To wonder why I bothered doing a degree

[wateristhebest]

I recently graduated with a humanities degree from a decent university. I'm currently working in retail but I'm bored of it so am trying to find a more long term job that is more in line with my interests. I have applied for quite a few and several have then invited me for interviews. So far I haven't been offered any of them.

I don't really have a "dream job" in mind, so am just applying for whatever I see that seems interesting. I'm getting frustrated though that I'm applying for jobs that aren't hugely well paid that I could have applied for with just GCSEs or A Levels. Kind of makes me wonder why I bothered doing a degree?! I can't afford to do any further study or conversion courses right now so can't retrain, and I'm not interested in working for any of the Big 4 in consultancy or accounting. I'm not super motivated by huge amounts of money but it's frustrating that I have a good degree and could potentially still be earning pittance. I just want to find a job I enjoy, is reasonably intellectually stretching and provides enough income for me to live on!

Any ideas gratefully received

Have you engaged with your university's careers service? Asked for feedback from interviews? It's not really a secret than non-vocational degrees don't necessarily lead to graduate jobs, that's been the case for 15+ years now.

What are your interests? Hard for us to advise without knowing that.

What were you thinking of doing for a job when you took the degree? I work in a job I could have hot after A levels but Uni was still worth it, I hd a great 3 years, met great friends, had lots of experiences, met my now DH. Try not to think of it as a waste. I'm now nearly 40 nd just starting to retrain in a completely different field paid for my by employers so never say never.

Find a sector that interests you and start at the bottom and work your way up! Yes, the first job you ever get you could have probably got without a degree - but your degree hopefully taught you how to think and how to manage your time and maybe a lot of other skills useful to the workplace and hopefully you’ll find you’ll progress quickly.

if you’re not interested in the big 4 or other companies that run grad schemes (and that’s fine by the way!) then by definition you’ll probably get a first job that doesn’t require a degree. But if you stick out the first few years and be brilliant at whatever role you’re in I’m sure I’m a few years time you’ll be where you want to.

good luck!

Surely you know what interests you

OP, sorry to hear - I’ve been in your exact position!

Huge congrats on getting to the interviews stage for the jobs you’ve applied for, that’s a really good achievement :) sorry to hear you haven’t yet been successful at the next stage though.

Have you asked for interview feedback at all? I know not all places offer feedback unfortunately, but if they do, it’s worth having a read just to see what they say, in case it’ll help you for future interviews. And the more interviews you do, the better you’ll get and the more confident you’ll feel.

Also, does your old uni have a careers service? They might be helpful in giving you interview support (e.g. interview practice) or in helping toy work out what kind of career you might want. You’ll have learned a huge amount of useful skills from retail already too.

If you don’t yet have a dream job in mind, you could go about building a career by doing a ‘career by happenstance’. Not sure if you’ve come across this, but it’s when you start a job, see how you feel about it, and if you enjoy it, you continue finding similar roles in that field that match your skills and interests as best as you can (rather than having an ideal job in mind).

Good luck! And feel free to PM me at any time if you’d like any support or advice.

What is the progression like with those roles? I joined my current organisation in a role that only needed GCSEs when I had a masters, but I have since worked my way up, and am now in a role that requires a degree, with a specific post graduate qualification listed as desirable. Because I already had a degree, work paid for me to study that qualification while I was in my last role.

Where did you want your degree to take you?

There are literally hundreds of companies offering graduate schemes, not just the big 4, and in lots of different sectors. If you don't want to apply for a graduate scheme, it's unlikely a degree will be required, so yes you could have got the same job without going to uni. Doing a humanities degree doesn't qualify you to do anything in the same way a vocational degree does, so you either start at the bottom, or join a grad scheme and get qualified. (I did an arts degree and joined one of the big 6 as it was then)

I used to think like this about my degree, I got a different perspective when someone told me a degree demonstrates dedication, . A degree is showing that you committed yourself full time for three years and saw it through to the end. You also have an advantage as you can interpret information, write academically, participate in group discussion etc. Try not to focus on the subject, just think of all the skills you picked up along the the duration and elaborate on those and relate them in to the duties of the roles you are applying for.

As @Motherhubbardscupboard said, there's loads of grad schemes in many different sectors including policing, social work, healthcare management, finance, HR... Definitely worth a look because you might see something you hadn't considered before www.top100graduateemployers.com

I don't really have a "dream job" in mind, so am just applying for whatever I see that seems interesting

I suspect this is part of the problem. Though I understand! This is grad scheme season though, so probably worth applying for as many as possible just to get some experience of working in a grad role. Whatever you do doesn't commit you to a career for life so dont rule stuff out - there's far more to the big 4 for example than just trainee accountant or management consultant.

What did you want to do when you went for your degree?

I don't really have a "dream job" in mind, so am just applying for whatever I see that seems interesting
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Just to add, this is how I have chosen jobs and I am so glad I have. You're in work many hours of the week so I think it's important it's interesting! If you find it interesting, you're more likely to excel and climb the career ladder if that's what you want.

Welcome to the club. Degrees have been oversold for years. A degree alone is not enough to earn a decent salary, you need to get some experience under your belt, and have dedication and enthusiasm for a particular industry sector. If you come across as a bored graduate with no industry interests, then you won’t look appealing to an employer.

Sometimes it's only down the road that you appreciate having a degree. My dsis works with the Civil Service: government job and doesn't have a degree. Any time promotion was available those with a degree got first opportunity even though they all had the same work experience.
So that degree may pay off in the future.
I agree that getting onto a grad course is your best bet even if its in an area you are not sold on. If it was possible to get a place with the big 4 l definitely would take it as you are not stuck there for life and the experience would really count going forward.

Have a year out, go work in Australia or Canada?

I don't really have a "dream job" in mind, so am just applying for whatever I see that seems interesting
I wonder if this is the heart of the issue. Are you potentially up against candidates for whom those jobs are their dream job? I work in a very oversubscribed industry and so you can take your pick of people who really want it and someone who just thought it sounded interesting probably wouldn't make the cut.

I think it's A) you really need to think what your niche skillset is and B) perhaps reskill in a specialist subject, I did a STEM degree and I am completing a distance learning computing masters, I have started on 32k in middle management in the midlands and I get great bonuses, company car and 20% salary increase on all OOH shifts and work from home 1-3 days a week.

Exactly this