Page 2 | Graduating in the summer... what next?

Cranmer · 2023-03-19T19:20:52+00:00

Just being nosey really!! DD is about to graduate in the summer. At the moment she is seriously considering a gap year and has made no attempt to apply for jobs, post grad study etc. What are other people's DC doing: Graduate job Non-graduate job Masters/post graduate study Gap year Other???

derekthe1adyhamster · 05/04/2023 12:46

DS has a funded PhD to move on to, so different university town and slightly more money means he's looking forward to renting a one bed flat rather than sharing. It's also what he wants to do in the future, marine biology research. (I'm very jealous)

Daisysway · 06/04/2023 12:20

Dd hopefully staying on to do her Masters (which df is funding). At least a Masters is generally required in her chosen career...she will return to a paid placement in July and August and
Travel in September...like others no rush to jump into any job without thought and consideration.

MinnesotaMuffin · 06/04/2023 14:05

DS has a grad job (engineering) starting in Sept in his uni city. He will stay there and look for a temp job for the summer to tide him over, he has some volunteering at a festival and a gig / long weekend in Glasgow to look forward too as well, some time after graduation. We are covering his rent until he starts his proper job and will give him enough to make sure he is fed and watered until he gets his first proper pay cheque at the end of September. He will live in a house share for six months while he gets a sense of how far his money is going and he then hopes to rent a small flat on his own in the new year - the city is in the North so it might be possible once he’s got some earnings behind him, if he’s not too picky.

I can’t wait until October when we might finally see a few more pounds in our own pockets after paying his rent for the last 5 years 🤑 but we are pleased for him - his hard work has got him to where he wants to be and doing what he has aspired to do since he was in sixth form.

Delphigirl · 06/04/2023 17:49

Boosterquery · 19/03/2023 22:18

DS is planning to move back home and get a job, but is not thinking in terms of graduate jobs for his first year after graduating.

Why not? It’s the best time to get one. Next year there will be a new crop of fresh grads, and employers will think the previous year’s lot who are not then employed are still without jobs for a reason, unless they can show they have done something really valuable with that time like the pp’s daughter who is going to teach in S Korea…

gkd1234 · 06/04/2023 17:55

Staying in uni city to look for work, which is fine with me. I have said I will pay rent for them until September, then they're on their own, so there will be no dossing. It would be too expensive to do this in London where we live.

I don't know what kind of job they will get (as it wasn't a vocational degree) - but hopefully they will quickly realise the value of graduate pay and T&C vs. minimum wage bar work or whatever

TizerorFizz · 06/04/2023 18:38

This thread is full of better off parents paying rent for DC. Hugely middle class. Not sure everyone can afford this. Seems very elite to me. I’m sure others really will need to work for money despite COVID years.

Boosterquery · 06/04/2023 18:45

Why not? It’s the best time to get one. Next year there will be a new crop of fresh grads, and employers will think the previous year’s lot who are not then employed are still without jobs for a reason, unless they can show they have done something really valuable with that time like the pp’s daughter who is going to teach in S Korea…

@Delphigirl Think that's a bit of an outdated view. Loads of university graduates these days don't immediately apply for graduate career type jobs. I work in a graduate profession and can think of plenty of examples where I work of people who have worked as something else first between university and their current role. I would actually be a bit suspicious of an employer that rejected applicants solely on the grounds that they hadn't applied straight from university (unless we're talking about a job where the specific knowledge acquired during the degree is required in order to do the job, and there's a genuine risk re taking people who've had a year in which to forget that knowledge). I think as long as you don't have a complete blank on your cv, it will be fine.

Delphigirl · 06/04/2023 18:48

I totally agree if you do something interesting or useful - learn/improve a language, travel somewhere new, do some further study, challenge yourself somehow - but to go home and get a retail or bar job or something seems rather pointless and difficult to understand.

mumonthehill · 06/04/2023 18:52

Ds hoping to do a masters. Covid has had a massive impact and he is not lazy, he works around uni and in all the holidays. His gf is doing a pgce and they will both stay at the university that they are at now.

blanketsforall · 06/04/2023 19:06

Graduate job as a trainee accountant

Notagardener · 06/04/2023 20:03

aibutohavethisusername · 20/03/2023 19:26

@Cranmer yeah she is going with a company and doing the TEFL course there before starting the teaching.

Just to mention dc1 is coming back later this month, from 6 months doing similar. Although he was planning to do TEFL, in the end he never did. Doesn't seem he needed it.
Had a great time and when he had an online job interview people seemed to like it.

aibutohavethisusername · 06/04/2023 20:31

Notagardener · 06/04/2023 20:03

Just to mention dc1 is coming back later this month, from 6 months doing similar. Although he was planning to do TEFL, in the end he never did. Doesn't seem he needed it.
Had a great time and when he had an online job interview people seemed to like it.

Show quote history

That’s great to hear. Which county was he in?

Daisysway · 06/04/2023 21:19

@TizerorFizz .

That's so off the mark...im 62 and dds df is 65 and a train driver! We have an only child ...conceived late in life and has parents who separated when she was 3 .. Life hasn't always been comfortable running two houses...

We did however have funds to pay for private education from yr8 and being older parents we realize we won't be around for ever so whilst we can afford to support our daughter and give her some time to truly think about her career path we will...Is she ready for work...No, she's had rough teen years, no self confidence, currently having CBT (bullied through school)...she'd crumble in a work environment at the moment....but she did work last summer 7am till 6/7pm because she found the right environment ...

Don't be so judgemental!

TizerorFizz · 06/04/2023 23:22

It is a clear observation from the posts. I’m glad your DH is a higher tax payer. It’s a good feeling to be a high seeker snd afford private school. I’m an older parent too. I am fully aware I’m well off However, if you truly believe other parents can afford to subsidise Dc living off them for even longer, you are in cloud cuckoo land.

My DDs boarded but I know the price of a pint of milk. I also know many many people are suffering with the cost of living crisis. You are surely not oblivious to that. You cite your age and comparative wealth, but the reality for many parents is great concern over paying bills, not paying rent for a former student having another year not earning. They simply cannot afford to pay DCs rent for another year. I suggest you try and understand how others might be feeling instead of judging me.

NotDonna · 07/04/2023 00:11

but to go home and get a retail or bar job or something seems rather pointless and difficult to understand. it’s not remotely difficult to understand @Delphigirl, some ppl need to work whilst looking for the ideal job or determining what that may be for them. Shouldn’t we allow people make their own choices and find their own routes?

And @TizerorFizz seriously? So what if @Daisysway daughter is doing a paid placement and a bit of travelling prior to starting her Masters? Why give her grief about the price of milk and a lecture about ‘cost of living crisis’? However, if you truly believe other parents can afford to subsidise Dc living off them for even longer, you are in cloud cuckoo land. NO ONE has said this. What one grad decides to do does not imply that they think everyone should do the same. The majority on this thread are actually doing pretty amazing things including working overseas, becoming teachers, giving back to the community, a few doing Masters, a couple of grad schemes, etc etc. I don’t understand your annoyance.
We have 40+ years of working so if a couple of them fancy something a bit different rather than jumping straight onto the treadmill, then so what!

Notagardener · 07/04/2023 07:36

Aibutohavethisusername
Also Asia

Daisysway · 07/04/2023 07:45

@TizerorFizz YOU don't have a clue!

Yes my dds df (not dh) pays higher tax and he works shifts and extra Saturdays and Sundays ( starting work at 4am or finishing work at 2 or 3am). We afforded private education through contributions of grandparents (some who had passed away) and not until Yr8 ...and only because she was being bullied in a failing school....yes we had the luxury to afford that we didn't see it has a luxury but a forced option that we could afford and the fees compared to most public education were managable eg £8 to £9k not like boarding school fees!

Im very aware of the cost of living and so is my dd who had her heating on in her uni flat just 2hr's a day and only when necessary ..

I left school at 16 and slogged away to earn a decent salary because my parents could not afford 6th form education. I had 3 jobs when i was 14 to 16. Its not easy running a house and effectively being a single parent juggling work and doing the school run etc having an ex who worked shifts certainly helped and i wont be retiring until im 66 because i cant afford too! Dds Masters will be funded by Df following the recent death of his mother (inheritance). Both Df and myself didn't go to Uni.

I've worked for over 45 yrs with just a 6mth maternity break ( im actually currently doing two jobs to pay for my household, dds CBT sessions and provide support to dd).... why because im keen for her to find the right position and more importantly be mentally ready for work...she wants to do medical research and will be earning a pittance even with a Masters but im over the moon that this is the career she wants to pursue.

In terms of the price of milk yes its gone up 30 percent...fortunately im a grafter and i have two jobs so yes i can cover the price increase etc ...do i want to be working the hours im working at 62...No...but I'm used to having too.

Like i said don't be so judgemental you don't have a clue about peoples backgrounds!!

NotDonna · 07/04/2023 07:50

@Daisysway you absolutely do not have justify yours or your daughter’s choices.

aibutohavethisusername · 07/04/2023 07:57

I’m certainly not funding DD on her trip she is paying for herself and will then be paid while she is working over there.

TizerorFizz · 07/04/2023 09:03

??? I specifically said DC who were living at their parents expense! I am not out of touch thinking many parents cannot afford that. You lot must live in another world!

MindPalace · 07/04/2023 09:16

I’m also quite surprised by the number of DCs here not going into grad type work straightaway. DD1 graduated last year and she and all her friends are doing post grad courses or training with jobs arranged for the future, or into work straightaway. DD2 and her friends are planning the same for next year. Despite them all being covid-affected.

With the cost of living crisis, I would have thought more young people would be keen on this more boring, traditional route - I know my DDs would have loved to spend a year travelling for example. Not judging, and I’m sure the alternative will be just as worthwhile, but it is just not what I am seeing around me.

RandomExpletive · 07/04/2023 09:49

Reading this is just strikes me that the competitive parenting which started in the womb NEVER STOPS

Daisysway · 07/04/2023 10:33

@RandomExpletive

What's competitive about :

Doing a Masters degree
Going to teach abroad for a year
Going to be a TA for a year before committing to teaching
Working but not in a grad type job because you are unsure what career you want to progress too?
Taking a year out traveling given gap yr was not possible when they completed their A levels due to covid.

My colleague at works DS didn't go to Uni (same age as my daughter), he went straight into a job at 18 but now he's off to Austrailia for 12mths on a temp visa...traveling and working...

Our kids have had some opportunities taken away from them (my daughter had just 1 term at uni in yr 1)...the debt they accumulate now from education will be with most of them for life unlike it was pre 2012...

No one should judge these youngsters for making their own choices and its their decision ...if parents can afford a helping hand then that's great...

My daughters friend is just finishing her degree and she's applying to be an air hostess for a few years before progressing into her chosen career...I think its wonderful that these kids have choices ..so many are effectively steered into university at 18 when perhaps it wasn't the right decision..

RandomExpletive · 07/04/2023 11:47

Daisysway · 07/04/2023 10:33

@RandomExpletive

What's competitive about :

Doing a Masters degree
Going to teach abroad for a year
Going to be a TA for a year before committing to teaching
Working but not in a grad type job because you are unsure what career you want to progress too?
Taking a year out traveling given gap yr was not possible when they completed their A levels due to covid.

My colleague at works DS didn't go to Uni (same age as my daughter), he went straight into a job at 18 but now he's off to Austrailia for 12mths on a temp visa...traveling and working...

Our kids have had some opportunities taken away from them (my daughter had just 1 term at uni in yr 1)...the debt they accumulate now from education will be with most of them for life unlike it was pre 2012...

No one should judge these youngsters for making their own choices and its their decision ...if parents can afford a helping hand then that's great...

My daughters friend is just finishing her degree and she's applying to be an air hostess for a few years before progressing into her chosen career...I think its wonderful that these kids have choices ..so many are effectively steered into university at 18 when perhaps it wasn't the right decision..

@Daisysway weird interpretation

The competitiveness is all the judging going on, which is transparent in some posts and hidden in others.

starfish4 · 07/04/2023 17:07

DD has a six week internship abroad relating to her chosen field.

She's had a interview with a major employer (for a job in a different field), but won't know about that until June, with a start in October.

Her immediate plan though is to do her internship and apply jobs during that time. If nothing in the offing, she will if she can get work at a local supermarket (who she has a zero hours contract). She's willing to work in other fields, so will apply to those, if only for some more experience. She might do a Masters starting 2024, but will see how any job she has is working out.