Need help finding a job

[Butterflytat]

I have NC for this. I am really posting here for traffic and a bit of advice. My son is 26 and is really struggling to get a full time job. He got an honours degree and finished about 3 years ago. His degree wasn't in a subject I would have chosen (think gaming) but I did think he might have some transferrable skills. While he was at Uni he worked at a supermarket but he gave that up during his honours year. Since finishing Uni he has had a few part time jobs. I think basically he was lazy, which he is now really regretting. He has done a few bar shifts and now realises how daft he has been and is desperately looking for a full time job. He has had quite a lot of interviews but never seems to get any further. He is a fairly bright boy, always dresses well for interviews but he is not the most confident. Anyone on her who is in HR who could tell me what he should say in an interview about his degree. There is no way no will get a job in the industry he studied in - it's too competitive and he's left it too long now. He would at this point do anything. Any advice would be gratefully received.

GirlfriendInAKorma great idea about the volunteering - certainly will look at that.

Even though he has been out of uni a few years he can still apply for graduate schemes. His 2:2 might preclude him from the top flight ones but the civil service and other schemes might be open to him or they might offer him an Executive officer type post even if he doesn't make the cut for the fast stream.

What about a degree apprenticeship. I know a young person who is doing one with BAE systems - she already has a degree but is doing another one long distance learning through her BAE scheme in project management and gets a decent wage-she did have to move location and it is 4 years but her salary does increase each year.

Here is a tech type one:
www.technojobs.co.uk/job/2521493/degree-apprenticeship-in-digital-innovation/

What about internships to get experience in the field he wants to work in? He may not get paid but would get travel expenses - could you sub him? Would he consider moving? My DD had to move to London to get graduate work opportunities, her first job barely covered her rent and bills and we had to lend her money for a deposit, living expenses for the first month or so - she felt a bit down about how low the salary and how she would manage but within 6 months she was on 10k more and has now moved on to a much higher paid position in a different company after registering with industry recruiters.

Would he consider going back to Uni to do an MSc in something he is more interested in? You can get student (finance) loans for Masters now - it would bring his skills more up to date. Has he marketed himself - shown any projects he has done on something like GitHub or set up a webpage/blog that employers could look at with examples of his work or posts showing evidence of his interests?

Can he identify companies he would like to work for and email them with the links? Sometimes approaching small/start up type tech companies can work - they often need help on projects and although zero hour/day rate jobs they would get your son experience. Does the Wired

He needs to ask for feedback from interviews - there might be something he can easily work on . My DD was told that she didn't seem passionate enough in interviews - so now she is a lot more peppy in interviews. It might be he needs recent experience. It's hard and unis don't seem to offer much help (despite their brochures).

Is he looking for jobs on indeed (who collate lots of sites) and dedicated tech sites such as www.technojobs.co.uk/ ?
There is a dedicated site for jobs in tech and digital companies in Sussex www.wiredsussex.com/jobs/search/graduates

It sounds like he could do with building his confidence- I know it's already been mentioned but volunteering would do wonders. Perhaps Scouts? They invest heavily in developing leadership abilities in their helpers and leaders, and their programmes are very structured. Appreciate evenings may be difficult with a bar job though.

I know a few people who got 2:2s, most of them went into sales and earn a lot more than I do now! It's not a barrier to everything.

I agree maybe a move would open up bigger markets for him?
Glasgow and Edinburgh have busy job sectors at the moment.

Good suggestions about doing maybe an apprenticeship? Or grad schemes?

There are also now Masters level apprenticeships in tech:
www.thetechpartnership.com/recruit-and-train/degree-apprenticeships/masters-apprenticeships/

Does your son get very nervous? - my DD does - she thinks that is why she was often told she didn't seem passionate enough in interviews - she was terrified. She worked on her interview technique and also saw the GP and got some anti anxiety meds to take before interviews and presentations. They really helped as she had funded Phd offers from top unis and job offers soon after.

That's amazing Garden Geek

I'm sorry it took me so long to write my big reply that I missed lots of posts - sorry if the tech jobs stuff isn't what your DS is interested in now. If he wants to work in SN then he needs to volunteer and get some experience. He should contact all the local schools etc someone might want some help come September or there might be summer schemes were he could lend a hand with local charities and groups.

He seems to be stuck in the old chicken and egg situation of needing a job to get experience but not having experience due to lack of jobs. Offering yourself for free might be the route in.

A lot of my DD (who is around your DS's age) friends are only just finding graduate work now. Many wanted to stay in their uni town or for a bf/gf and so took retail type work or low level admin jobs that haven't really led anywhere. One of them who did media studies has recently (after lots of approaches to occupational therapists) finally got some volunteering with one and hopes to start an occupational therapy degree next year ( its an NHS degree so you can gets second loans for it but need to have some experience of what the job entails). Another had enough of call centre work and volunteered with a free tutoring for poor kids charity and then got a TA position in a school for a year. She's just finished her PGCE and starting a teaching post in September.

What has your DS been doing for 3 years ? If he gets an interview he needs to sound keen, willing to learn, possibly work strange hours, start at the bottom and work his way up in a company. Having a degree does not guarantee anyone a job. He will probably be up against other candidates who have been volunteering, working etc

If he wants to do teaching could he do teach first? In 2 years you get your teaching qualifications.

Butterflytat - I will send you a PM in a minute. The company I am an administrator for is currently having a huge graduate and apprentice drive. Please have a look, it's a really good company and it sounds like the sort of thing your DS wants.

You need a 2.1 for Teach First swivel.

Damn there goes that idea .
OP he could do civil service fast stream for example and see if he could go into the department of education?

but ideally he would like a technical based job in computing but he doesn't have the experience.

Then he needs to get it.

I work in tech and occasionally hire entry-level positions (so normally 22/23, most of whom will also have an MSc on top of their 2:1s/1:1s).

There are SWATHES of highly-motivated, well-qualified youngsters coming through, so the competition is fierce.

There are plenty of free online courses and MOOCs in coding/development/IS/digital solutions/data science that he can be doing while he's not working (look at LinkedIn Learning, although you need to be a premium member to access some content), and a lot of charities are looking for people to help out with digital content management/social media/front-end development.

Can he build apps or dev sites which will help him to put together a portfolio of what he's capable of? Basically, given the amount of time lapsed between his degree and now, he's not going to walk into a tech role, mostly because of the speed at which the industry moves, so he will be expected to show how he has maintained and developed skills.

If he has a degree in a computing-type field, he's obviously not stupid, but to get to 26 and not even have found a first entry-level role is pretty bad, to be honest, and won't look great on a CV.

He's going to have to buck his ideas up pretty quickly (and I would respectfully suggest you might want to have a look at how you might be enabling him).

Armed forces? Someone I know got a random 3rd class degree but joined the RAF at the bottom of the ranks, did a few years service, then got resettlement training as a project manager paid for by the raf. Got a job easily and earns really good money.