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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

2017 seems so long ago, now .....

516 replies

Xenia · 13/05/2022 16:34

Continuation of our previous thread.

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Xenia · 11/02/2024 16:11

I love hearing about all those doing medicine.

The twin job hunting has his 4th interview for this job where they seem keen on him later this week and will probably accept it if it is offered as the others have not led to an offer. We think for his favourite (other) job the HR person did not understand the term PQE which means experience after you qualify so although he had 10 months at a very similar job on a secondment which probably looked like about a year there he has zero PQE as only just qualified and the job requirement is 1 - 6 years PQE. I think getting the 4th interview job (if he gets an offer) and working there a bit (i.e. not working for his mother's law firm) will help make the CV look better, not that there is anything wrong with the kind of law he has done here or the work or his experience but we have known from day 1 working for your mother will never be a very good look. The fact both twins have pretty good exam results etc and have done well on secondments does mean in my view there is nothing worse with them than someone who trained at a firm which is not their mother's but it will be a perception thing for many of course.

Shift pattern for the Need child is something my non lawyer son has had in h is jobs to date (including postman. He is currently job hunting or about to start as finished one job and took a short break). I have suggested putting Monday to Friday 9 - 5 as his basic requirement as he has had about ten years of shift working which can make it so hard to get regular sleep or fit social things in with family.

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Carriemac · 12/02/2024 09:48

@Needmoresleep would love to hear about the mortgage broker I'm hoping one of ours will buy soon!
@Xenia the first job is always the harder to get then moving to the next post easier .

Needmoresleep · 12/02/2024 10:16

Carrie, I have messaged you. Interest rates are falling so it might be a good time to buy. That said it is hard to predict. Prices seem to be all over the place. My tip for a first property is to buy something that you could rent out if you have to, and which is fairly typical of the area so easy to sell. (Well built is also important. Lots of modern blocks really aren't.) I remember years ago going into a letting agent with the details of three properties I was considering and asking the manager to tell me which one she would most like on her books. (I was in a job that required frequent relocations.) As it was I moved in with the now DH and still have that flat, which has continued to rent well.

Carriemac · 18/02/2024 18:14

Some good news here DDs employers have decided to match the trainees Atari's to the London branch ( they had considered Dublin 'regional' despite the cost of living' so she's getting a surprise pay rise

Xenia · 19/02/2024 16:54

I expect Dublin is a very expensive place anyway so that sounds a good decision on pay parity.

I was hoping to end the thread (for me) here but one of the twins who had his 4th interview last week and has been away skiing since with friends as far as I know has not heard the results yet (which does not bode very well after FOUR interviews, a 3 or 4 hour practical exercise and for a relatively lower paid in house job).... or may be he has had the rejection but just not texted me yet. I think he would have texted had he been accepted. Or may be the employer is waiting to hear back from references or to see who else they have found for the job. Anyway I will keep going on the thread until the twins are both "off my hands" in terms of first qualified job. It isn't his dream in-house job anyway as not his preferred sector so if they don't want him he will keep applying for others and is waiting to hear from 2 others I think at the moment and one has ghosted him since 1 or 2 interviews which is very rude of them when he spent the time to attend the interview.

The other one seems to be enjoying his job and that is going fine

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Xenia · 20/02/2024 20:21

Son has accepted the job offer that came today (after that 4th interview) and starts next month. My work is done in a sense, although it never ends as a parent. He still has to sign the contract etc So both twins have newly qualified solicitor jobs in London now (both in-house solicitors).

Whether I keep adding to the thread - we shall see as time goes on but 6.5 years from when they went to university to qualifying as solicitors it does feel the end of it for me (although the 4th grandchild is due soon so life is certainly wonderful, full and with so much that is exciting)....

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Carriemac · 20/02/2024 20:43

Congratulations @Xenia 's youngest (?) son

Haffdonga · 20/02/2024 21:50

Congratulations to @Xenia Ds!! That's brilliant news for you all, but especially your ds of course. I'm sure he's breathing a sigh of relief to be on a par with his twin job-wise and not having to go through a 4 interview marathon again! Congratulations too on the new soon-to-be grandchild. What a full circle time for you!

Thanks for keeping these threads going Xenia. It's been great keeping track of everyone's wonderful young folk. I hope people still drop in to give us updates and celebrate their successes. Good luck to them all (and to all of us parents too!)

ErrolTheDragon · 20/02/2024 21:56

Oh that's good news, Xenia, to have your last two 'launched'. I've continued to enjoy these threads considerably after the end of my DDs education.Smile

Needmoresleep · 21/02/2024 11:05

Xenia, that is wonderful news. You should feel a real sense of satisfaction after successfully completing this stage of your parenting journey.

You beat me to it. I, or rather DS, is still waiting to hear after his three weeks traversing the globe for second interviews. The "job market" for Econ PhDs this year has been a bit of a bloodbath as the US central bank who normally soak up a fair number of those looking has cut its recruitment significantly. He has had enough interviews that he should get something, but it is a bit like UCAS all those years ago when three Universities kept him waiting until late March. All he needs is one.

Ironically his fallback is the City, which will pay an awful lot more than well regarded but public sector Universities in the US, the UK and elsewhere. I assume that one thing about growing up in Central London and knowing some of the 0.01% is that DC learned that money is not everything. The aim is enough money so you can do what interests you.

ErrolTheDragon · 21/02/2024 11:17

The aim is enough money so you can do what interests you.

And all the better if one of the strong strands of 'what interests you' is included in your work - which is the happy position of DD and her fellow engineer BF.

Xenia · 21/02/2024 11:33

Indeed, but everyone has different views on that. I definitely think money has some important and the risk if you are reasonably well off, as I am, is that children don't realise until it is too late that things are very expensive (if your parents have been paying for those things).

My advice has always been pick work you enjoy, that is reasonably well paid and where ultimately if you want to you could work for yourself.

I do know my twins know what kind of life it can be when you work very long days and 3 weekends in 4 etc and probably even if they had the choice of those jobs do not want that lifestyle as they want enough time to sleep, cook, go to the gym etc. They also knew that training with my firm is of course nothing like as good on a CV as training at a big firm, but it's worked out fine and their future careers are now up to them. One has worked in 3 law firms - trained at mine, seconded for about 8 months to another in the City and also did 3 months as a paralegal at another and he might consider trying for law firm roles at end of year (he is doing a maternity cover in house). They have in house solicitor and law firm solicitor sisters and then me with my own law firm of only me so they have lots of examples of the different ways to be a solicitor.

Need, good luck to the economist - a City career as fall back would be very interesting. In parts of my area of law sometimes economists are used as expert witnesses etc.
Carrie, the one who got the job offer yesterday is middle son - older than his on the same day twin by 7 hours and born at home. No one had ever told me I would have to go through 2 separate labours in one day and one would be born in a different London borough in hospital - asserting their differences from day 1.

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Decorhate · 22/02/2024 14:01

Well done on getting them all over the line Xenia (for now at least).

Mine have also made progress. The middle one has accepted a graduate job with the company he did his placement year with. It’s a bit easier with a vocational degree in that there is a clear career path if you want to stick with the field your degree is in.

The eldest has an interview for a training programme which is a big relief after all her hard work. She knows that it’s not guaranteed she will definitely get a place but it’s a step in the right direction.

Just need to youngest to be a bit more proactive about his plans for next year now!

Xenia · 22/02/2024 17:42

Decorhate, that sounds good progress indeed. I think the hardest thing is the first graduate job (or training contract for potential solicitors) and I suppose that is the case in almost all jobs - you have no experience so no one wants you but you cannot get experience unless someone lets you learn.

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readsalotgirl63 · 22/02/2024 17:53

Congratulations to the @Xenia son and to @Xenia for getting all her children safely to independent adulthood. Thanks also for keeping the threads going - I've enjoyed hearing everyone's news and it has been useful to be able to say "someone on Mumsnet says ....." It's been surprising how often that has carried more weight than just being old mum's thoughts 😀

Carriemac · 23/02/2024 08:53

@Decorhate is that a medical training post for your eldest ? Well done

Decorhate · 23/02/2024 09:05

@Carriemac Yes it is. She’s decided to only put down London hospitals though so even if the interview goes well she may not get any further.

Needmoresleep · 23/02/2024 09:08

@Decorhate I hope it goes well.

DS is still waiting to hear after his interviews and then we will have the same with DD and training places. Then, hopefully, we can relax. Job done.

Xenia · 27/02/2024 19:14

Good luck for those waiting to hear after interviews. Today the one who of mine who just got the job offer signed the contract today ( we had a quick look at it together) (and starts next month).

It is certainly interesting to hear how they are all doing. My sons' school friend has started his dentistry job (he is qualified now). Lots of the careers on this thread like law and medicine take a long while just to be qualified. Next year I am qualified for 40 years and I still learn new things every day at work.

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Needmoresleep · 01/03/2024 13:07

And breathe...

DS phoned last night to say he has been told to expect a job offer.

It has been a nervous few weeks, following a flurry of second interviews, though he seemed relaxed. He had heard informally that he was second choice for his first choice of these so it had become a waiting game. Then suddenly he heard back from a University he had applied to ages before, had an interview and seems to have a job.

In the meantime I have been walking around the city DD lives looking for a house for her to buy. She put in an offer this morning, and I am waiting to hear back from the agent. (She has been working 7.00am to 8 pm.) Here's hoping for more good news.

Haffdonga · 02/03/2024 14:45

Congratulations to your ds @Needmoresleep - obviously a very well-deserved job offer after his world-wide interview process. Which continent will he be in? Hopefully somewhere you'll enjoy visiting!

Has your dd's offer been accepted? It's really the next level of flying the nest when they move from shared rental to being property owning. Good luck to her. DS is learning the hard way that being financially independent from his parents isn't all fun as he deals with a broken down car and a broken phone both in the same week.

Xenia · 02/03/2024 16:40

Ah, the next stage - children buying houses. My oldest is older than those on this thread so we are well into that stage, never mind marriages and my grandchildren.

Good luck with the house offer. One of mine sold her flat and bought a house with her husband recently and it has been an exciting time.

I cannot yet give up posting on this thread as is interesting to hear about everyone. One twin just has one more week off before he starts his solicitor job although the older son is job hunting or about to start so I suppose it can end up a continuous life long thing of changes and jobs but the first job is the milestone in my view.

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Carriemac · 03/03/2024 08:23

DD on the trading contact just passed her halfway exams and won her mock trial ( she was lead) on Friday so another little milestone . And her twin (DS2 ) has just moved in with his girlfriend - also a milestone in adulthood

Xenia · 03/03/2024 19:03

Good progress. Well done.

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bettbburg · 09/03/2024 21:37

House buying - that was done a couple of years ago here.
Dd has a year to go on her MA and then who knows, I have another still at university