Grad Schemes

[Wintom]

How many did your DC apply for?

Were they successful? How many were they offered? When did they hear about any offers?

What has their experience been like?

DC has applied for about 15, done endless numerical tests, situation judgement tests etc. This is all new to me, so just wanted to learn a little more about the process.

DC2 only applied for 3 as he was behind on his diss plus couldn't really understand what he would be doing day to day for many of the finance schemes so didn't apply plus is money motivated so would only consider if paying £££. Got thru the initial (numeric and situational judgement) for all 3, got binned at the next stage for two (essay about something, video responding to questions and review of application form), got thru to final stages of 1 (series of interviews) and got the scheme. I think he was lucky.

DS1 got offer from summer internship but his degree vocational at uni with strong industry links.

Thank you, that is helpful.

I have another child who will probably be going through this process next year too!

Yes I've got my youngest looking next year too but she's on a placement atm and if she passes a skills test at the end of her placement year she will get fast-tracked to the final interview stage of graduate scheme. So slightly less hoops to jump thru. Still not looking forward to it as she's a girl who has a Plan A, B, C ... for everything.

My middle one heard within a week of the final interviews in early January.

My DC has been able to get to the final round many times. Just fails at the final hurdle and hasn't been able to secure the offer.

Has more interviews to do and we are hopeful.

Good sign that your DC gets to final stages. I remember reading a post from someone who had applied to a ridiculous number of schemes but has gone on to a really successful career.

My DS2 prepped massively for his final interviews (more than I've ever seen him study).

@Wintom Ds has a graduate job offer based on his summer internship with the company. To get the summer internship he applied in the October of his second year and went through I think 4 or 5 rounds including a face time call, a coding test (software engineering) and finally about 5 hours of being watched whilst he and another applicant problem solved something that they would probably come across in the job. It was designed to see what your thought process was and how you worked with another person. This was all online, the last part was just before Christmas of his second year but he was home for it.

This led to the summer internship but is actually a very common approach by companies to pre-vet you for a graduate job. He performed incredibly well on the internship so was offered a graduate job with them. So he applied for one and got it.

He applied in second year as Dh remembered how shit it was applying in your final year juggling workload and interviews etc. An internship is a great way to get a foot in the door and showcase your work ethic. There should be help within the uni for finding internships/graduate jobs. Best of luck.

I have one who has been through this process and another going through it.
I think my DS applied initially for 5 and if binned added another he had a list in order. He secured a grad position with a big 4 before the Christmas
Dd did an internship and they offered her a position but she doesn't really want it. She currently has about 6 on the go and is at final interview stage for the one she would love.
She is through to various stages of the others. What we found it is a long process so don't be dishearted if it takes ages to hear back. If they bin you its usually fast. Again dd has a spreadsheet and adds one if rejected so always a few irons in the fire.
The process is really tough!
Good luck to your DC

I think my DD probably applied for about 10? She is a languages graduate and had done a year abroad but no internship or work placement. Elder DD worked in recruitment at the time and advised applying for as many as possible so that is what she did. She started applying in the September and got a job offer (Big Four accountancy) in October. That was the only one that had progressed to an assessment day, and given the quality of the scheme and that she could be based in a conveniently located office it was a no-brainer to accept. I think she may have been offered a couple more interviews but declined them.

The job worked out well. It was tough combining study with work, but she is now qualified and doing interesting work with good prospects.

It’s worth noting that smaller employers take grads too! If you find you don’t get to the final round of the well known companies, there are others. DD1 applied for pupillage to be a barrister. Part of getting what you want is to target likely chambers. Not ones where you have, frankly, no chance! Then prepare and be personable. Do work experience with target employers if you can. Try and get a variety. Obviously some employers will (and can) be very picky. Others far less so.

My Dd1 applied to about 12 I think. Very targeted though. She got to last round of a few and offered one or two, chose one and that did brilliantly for her. Supported her through a part time masters and professional exams (chartered surveyor) in the first two years.

DS1 is in 4th year uni after a year abroad (political science). Interested in public policy/strategic comms/political journalism. Got a fantastic 12 week paid strategic comms internship this summer (only applied for 3 I think) off the back of his year abroad work. Looks like that is converting to a job offer but the ink isn’t dry so he has applied for various other schemes and is also thinking about a broadcast journalism masters at City or Cardiff.

I think the key message is that you only need 1 first job and then you can take what you enjoy and what you don’t to refine your search for the second one. So better to apply strategically enough to be convincing but wide enough to have a shot at getting something.

DD applied for two summer internships between second and third years and got one - four weeks long and well paid. She was offered a grad scheme place as a result and has been working for two months and loves it.
Degree was maths/economics based and grad scheme leads to chartered accountant qualification.

Some data from the 2023 Highfliers report

• on average employers received 39 applications per vacancy in 2022
• accounting and professional services firms are the largest recruiters
• top 10 target unis : Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham, Bristol, Warwick, Leeds, UCL, Cambridge, Durham, Southampton
• applications for vacancies have increased by 8% year on year
• sectors reducing grad intake in 2023: banking, law, media, retailing. All others increasing with a net vacancies added in 2023 (vs 2022) of 1,744
• applications per vacancy by sector

Accounting 30
banking 59
Chemicals and pharma 61
Consulting 76
Consumer goods 357
Engineering 33
Investment Banking 90
Law 46
Media 49
Oil and Energy 125
Punic sector 21
Retailing 67
Tech 42

@Bigfatsquirrel I read that report and I quoted it on another thread. I’m mystified as to why “consumer goods” is so competitive. What sector is this that’s so sought after? Is it product design? Fashion?

Highfliers does not take into account smaller employers who often struggle to get good grads. Eg in engineering. Many don’t go into engineering at all. So there is a shortage.

Following

Dc probably know this now but although not as immediately lucrative it can be worth doing accountancy ( big 4) and then cutting across to investment banking after qualifying. You then get the accountancy qualification to fall back on and avoid the first 3 years of utterly brutal hours in IB. But those first three years are financially a bit tight on big 4 salary if in London.

Consumer goods, I believe in context of the report is short of FMCG (fast moving consumer goods). So, companies like, P&G, Unilever, L’Oreal, Kelloggs and so on would fall into this sector.

@ealingwestmum Thanks. Odd it’s so competitive!

DS's experience was similar to your DD @choirmumoftwo. He applied for a handful of summer banking internships between second and third years and got the one he wanted. It was eight weeks in London and paid. He was offered a grad scheme place as a result at the start of his third year. He started two months ago and his enjoying the work and living in London. Graduate entrants have a choice of routes and exams depending on the stream they join. DS is an economist and did an Economics degree.

DS is applying for placements currently. The number of stages is ridiculous! 5/6 stages and it's not even a graduate job; Bum numbing application, online assessment, video interview, case study assessment, online group thing, followed by interview. I suppose it's understandable if they then go on to offer them employment upon graduation but mainly it shows how competitive they are.

DS is currently through to final stage for 2 jobs - 1 is Consulting and the other is tech and really hoping he gets something by Christmas so he can focus on his studies properly next term.

My dd was on a scheme through university so didn't need to retest, dsd is still applying now after graduation, keeps getting to final stage and missing out by one (on reserve list) each time, must have done 20. Her boyfriend applied for 8 and got 2 offers, he's just started

Lots of companies do seem to use their intern assessment as a filter for employment. There’s still plenty of parents who think internships are unpaid and suggest Dc don’t apply. They are encouraged to get paid work which puts them behind the curve.

DS’s internships have all been paid. His first one was just one week with PWC in the summer after A Levels and that was paid too. It helped him realise he wanted to do banking rather than accountancy so a useful week all round.

2 times veteran of Uni students going through this process.

My message to you is don’t get all hung up about “Grad Schemes”.

The vast majority of graduates will not be employed in a “scheme”. The ratio of graduating students to jobs available in a scheme is HUGE. The likelihood is that your graduating student will not get on a Grad Scheme.

They will much more likely get a JOB, maybe go through many short term jobs until something sticks, in something vaguely related to or perhaps not related at all to their studies.

This is all fine.

I think final year students are under far too much pressure to apply to Schemes, the applications take way too long when they should be honing dissertations etc and can lead to a lot of rejection and dejection. As parents it’s worth pointing out the above realities so they don’t start their life as a graduate feeling they are a failure before they’ve even started

Judging by ds's application journey it's quite obvious that if you're planning to work in certain industries and haven't secured an internship during undergrad then you're way behind the curve by the time you graduate because these companies fill up their graduate positions mainly from their interns.

@VanCleefArpels But all MN DC are super intelligent and do get work with PWC and all the others! Only a few on here struggle! However what you say is correct. There’s jobs out there and even smaller companies employ grads and give them an excellent training for professional roles. So many rush to the grad schemes with the big names, they don’t look at others. Often the rewards are just as high and being fully involved in running the company might be an added bonus.