Graduating in the summer... what next?

[Cranmer]

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???

Mind you, graduation might be delayed. She affected by the marking strike/boycott that's coming her. Her uni said graduation might take part in November now!

Both DC graduating simultaneously due to different length degrees. Both planning to take a gap year. Both were seriously affected by Covid rules so had no chances for internships, casual jobs, travel etc and didn't bother with gap years before uni. Both currently working like dogs towards a First (fingers crossed).

One is travelling for months over the summer, doing a summer school in Korea and inter-railing with friends and girlfriend, then returning to an industry internship he did last summer with a company he loved. The other has sports and music fixtures all summer, then wants to get a bar job to save money for travel later on, to pay for driving lessons and have a bit of free time to apply for some ambitious masters programmes in the autumn, to start in 2024.

I think they have the rest of their lives to build a career, and am really glad they are having a breather first. I'd be worried if they jumped straight into graduate trainee programmes - definitely right for some of their friends but I know both mine would benefit from a bit more freedom first.

That'a a bit harsh. They are graduates whose final school year and first or second years of uni were massively impacted by Covid - no high school leaving dos or exam celebration days, no freshers' fairs, all societies closed - some permanently, no summer jobs, internships cancelled, field trips with uni, years abroad all cancelled, at least a year's worth of lectures and seminars done on Zoom so they didn't even meet their own cohort! Every single one of the things I listed above happened to my DC. Half the reasons DS2 applied for the course he did, including a year abroad, failed to happen.

And the crucial life-skill building experience of getting retail or hospitality industry jobs then going travelling with mates for a while will hold them all in good stead over the course of a long life time. They will probably not be retiring before the age of seventy. It's not dossy to want one year of fun first. I actually think it's pretty essential for good mental health after what they've put up with over the past four years.

During his degree years, DS has done all the things you mention (with the exception of bar/retail work at home). So with moving away for university and then doing placements in two different foreign countries, he's had several times when he's had to start somewhere new and build new friendships etc (as well as dealing with all the complications caused by the pandemic - only this final year has really been a "normal" year in that respect). He's coped really well with all of that, but I think right now he feels ready to be back at home, close to family and close friends. I can totally understand that. I can also understand him wanting to take a bit more time to think about what he wants to do long-term. I actually think it's rare not to gain something from working in a job, whatever that job is. I think sometimes working in a job that leaves you dissatisfied can clarify what it is that you do want, whether that's more money, more face to face contact with others, more of a feeling of doing something worthwhile etc. In other words, I think it's rare for work experience to be "pointless".