University 2019/20 intake: next steps (some still students but many now graduates)

[LouisCatorze]

Previous thread

Same for dd.
She's enjoying work and the freedom of now having her own car... Although I've had to stop dh thinking of it as a second family car!

Just returning to this thread after a very long time. it's so nice to see it's still going and lots of the names are familiar. I think I updated some time back that DS has completed his placement and gone back to uni to complete his final yr.

Final year seems to be going very well and he's loving his private student accommodation. The most exciting news though is that last week he secured a graduate position for next yr when he graduates. I was hoping he would get a good job but wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. Elated doesn't quite describe it. This means he now doesn't have to worry about internships, graduate fairs, applications the lot and just focus on his final yr work.

How's everyone else's recent grad getting on? i hope they are securing gainful employment and moving on with the next stage of their lives.

That’s great @Shimy . What’s the line of work?

Wonderful news Shimy, congratulations to your DS.

Congratulations to yur DS @Shimy

That's excellent news @Shimy .

Good to hear everyone's news updates.

Good luck to your DD2 with her current round of UCAS applications @Benjispruce4 .

DS has been drifting a bit with his job but think he has just clocked that he needs to go up a gear with looking for something more secure with proper prospects.

Thanks, everyone for the good wishes. Benji It's Software engineering.

I also think the placement he did has given him more confidence in his abilities and he's now facing his finals with more confidence than I ever saw in his 1st and 2nd yr, although that was blighted by Covid. @Ragwort Was it your ds who also did a placement if I remember or was it someone else?

Congratulations to your DS Shimy!

@LouisCatorze Fingers crossed for your DS that he'll get what he wants soon. I always say any job (within reason) is better than no job at all. Even if it's not exactly what they wanted there are still skills that can be developed and it gives them something to talk about at interview. Most importantly it helps their CV to not have any gaps after graduation & avoids
having to explain it on every application.

Thanks Bigtilly. Sounds like your DS is enjoying himself too .

Well done to your DS @Shimy
I work at a software company (though my role is not as technical as a software engineer role) but I really like it.
In fact, I’ve had various roles at a couple of different software companies - all with a history and politics degree!
So - this def backs up your point that any role is good! I’ve learnt so much (and things have changed so much in the time I’ve been working!), but all good stuff.

Hope he enjoys it!

Thanks blame Glad to hear your experience too has been positive. I got my first career break through someone I met whilst sorting letters at the post office! I can see how a degree in history & politics could feed into a tech environment actually with everything being politicised these days...A.I, Cyber, Manufacturing, Sustainability..all the exciting stuff.

Sounds lucrative @Shimy . Fabulous for him and I hope he can appreciate how lucky he is to have that in the bag.
DD2 is working in a banking/finance admin role and already after a few weeks I can see her confidence growing. The pay is decent(£380 a week) and she can walk so no costs. For some DC a gap year is the best thing. For others like my DD1, she was ready straight after A levels.

I agree that working does wonders for confidence. I noticed this when I visited DD recently. She said that she didn't think she would be so nervouse if she gets interviews for her masters applications. They will be healthcare roles so they always interview for them.

It's great to read everyone's news. Ds1 has been working in an office since the summer. He's still due to go to NZ in January. So he didn't want a permanent position. The temporary job finished on weds this week. So he's now at home, bored. He'd quite like a job for one more month. Unfortunately he continues to be difficult to live with. He's so angry towards us and his siblings, he thinks we all hate him....he doesn't seem to realise it's his attitude causing the problem. Everything i say or do is wrong. I cooked a dinner he likes a few nights ago, he told me I never cook that dinner because I know he likes it, when actually I don't cook that dinner because I don't like it much. But this is how he is with everything. I ask him to clean up a mess he's made and he insists it wasn't him, we all know it was him. It is just such hard work. He's like a stroppy teen. So I'm quite looking forward to him leaving for NZ. Ds2 has settled into university life (Sussex) he's enjoying it, I'm collecting him next weekend, so he will be home for about a month. He has a job for at least 2 weeks, so he will be busy. It will be quiet in January once ds1 has gone to NZ and ds2 is back at uni. It'll be just ds3 left.

Shiny yes my DS did a placement year and thoroughly enjoyed it .. he was offered a full time role when he graduates but he decided against it as it would involve weekend working that interferes with cricket . He did negotiate not having to work weekends during the cricket season for the placement year ... which obviously involved an honest conversation - I think those sort of discussions etc are valuable for young people joining the workforce and learning to be part of a team, inter personal skills, building confidence etc.

@icanbewhatiwant That sounds a bit hard with DS1. Let's hope that him moving to NZ may make him realise just how much love he's got in his life and give him time to grow and appreciate you much more. Glad ds2 is all settled at uni. Let's hope the new year is much easier.

@Ragwort It's geat he was offered a job at his placement and shame the hrs didn't suit him. I agree it gives them a safe space to practice/learn some negotiation skills and other soft skills much needed for the work place but also to give them a good insight into where their degree is taking them and whether they still like or not before they graduate. I hope DS gets something suitable for him soon.

@Ragwort I'm impressed that your son is putting in place great boundaries as to what is acceptable regarding his future work/life (cricket!) balance. It shows a mature attitude.

Yes, I'm pleased DS has a decent, ongoing job (although really not a graduate one). It would be great if it leads to more opportunities but it is very niche. But there again, as BIL commented, he has got into a developing field ahead of the curve so it could stand him in good stead long-term. He does seem to have realised that he needs to pull his finger out with graduate job applications and considering whether to do a Masters next. His g/f has nearly completed her MSc dissertation so that will possibly galvanise him to action as she will be applying for graduate positions too.

We were having a conversation yesterday about people being motivated by money (or not), and how that feeds into their ambitions in no small measure. Also contacts can be super helpful. DD definitely is money-oriented, and is already into her second weekend job role since she hit 16 (both of which she has really fallen into by family/friend leads). DS isn't really like that at all (he has modest tastes really), although he will have to 'get real' when he is having to pay for his own accommodation.

@icanbewhatiwant sorry to hear your DS1 is so angry about everything. Maybe going far away from home for a decent amount of time will be the making of him, and absence will make the heart grow fonder towards you and the rest of the family. Is there a lot of rivalry between your three sons? Hope your DS2 is settling in well at Sussex and enjoying the Brighton life.

Just caught up with this thread. I'm impressed that so many DC know where they are going after graduating. We have talked to DS about starting to apply for graduate schemes but I am pretty sure that he has done nothing about it. It's taking all of his time and energy to keep all of the current balls in the air as it is without having to juggle more. He has continued to work at his retail job alongside studying for his final year, and maintaining a relationship with a gf who lives and studies in a different city. His course is structured such that all assignments are due in a very short period (ie now) with little pressure beforehand. He has handed in the first of three, but the next two are due in within the next 10 days, and he is behind on both. We have told him to drop the job but he insists that he needs the money. He will very likely come home and work for a day or two next week so that he can focus properly. He really can't afford for the wheels to come off again, having deferred last year.

@icanbewhatiwant sorry to hear about your DS1. It sounds to me that he really just wants your attention, hence the immature behaviour. Time away with shift his perspective, I'm sure. @Shimy the only relatively recent graduate DC that I know are all in IT, esp especially software engineering, so well done him.

Hello everyone - nice to see this thread pop up again

@icanbewhatiwant I wonder if your DS behaviour reflects the big transition from being 100% in charge of one’s own life and schedule and mess tolerance etc as a student to coming back home and having to comply with house rules again. Add to that any uncertainty and anxiety about the future and you get the perfect recipe for being an ass. I feel for you!

DD is well settled into her job and can see a way to progress and specialise. It involves some v early starts but on those days it’s an early home time so not so bad. She’s also cleared to work at home one day a week now which she loves: never gets out of her PJ’s!! I’m now hoping that she does a bit more socially locally - she has been back and forth to old Uni city to see friends who are still students and I can’t help thinking this is not helpful on many levels

@VanCleefArpels good to see that your DD doing well. Maybe her success will spur on those who are still students. Do her visits make her nostalgic? My DS still sees friends who graduated this year and who claim a place on his sofa. None have jobs or commitments, and I do think that they are a distraction for him.

I think her visits are stopping her throwing herself into “local” life IYSWIM. Probably over thinking!!

@VanCleefArpels if DD hasn’t moved to London with uni friends, she would be doing the same. There is nobody here to socialise with!

• hadn’t

@simbobs, that’s what my DS found - everything due at once due to modular course. It’s very tricky for them. And holding down a job as well. He will probably be able to get extensions for his essays, but they still have to be done IYSWIM!
He also found visiting mates a distraction!

@VanCleefArpels, does your DD have many friends back at home? Understandable that she wants to go back if there’s not much going on in her home town/village. Is there any socialising with colleagues at all?