to be sad dd still isn't in a graduate job 5 years later?

[tinyelephantlargeant]

Dd is 27 and did her degree in biology, with a placement year in a chemistry based laboratory.

She has been working in retail ever since. She has been looking and applying, but says nothing much comes up and when it does there is no luck.

I'm aware she is a grown adult and can do what she wants, but me and her dad financially supported her the whole of university and we are a bit sad that she is still just in retail, it's not as if she is overjoyed with it either.

Are you sure you're not by former Headteacher and the boy's father???

To be fair, it's very difficult to find work in that field with just a BSc in Biology.

Youg people could do well with more professional advisement on chosing a major so they know what it takes to get a role they're after. Advanced degrees, extensive networking, volunteer work, relocation.

How many relevant jobs has she actually applied for in 5 years?

If she's truly interested, she can create a LinkedIn and spend x hours every week reaching out to people in the fields to ask for informational interviews, finding a convention and attending, finding a graduate degree program and get started on that, finding major employers in x and extensively research them to get leads.

Drive and motivation is key. I've seen people move from customer service into lucrative tech roles with no degree while some I know with computer science degrees with HD languished never finding a role as they weren't motivated to apply for roles as in they applied for maybe 20 jobs attended a few interviews, got knocked back and gave up applying taking in some mw job.

I agree that 8 interviews in 5 years suggests that she's not trying particularly hard to get a graduate job and either her applications are poor, or she's only made 8 or so applications.

I work for one of the public sector organisations mentioned on this thread and recruitment and retention is so poor, due to pay being less than even the NHS and certainly less than private sector pharma that we'll pretty much anyone, within reason. Many times we receive hardly any applications that even vaguely meet the person spec and will interview and often take on just about everyone who applies.

@Easterfunbun Yes I know - I guess I'm biased having a mother who taught primary and hated kids and many years ago I was a nurse and seemed to work with plenty who hated people!!

@Crikeyalmighty

I know, odd paradox isn’t it? I know plenty who unfortunately fit that description.

@tinyelephantlargeant

Would your DD be interested in something like retail analytics?

She has retail experience, though not at managerial level, and some quantitative experience under her belt.

Other than that, a certificate in marketing might move her into more of a career track.

www.simplifield.com/blog/what-are-retail-analytics

Has she explored any OU options she might like?

Agree with those saying biology is a bit of a cul de sac, career wise.

The components of the degree might be more useful than the total package. Qualitative reasoning, data manipulation and analysis, etc, are all transferable into other areas.

Quantitative, not qualitative

I can understand a handful of people making a good living at it but surely 1000s is a bit of a stretch. Nicklaus, Palmer, Rye etc managed fine without a degree.

Could she do some form of volunteer work? In the right field. That would look good on her cv