A thread for parents of DCs going into final year in non vocational subjects

[BasiliskStare]

Well I think that says it.

Look , I know there will be loads of people who will say , well he / she's 20 / 21 their choice. Of course it is. But in this family we discuss things and this is the spirit in which I have opened this thread.

For context, DS is 20 - History - going into final year - unsure about post university. Has some ideas.

Anyone else in a similar position ?

LittleHo, there are a host of sites like SpareRoom.com

The tax concessions from renting a room have helped encourage people to consider taking in a lodger.

Sharing with friends is more fun. My understanding is that you can expect to pay £250pw per room for Zone 1, £200 for Zone 2 and £150 further out. Where to go depends on where you will be working and you need to trade off rent vs travel costs/time. There is a huge difference living centrally compared with living in the suburbs, and really worth going for the former if you can. There is a lot of property on the market at the moment so some real bargains to be had. (One central London agent suggested to me that they had the same number of prospective tenants on their book compared with a couple of years ago, but twice the number of properties.) Young professionals are normally the preferred tenant group so it is worth negotiating.

It will be cheaper if you opt for ex council, more expensive if you want something plush.

From my experience tutoring students (not all Law students want to be lawyers, and there are lots of different ways to be lawyers....) it's really important at this stage to place emphasis on 'next steps', rather than 'what do you want to do with your life'. It's entirely possible that the reason he's in this position is because he struggles to think about 'the rest of his life' - there's a tendency to think in terms of having one career that defines you and that you have to pick early on, which can be really crippling.
It's basically about after next summer - what will he be doing, how will he be supporting himself etc. From then on, things will lead to other things. It doesn't have to be the dream job; or the job he's going to do for the rest of his life (I'm always amazed how many young people think like this, but that's very often the model they see in their family) I think it's really important to think beyond the big grad schemes, as well - not because they might not be the answer, but because they are not the be all and end all. . Focus on the kinds of things that he's interested in (public sector work? Business? Retail? Tech? Education? Working with people or with stuff? Working in an office, or not? Etc) Connect with the university careers centre which will have lots of ideas and connections - as well as lists of vacancies that may not always be widely advertised. I find that students often under use careers centres, but they are full of experts who have seen everything. Go to careers events, read up, research sectors.
Be wary of Law conversion unless he knows a lot about the legal sector and has a pretty clear idea of what he can do with it. If he does the GDL it's hard work and rather dull, so it needs to be the means to a very defined end - it's not a very transferable qualification. Some universities have student societies for non-law students wanting to get into Law - if not, connect with the careers events put on by the Law School and student law society. The most successful Law graduates treat career planning as an extra -curricular activity in itself, and he needs to compete with them.

Gannet - thank you for that.
DS did apply of a couple of big name internships and didn't get them. To be fair - he didn't give up and has had a work experience placement thing this summer which was paid - so he's definitely not doing nothing & I think went for your "next steps" approach . It was in Ireland so he's not just gone down one route as that is clearly not where we live. Thank you though .

And just to back up Needmore - frankly I think as a new graduate in London - trying to run a car would be way down your list of priorities. I know in other places it is normal - but in London it really is just very hard work and not necessary.

Sometimes despondency about future prospects comes from comparisons with those who seem 'sorted' including those who do land the competitive internships.
Some who do seem to have a straightforward path into lucrative and / or interesting careers actually retrospectively wish for a few more 'meanders' along the way. IMO every bit of experience amassed will pay off at some point even if it is only for exclusion of possibilities or anecdotes.

Ha ha Sendsumer - I think you are right.

I think it is just a bit hard to have to think about finals and then what to do afterwards at the same time - I can see why once in a while both converge.It did for me a long long time ago. Certainly where DS has done work experience or similar , part of the reason was to try something and see if it suited - i.e. not just CV filling for an end goal.

Dd is going into the third year of her English Lit degree and not really sure what she wants to do afterwards. She always wanted to be a writer and had considered journalism but seems to have gone off that a bit now. She is considering publishing (editing) but not sure how keen she really is on that. She is also very interested in feminism and gender politics and may explore that in terms of writing/ lobbying etc. It is all very vague. She did briefly mention doing an MA but I have said we would need to really think about if it will help her towards a job if we are funding her living costs for another year. I don't want her just wasting another year at university because her boyfriend happens to be in the year below!

Ha ha Mrs Bartlet.