To be panicking about DC’s employability post uni?

[NeedXanaxPlease]

DD is going into the final year of an Anthropology degree (might get a first but probably a 2:1) from a top RG uni. Has done a Fine Art foundation year. Always worked part time since finishing A-levels (Maths, English Lit, Art), first as a barista/front of house/waitressing, then as an after-school nanny during uni.
She loves working, is highly responsible, great people skills (and people judgement) and quite numerate/commercially savvy. She is a great kid and would be an asset to any team. But… she hasn’t had a single internship so no “relevant” work experience (didn’t get her act together after first year and a long recovery post an operation for a sporting injury after second year) nor does she really know what she wants to do after graduation. She is definitely not pursuing the classic investment banking, Bain/BCG/McKinsey, accountancy, law routes.
I am now feeling highly anxious and helpless as I don’t know how to support/guide her. I did the classic Tier 1 strategy consulting, MBA, corporate M&A so I am spending hours each week helping my friends’ kids who want to pursue this path (mock case studies, mock interviews, CV reviews) but am at a complete loss re how to help my own. I feel that I am spiralling. This is not helped by my being involved in graduate recruitment at my work – CVs I see are all full of Economics/Management/Sciences degrees, multiple internships/work experiences/summer schools – they are highly structured and tick all the boxes (to an extent where I can’t differentiate between them). My DD wouldn’t stand a chance on paper.
Sage mumsnetters, please reassure me that she can get a job without internships and with a “soft” degree? Does she stand a chance with graduate schemes? Should she even bother applying? What potential career routes she could explore?

@FannyCann Read all the OP's replies... The OP's family are Londoners. It's not about ending up there, it's about wanting to stay in her home city. Nothing wrong with that!

While I'm somewhat 🙄 at this fear of the erm provinces there's no other city in the UK and possibly the world comparable to London. It's a metropolis and so big that a lack of safety in certain areas can't be extrapolated to the entire city.

I'm with you OP.

I am involved in graduate recruitment and it is incredibly competitive and we all know getting a foothold in a stable lucrative profession can be inportant. I know accountants who have become financial directors who have retired in their early 50s to pursue less intense careers or enjoy the pursuit of hobbies or other life interests. They have houses and investments that give both themselves a good lifestyle and family financial security.

Why go into a public sector role like teaching with really quite poor prospects unless you enter management and judging by MN with many wishing to leave. Similarly with nursing etc.

I think at our age we can see how lack of focus from a career perspective from.a wide eyed fresh graduate can lead to regret in later life.

I think you need to take a massive step back from trying to engineer the future career of an independent adult woman in her 20s.

You aren’t the parent of an 11-year-old trying to get her into grammar school. You are really infantilising her by trying to find career paths for her and looking up dates for internship programmes etc.

I would absolutely employ someone with an anthropology degree - or any other degree - if they could tell me why they wanted a job in my team, talk about their transferable skills from their holiday job as a barista/nanny/whatever, and perform well enough in an interview task (which in my field would usually be a planning/brainstorming task followed by a request to produce a piece of writing for a specific audience).

I would NOT employ the sort of person whose parents were planning their career or researching opportunities for them. I have zero interest in someone who has been pushed into applying or following a career by their helicopter parents. That would apply if they were 16, let alone if they were in their bloody 20s.

@OneCoolPearlOP

You nailed it and articulated it much better than I could in my head. I will happily be the safety net but I don’t want to be the default option (at least not forever). Right now I am the default option. And you are right - I am paying for all the big stuff like uni fees for a start, vacations, specific physio that insurance doesn’t cover etc. What she earns is pin money - at some point l did start putting boundaries in place like not paying for the expensive coaching for her sport etc. I need to ramp up the weaning process.

But deep down she probably doesn’t feel the pressure and I am trying not to show the toll my job is taking on me physically and mentally. I am burnt out and the only thing that keeps me going is counting the time to paying down the mortgage and being able to tell everyone to fuck off. I have a “high powered” job where I can almost unilaterally make billion $ decisions and fire/hire teams of people but don’t have the autonomy and authority to work from home for a week while DD recuperates because “it sends the wrong signal.” In spite of consistently over delivering for years and everyone being pretty much on holidays now and not in the office.

But that’s also why I’d like to try to help DD navigate careers where she at least has a better chance of a more balanced life while also earning a decent wage.

If you're in law then surely you know that half the people in the profession have a non law degree and come from a wide range of academic backgrounds?

Possibly a moot point if your daughter doesn't want to do law, but it's proof that even in the corporate world you can get pretty far with any decently respected degree. I don't see why having a degree in anthropology makes you any less employable than having a degree in English or history, and I know plenty of people with English and history degrees who have gone on to have great careers in a diverse range of fields.

But I do think perhaps you need to back off a little and give your daughter the space to figure out what she's interested in and might want to do. You've got her to adulthood with a good degree. The rest is up to her.

Christ, back the fuck off. She is her early twenties, she has years to work out what she wants to do. May be she doesn't want to waste her precious 20s on the miserable toxic treadmill of making a Big Four firm even richer.

Many career paths are not linear and a lot of us map our own career paths rather than following a set one created by the big finance/managment consultancy firms

I did a "soft" degree at a RG university. As the first in my family to go to university there were no expectations or any guidance.

What I did was take the summer off move back home and work a temp job in tourism and generally have a fun summer. I then moved to a shitty flatshare on the outskirts of London with friends and temped (eg post room, admin, reception, canteen) at a lot of blue chip companies - which was invaluable in terms of office experience. I was interested in history so got a job as a trainee researcher in a local authority archive. It was great fun and I made some of my closest friends there but after 3 years realised that the career paths open to me there - basically training to be an archivist, librarian or data specialist - were not for me.

So I took a sideways move to a small charity to gain some policy development experience. After 6 years of lowish pay but amazing experience I moved to a government body in a pure policy role. I moved out again to a national charity to gain more social policy experience and then moved back in the public sector to work a differebt policy (somewhere along the way I also worked for the European Commission and in the Civil Service). Now I am in a fairly senior role working in economic regulation.

I can afford a decent life in London and bought a flat in my mid thirties. No skiiing holidays or private schooling alas.

OP, I think you'd have gotten a bit more understanding if you'd posted from this angle.

However, it was fundamentally your choice to work such a high powered job. And splurge on expensive niceties, such as holidays, competitive sport and private school. All that money could have gone towards a deposit.

The only thing that makes London unliveable on a 'low' salary is rent/property prices. Bills, food etc are broadly the same across the country. London boroughs have some of the lowest council tax rates and public transport is readily available and cheap, allowing for massive savings from not needing a car.

You need to decide to what extent you can support your daughter and be honest with her. You shouldn't be telling what to do. You should only tell her what your contribution will be. Since you've been bankrolling her all your her life , she's not wrong to expect it to continue.

What she does, armed with the knowledge of what you'll give, is up to her.

BTW even letting her live rent-free(or with a nominal rent) will be a massive help.

Well that's in excess of 5,000 successful applicants to the big4 last year that you feel superior to. My point was that the comms training is remedial. People skills are a fantastic asset to the CV of a recent graduate and Op's DD has them.

Another people & problem solving starter option would be in PALS for NHS.

A friend who did an Anthropology and Archeology undergraduate degree now works in forensic computing.

As far as I can tell, this involves both technical and human behaviour analysis of how a security system was broached to advise on what could be done to prevent a repeat.

She fell into it by accident a few years after graduation (having gone traveling, done a bit of archeological digging and worked in retail while in Australia on youth work visa) . someone else from her Anthropology degree was doing it and suggested it - I suppose it uses their evidence analysis skills.

Seems a decent career in terms of pay and progression.

@Aliciainwunderland Couldn’t have possibly worked my butt off, Networked networked networked and made opportunities for myself. In the cut throat world of an American tech company - you don’t make it based on luck. Your performance is constantly monitored.

As I said, the majority of full time employees work constantly during evenings and weekends, and also network constantly and try to look for opportunities. And yet, most people only earn the average salary (hence why it's the average). To earn a 6 figure salary can only be the consequence of luck.

@shuggles “As I said, the majority of full time employees work constantly during evenings and weekends, and also network constantly and try to look for opportunities.“

I'm really not sure that they do!

Wow - to reduce someone’s career trajectory to just luck. Not talent, dedication, further study, fighting my corner in the face of being paid less than my male counterparts. Nope, it was just luck.

I have an anthropology degree from a Russell group uni 2:1. I did a conversion year to be a chartered surveyor then did a graduate scheme. Good money London based.

If she were my daughter I would be immensely proud. She sounds so bright and talented. Please don’t worry or pressure her. The more varied experiences she gets, the better. It’s not a race!
Years ago I did an anthropology degree. My classmates did and do all sorts of things, including studying primates in Borneo. Some did fast-stream civil service . Museum. Journalism, ethnographic /documentary film, teaching, NGOs-domestic and international, salvage archaeology, charities/foundations. Many work with refugees in a variety of organisations
One became a novelist. A couple friends do graphic non-fiction, drawing from anthropology … just for starters.
Depending on where she is studying, there should be lots of ways to develop and focus on TRANSFERABLE SKILLS: ethnographic research, interview skills, analytic/critical writing. Depends if she’s just doing SOCIAL anthro or also material culture, archaeology, biological anthro etc. there are countless masters degrees that ARE VALUE ADDED: medical anthro, environmental anthro, media, biological/physical anthro, anthro/film, forensic, anthro/development studies, anthro and art, etc etc. check out the top several departments and browse through their offerings (e.g.,Cambridge, LSE, UCL).SOAS has a masters in anthro and food!!

Increasing numbers of businesses and corporations are hiring in-house anthropologists - see Gillian Tett’s book on anthrovision.
best to take a gap year or two before starting a masters - she’ll have a more focused idea of her interests and get more out of it. Get her out of her comfort zone and go abroad and volunteer, work, etc.

Everyone I know who has studied it feels it was hugely beneficial for whatever they did- as it taught critical reading/writing/thinking abilities, and a world view that tries to make the world safe for difference.

Addendum: legal anthropology can lead to going into public interest law, civil and human rights law

@Aliciainwunderland Wow - to reduce someone’s career trajectory to just luck. Not talent, dedication, further study, fighting my corner in the face of being paid less than my male counterparts. Nope, it was just luck.

Why do you think "talent, dedication, and further study" are not applicable to the rest of us?

I also doubt that being paid less than your male counterparts is actually true. Your salary is 6 figures. The average salary is about £32k I believe, which is 5 figures. So statistically, your male counterparts are earning less.

I don’t think they don’t apply to everyone else - I am talking about MY career ONLY - of which apparently you are an expert. I am not the one making sweeping generalisations. You are the one saying my career is ‘just’ luck.

please don’t call me a liar - read the post!!! I said my male counterparts WERE earning higher than me and I fought my corner to earn the same. In case you are interested I had better yearly appraisals and longer service than my male counter parts.

also - my ‘luck’ ran out which I sure you will be thrilled to hear!! I gave this up when I had a baby as they refused to let me work 4 days a week and I took VR instead. So please please don’t comment on anyone’s life if you don’t know the facts.

my point was to say I was in the same position as OPs daughter and I did just fine by starting in admin roles.

@Aliciainwunderland I don’t think they don’t apply to everyone else - I am talking about MY career ONLY

So why are only 1% of people earning above £100,000, even though all of us are educated, talented, dedicated, and work all hours of the day every day?

please don’t call me a liar - read the post!!! I said my male counterparts WERE earning higher than me and I fought my corner to earn the same.

But the average man only earns about £32k. So as I said, if you are earning 6 figures, you are massively outearning them.

Oh for gods sake!!! If you don’t know what you are talking about don’t comment!!

do you know the average salaries of large multi national tech companies based in London?? Do you understand their benefits and bonus structure?? If not - please stop calling me a liar. Please feel free to PM me and I’ll send you my P60. In the meantime I suggest looking up Director level salaries for tech companies on Glassdoor.

Here you go!! I didn’t work for Google but a close competitor and salaries were comparable.

would you like to continue calling me a liar.

as for OPs daughter - targeting admin roles/ entry level roles in a large company like Google that provide good training opportunities is a great way to get your foot in the door.

Civil Service? Officer in a local authority? Paid role in the charity/voluntary sector? MSc in something relavent to her future?

If she’s not sure she’d like to pursue her degree academically, getting a masters in the same field is a waste - equally, she can return to her field after studying another field if she chooses to do so.

If interested in marketing, there are MANY courses and degrees that can help develop her in that area without the commitment of an MA. Id be more interested in knowing why a grad in interested in the role they’re pursuing and looking for proof of that interest, even if their degree is not aligned. Media agencies (WPP - GroupM, Omnicom, Publicis etc) could also be of interest although experiencing heavy distruption with AI.

Also - by male counterparts I meant my colleagues in the same team/ company I worked for. They told me their salary. I don’t understand why you are going on about national average salaries when clearly I worked in an industry and location paying well above national average.

as I said I left that industry and now earn peanuts so that I can fit a job around children. I work as hard as I did before but am I bitter about those earning the big bucks in that industry. Nope - good on them, especially the women who have it extra hard. Do I think they are just ‘lucky’ - nope. I don’t.

Also - by male counterparts I meant my colleagues in the same team/ company I worked for. They told me their salary. I don’t understand why you are going on about national average salaries when clearly I worked in an industry and location paying well above national average.

I would argue that complaining about pay when you are above the £100,000 mark is a bit silly, regardless of what anyone else makes.

as I said I left that industry and now earn peanuts so that I can fit a job around children. I work as hard as I did before but am I bitter about those earning the big bucks in that industry. Nope - good on them, especially the women who have it extra hard. Do I think they are just ‘lucky’ - nope. I don’t.

What is meant by "peanuts"? Nothing above the £28k mark is "peanuts".