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?

I have dragged her around internationally due to my work, we settled in London in her last year of primary, she loves it here, refused to consider non-London unis, can’t imagine herself anywhere else due to diversity, multiculturalism, “you can walk around naked an no one would bat an eyelid” aspects of it among other things (real or perceived). Moving around as a kid might have been a bit unsettling.

First step is get experience in a formal office environment. If she isn't up for applying for graduate programmes (public sector is your in here) then an entry level customer service/reception/administrator job is a good foot in the door. If she is as hard a worker as you say she will shine and get up and out in next to no time.

Sounds good to me - I couldn't get anywhere with graduate schemes either and never really knew what I wanted to do. Non grad scheme route doesn't mean poor and unhappy... It may in fact mean comfortable with a decent work life balance as opposed to high earning and working herself to the bone. Entry level jobs in fields that look interesting to her would be great - if she is as skilled and motivated as you say she will easily be able to progress.

I work at a University, good but not megabucks salary, great benefits. I get involved in loads of different projects/compliance areas in my Faculty - including sustainability, EDI and staff development... there are so many varied roles out there and personally I think being open minded and flexible is a real asset in the job market not a negative.

She has had multiple privileges - now she will have to face reality, if she wants to continue that type of life (without you bankrolling her) she will have to get organised and make sacrifices

sounds like a great opportunity for her to
develop as an individual

I’m a big believer in having a specific skill or profession because it gives job security for life. So- law, accountancy, teaching, engineering, etc. she could look at large construction firms, car manufacturers, and other big companies that will give specific skill training. I would also Google ‘best employers in the UK’ and work through that list, check websites for opportunities.

OP I get it we want the best for our kids but you need to step back.

She needs to decide her own path not have her mum choose it for her.

If she struggles to get the job she wants having chosen a (in your words) soft degree that’s a life lesson - life isn’t fair sometimes.

If she can’t secure the type of job she wants using persistence, by creating a good cv, having a good interview, speaking to tutors etc despite having a ‘soft degree’ then maybe that career wouldn’t be for her anyway.

Good hires aren’t the type who have had their Mum and Dads do everything for them. Let her build some reslience.

Same goes to the friends kids you are helping.

She doesn’t need to have all the answers at her age. I’d back off massively.

I would advise investing in a career coach to work with your daughter on her values and passions. This will help her to figure out what kind of work is important to her and is something she can use for the rest of her life.

This is good advice if it’s marketing she’s interested in. She could also start now trying to get a week or two internship in an advertising agency this summer to see what they’re like and if she enjoys it.

I have worked with several lawyers who did their first degree in Anthropology, then did a conversion course for Law. Is it something she would consider? Doesn’t have to be the magic circle route, would she consider going into something like human rights law? Or international development?

I'm sorry, I'm not clear, have you asked her what she would like to do?

My DD in the same boat. She has a first in a similar social science. She's also not very numerate or commerical. When she chose her degree, I advised against it, but she was very interested in the subject, so I had to back off, and she did come through with a first. Hard to advise an 18-year-old. She does have work experience.

Her masters will have to be in a more practical subject, but I also note that even people with very practical degrees are having trouble getting jobs. It's so hard these days.

OP when I started as IBD analyst the grad intake (analyst programmes) that year had a continuum of all possible degrees represented from Renaissance History to Chemistry as much as simple Finance grads were in minority. This was broadly reflective of what all incoming analysts classes looked. Same applied to MBB selection process.
This was back in 2006 so I can imagine intakes have shrunk since then in numbers but I doubt they would not look at a smart and enthusiastic Antropology graduate.
If this was my child I would focus on consulting and have a more specialised Masters application going as a back-up (1yr at LSE or any of LBS MiMs).

I'm (very) poor but happy as I'm in a job I love.

Let your daughter find her dream job and if it just happens to be low paid then so be it.

Based on what you say she likes I'd recommend transformation consulting, see if you can go down a route of public sector consulting or the civil service. Huge variety, loads of ways to specialise after a few years of trying everything and finding out what makes you tick. If more education is wanted then get a masters in Lean 6 sigma, black belt. Anthropology would be perfect, I'd hire a grad on an apprenticeship with that. Behavioural science and data analytics are going to be key in this sector for decades to come.

She is most definitely not a disappointment, I am very proud of her and admire her internal freedom - something I do not have. I definitely wouldn’t want her to follow in my footsteps - on paper I have it all and give speeches to incoming graduates and business school students about how great my company is and how you can have it all. In reality, it’s a misogynistic, toxic cesspit which I would steer my loved ones away from. As are most of our industry peers. I am a burnt out stress ball and my escapist dream is being a supermarket cashier. But I can pay a mortgage, school fees, skiing holidays, and don’t need to think “heating or eating”. And yes, I am anxious that she’ll struggle. She is not into material possessions or skiing holidays but it is so much harder for this generation to even get the basics - mortgage on a small flat, food/utilities, one holiday per year, going out twice a month. And I feel guilty that in spite of my well-paying career, I have not earned enough to be able to subsidise her forever should she end up being unemployed and poor. Believe it or not, I limit myself to asking her about her job search to once every 5-6 weeks. But this doesn’t mean I don’t worry. And all the threads on Mumsnet on COL and people with degrees and jobs struggling to make ends meet make this anxiety quite rational I’d argue.

Sorry if I’m missing something but why does she need to do an internship? Nobody I know did an internship and I have many friends who own property in London in their mid thirties. For what it’s worth, I fell into HR with a degree from an ex-poly, no internship and earnt six figures by 12 years later. She’s only very young, why not chill out and let her find her own path?

Teaching?

I totally get you @NeedXanaxPlease. I don't think you are over invested. I agree it is much harder for this generation to even earn the basics, so I worry too.

😬😬😬

OP, please ignore all the snide replies that you have got. It's normal to worry about your kids when they graduate if they are unsure what they want to do.
My kids are now in their late 20s and early thirties and it's amazing how they and their friends have all settled into jobs and careers even the ones who didn't follow the most conventional routes.

One of my daughters had no relevant work experience at all, she hadn't done any internships and had dropped out of a masters but was still able to get to the partners stage of one of the big four grad scheme interviews.

Her academics were solid but not amazing (2:1 degree AAB A'levels etc ) admittedly she didn't get big four job but did get a finance grad job with another big finance company.
She wasn't lazy but she just didn't have a clue what she wanted to do before she graduated. She had worked as a waitress in a busy restaurant for a long while and that seemed to impress interviewers, it certainly gave her plenty of things to talk about.

It sounds like your daughter has a lot to offer.

OP, it’s understandable to want to advise and help your DD, but you’re coming across a bit like you can’t quite believe that there are jobs in existence apart from corporate jobs accessed via grad schemes.
Surely you know this isn’t the case really? That there are people who work in museums, in TV, in social work, as teachers?
Friends of mine include operations managers, people working in events, a literary agent, a nurse, a web designer, a charity CEO, a H&S manager for a factory… loads of things.
Your DD could apply for an entry level job in a field that sounds interesting, and work her way around/up.
On a positive note, all jobs nowadays seem to ask for a degree, and she has one.

My non Oxford educated/non RG educated brother got on. Ultimately someone has to get taken on. Never be put off by something being competitive.

I think you are worrying too much. Even though it comes from a place of love for your DD.