose.

Has he looked on the civil service website for jobs?

Does your DS have any practical experience or just a degree?
He should try recruitment agencies and larger firms who do graduate intake. Plenty of companies need grads just keep looking.

Possibly ‘overqualified’ for the specific apprenticeship criteria eg he has a degree and apprenticeships may be targeted to individuals without.

OP, cybersecurity is a massively growing area with high demand for good people so could be a good route for your DS. Identify recruitment agencies that might have the right sort of roles. All the IT folk where I work come in through agencies. I focussed on temp jobs to get experience (general admin but led to IT roles), I don’t know if that’s still viable these days.

His unis careers service should offer support in at least a few years after graduating.
is he active on LinkedIn? Could he volunteer at a charity doing it stuff? Could he seek work experience in It? What did he do at uni - jobs/ internships etc?

It is harder now to get work experience as lots of people are hybrid but but he cld approach companies asking for some voluntary experience in IT. Gd for the cv.

Both my DC work in IT, both for Web design companies.. DS1 (36) is a highly paid lead developer for an independent company. DS2 (25) is with a UK wide, bigger company, but still does online courses to develop his skills, and keep up to date in such a fast moving industry.

Where is your DS looking for jobs? has he joined a recruitment agency?

When DS2 graduated, he luckily managed to secure a job as IT staff at his college initially.
DS1 worked in IT for a retail company at first, mainly to get his foot on the ladder...
What i'm trying to say is there are so many ways in which might not be that obvious..

There are definitely free recognised cyber security courses online. I signed up for one with Chichester college last year and also did another course for isc2 ccsp qualification for free.

Did he do a placement year in his degree or a summer internship? They're great for contacts and how all the graduates in IT I know got their first jobs.

It's a really tough time for tech recruiting right now OP.

Many companies are cutting costs, cutting roles and not taking on new hires. And the ones who are hiring are often instead hiring more experienced people into less senior roles (since they can get them for cheap and get more from them). It is a squeeze across the entire market. I'm sorry he’s feeling the brunt of it. But these things go in cycles and after the bust comes a boom.

He could look for contractor roles but contractors are expected to hit the ground running and experience is important there too.

The important thing is to keep your networks up - what are your uni friends doing, do they know of something at their gig or a client business, could they get you in for an informal chat with a recruiter at their work if they know someone is leaving soon, etc.

I came across this website today, might be worth a look?

www.gradcracker.com/search/computing-technology/jobs

If he badly wants to work he could look at service desk or field engineer posts. We can't fill those at all. Not great pay but in the right place, opportunities.

We have had people who made the transition from Service Desk to software development roles. There's nothing like working in support and dealing directly with users to make you an excellent developer or tester!

Yes market is brutal right now, post Brexit a lot of jobs off shored plus a glut of folk have done boot camps. I agree with poster above re getting your foot in the door with help desk or smthg.

My son is in his 4th year at uni but already had an offer from the company where he did the internship during the 3rd year. He found the internship via LinkedIn. I must admit I'm in recruitment so I prepared him extensively for interviews .

Has your son got his LinkedIn profile ready and marked as "looking for work"?

Tech recruitment is tough at the moment, a lot of companies have less money to invest in projects due to state of economy and lots of uncertainty due to election and now new government and tightening of budgets.

Companies are hiring less grads / pausing their grad schemes cos they are making redundancies and don’t have enough work for current staff.

Thanks for the replies. This is the conundrum. The most junior posts as in 1st line help desk positions are still requiring 1 years experience or they tend to be apprenticeships. A help desk job would be great but they are massively competitive. And yes IT boot camps are partly to blame for this but I gather aren’t amazingly successful either.

What did his degree cover, @Mynameismynumber . Do you know anyone who could give him a temporary job to get some skills? General admin work or something.

Don't let him be put off by the '1 year's experience'. If he has about 6 weeks' experience, that's enough to apply.

I got my first job by getting a temp admin job in the HR dept of a large company.

What are of IT does he want to get into?

While he’s still interviewing, he could spend his free time contributing to open source projects, this will help him gain expeir and set him apart from other graduates. There’ll be a big difference in how you come across at interviews between those who are coding everyday and improving their skill then those who aren’t. Working on a cool independent project as well would help, especially something who could talk about or show off at an interview.

The job market in general is abysmal right now. DS finished his degree last year (not in IT but a similar technical field) and is still doing bar work to earn some cash while looking for his career job.

The mistake DS made was not doing anything additional to his uni work to make himself stand out. He could have been building up his portfolio of other projects but did the bare minimum. If he had his time over he would have created more from the beginning to show his skills. He’s started doing this now, we’ve built him a website to display his portfolio of work and he is getting more interest from employers but still playing catchup and yet to get past the first interview stage. Is there anything your son can create online that would showcase his skills?

Make sure his CV is formatted properly if he’s not getting any interviews. If he’s getting interviews and not getting jobs, then work on his interview skills. There’s a recruiter on LinkedIn called JT O’Donnell (Work it Daily) who gives great tips on CVs, interview techniques and more.

Is what he does something he can offer to a few local independent businesses for free in order to gain some experience?

Op I work for a graduate recruitment agency. None of our clients require a year in industry as they are entry level careers.
They generally look for good a-levels, good extra curriculars and prior work experience (as in whilst at uni) which demonstrates a decent work ethic.
I recommend he searches for graduate recruitment companies and signs up with them.