Can I ask what employers are looking for?

[Pepperypig]

My son has been trying to get a job for ages. He has an honours degree and to be honest possibly messed about a bit and didn't get a job straight away. He is not wanting to work in the profession of his degree and I doubt he would ever get a job in it anyway. He has had a couple of part time temporary jobs and is desperate for a full time job. He has been for quite a few interviews and is always told they will let him know one way or another - they very rarely do and he has to contact them directly to be told he doesn't have the job. Any tips from any employers? He will literally do anything at this point.

It is a bit difficult to give you an answer without knowing what he studied and/or what his competences are

His main strengths would be computer based - he studied a very particular area of computing (think gaming) and did programming etc. within that. However, I doubt he would ever get a job in that industry. However, he is willing to do anything just to get a job.

Did he work while he was at uni? I used to have people apply for jobs who didn't work throughout uni (but could have quite easily based on low contact hours of a lot of courses), and i wouldn't interview them

Preparation is the key. Research the job you're applying for. Has he hard of the STAR technique? I personally would write maybe 20 things down from past experiences and apply that to the role of what the company is looking for. Skills can be transferable, not necessarily from a previous work setting.

Google common interview questions, write them down, maybe role play one on one and see where he might be going wrong?

This might seem simple but is he turning up on time for interviews, dressed appropriately, finding out some basic information about the company beforehand, etc?

My DH has been interviewing this week and it’s been dire, people phoning asking for directions 10 minutes after they should have arrived (use google maps or sat nav fgs), or turning up late with no apology or explanation, and one guy today who couldn’t actually remember what role he applied for.

It's a bit though - in theory if you are doing a degree with low contact hours you are meant to be working on your own in the non contact time - it's not meant to be free time in which you can do whatever you want.
And is the deal then that you don't do paid work at uni ( in whatever field you have the skills for,at that point) because you are studying/playing sport/ whatever,and don't need the money you are making yourself unemployable and unworthy of interview?
Very likely in the completely different fields you are applying for.
Why?

Does he want to work in programming? It doesn't have to be gaming, it could be in testing instead, so long as he can write a SQL script then he can pick up what he needs to.

Because if he does then sending his CV to the employers in the local area emphasising his programming skills and the languages he can code in would be my first recommendation. Often IT firms don't really advertise jobs, people are recommended or they have sent in CV's beforehand.

Cellardoor23 I haven't heard of that but will definitely look that up. He has a couple of interviews coming up. He did work whilst at school and uni for about 4 or 5 years part time but then he moved away for a while and had to give the job up.

What else has he done apart from his degree?

Any charity work, part time paid work, hobbies, clubs he has run?
Apart from gaming, what other interests does he have? Any practical skills?

Is he getting interview and then not the job, or struggling to get interviews as well?

You say he will literally do anything now, i wouldn't want someone like that working for me. I want someone who wants to work at the company/ do the job otherwise i'd be concerned they'd always be looking for another job and not be committed or stay very long. It costs time and money to train people.

EweDoEwe he dresses smartly and appropriately for the interview and always gives himself plenty of time to get there and plans his route well in advance. Unfortunately he doesn't have the "gift of the gab" and I wonder if this is holding him back, which is a pity because I know he would work hard if he had a job and would probably stick at. He is becoming despondent because hardly anyone ever gets back to him. The last interview was for bar work - he applied and spoke to the interviewer on the phone, told him he didn't have bar experience but had customer service experience. He got an interview and has heard nothing further. The company now have the advert up again.

Lazypuppy the thing is that means you are in a catch 22 situation. The thing is he is the type that would stay in the job forever - if he enjoyed it and was good at it he would never leave - it's just the type he is.

Depending on the jobs he's applying for is it possible the interviewer might think he's just looking for something to tide him over until he gets something in the field he studied?

Another possibility is that he's not performing well in interviews. Even if he's had loads! I know a couple of people who just couldn't get past interview and eventually did a day long course (advice, role plays, being recorded and having to watch back) and found it very helpful.

He has also been attending open recruitment days and got chatting to someone at the last one he went to. He was then offered an interview, did all his homework, took notes to the interview and it all seems to go well. He missed out in the job because he did not have experience for that particular post, even though they said they would give training and would send him for the relevant qualifications. He was gutted.

I used to have people apply for jobs who didn't work throughout uni (but could have quite easily based on low contact hours of a lot of courses), and i wouldn't interview them

I'm shocked at such an admission.

How on earth do you know what the contact hours on people's degree courses are anyway?

Why is it a catch 22 situation? He needs to make sure that is coming across in the interview that he would be committed! What previous experience/evidence has he got to show an employer that? Is he asking about job progression, as others have said is he researching the companies? If i ask someone to tell me what they know about the company, and they know very little, they won't get the job. Its so easy to google the companies yo find out some background

Would he consider postgrad - i.e., teaching?

CocoPuffsInGodMode he's looking at doing training courses for interview performance, cv writing etc. He has met up with someone a couple of times with a view to doing this - he just thinks he will never get a full time job. He has applied for a job today - it is 4 hours a week! I know for a fact that the job is many many more hours than that but that's all he would be contracted for.

@ButchyRestingFace because i ask them in the interview. If someone is not willing to top up say 8hrs of lectures of week with a part time job, why should i have faith they will be committed to a full time job?

Do you know why he is so unlikely to work in the field he's qualified in? Depending on the language, programmers can be in huge demand. And expectations on him in an interview situation will be completely different. If he's going for bar jobs, well yes, he will be expected to have the gift of the gab. In a programming role? Less so

Sounds like he needs to be targeting his efforts a bit more and playing to his strengths.

ButchyRestingFace I've suggested that but I don't think he is confident enough to stand up in front of a classroom. He is currently looking at the Merchant Navy, which I think would be great for him.

@ButchyRestingFace its also pretty common knowledge/easy to find out contact hours for degrees

@ButchyRestingFace because i ask them in the interview. If someone is not willing to top up say 8hrs of lectures of week with a part time job, why should i have faith they will be committed to a full time job?

Good thing I haven't attended any of your interviews.

In graduate hires: excellent analytical and abstraction skills, an ability to contextualise, a realistic self-perception and awareness of their approximate worth to a potential employer (i.e. neither asking for 90k pa nor offering to make coffee - both real life examples), good social skills and some indication of them being able to see a broader picture than their immediate area of (normally not quite yet) expertise. Successfully deciphering correspondence and thus turning up appropriately dressed. And being able to give a coherent argument for why they want the job (while being able to demonstrate they know what the job even is).

Those are the basics.

Bonus points given for: work experience in a relevant field, experience of living abroad (volunteering counts, travelling for fun doesn't), some indication that they're capable of seeing things through a rough patch (and, yes, 10 years of violin lessons count in a graduate).

Personal brownie points given for: barely noticeable eye roll at silly brain teaser questions followed by a strong actual solution. I can appreciate an applicant who's clever enough to both recognise that a) brain teaser questions are bullshit but b) it's not worth risking a career opportunity by refusing to play along.

The last part is totally personal - the rest is pretty bog standard.