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.

Agree with @TizerorFizz and @VanCleefArpels.

And that’s not even mentioning the public sector (and I’m not talking about the Civil Service/ Whitehall type public sector), the charity sector, the arts, all of which will be on the radar of a large proportion of students.

The Civil Service at the top level (Fast Track) has awful recruitment stats. They publish them. Thousands apply for very few roles in some sectors. Better in lesser roles and regional ones. All those sectors are recruiters as @VanCleefArpels says. Most don’t pay big bucks though. However we have lots of friends who trained with local government and left for very good well paid careers elsewhere.

@TizerorFizz one of my DC went into an entry level role in a business support dept in a professional firm in London - pretty pitiful pay at the time but a very important foot in the door. 4 years down the line they now earn more than double in the same type of role (but a bit more senior obvs) in a different firm. It is totally worth going in at the bottom as a graduate because the talented and ambitious will be noticed and progress

@VanCleefArpels Exactly. There’s a lot of pressure to get the “top” grad schemes but there are other routes. Someone we know worked for a LA on statistical projections for planning, schools etc. Ended up doing a similar statistical planning job for a massive retailer who was expanding worldwide at the time. Then got a very senior job working directly for the CEO. Extremely well paid. So it’s a combination of personal qualities and ability that can get you a great job. Not just the obvious route as a grad entrant. Of which there were many and a hugely sought after gig too.

The vast majority of the Big 4 intake haven't done an internship with a Big 4 firm before they start. I think far too many people get hung up on internships because of the echo chamber effect. If you are interested in accountancy, don't fret, they're not required.

@HewasH2O Here is what PWC and EY say about internships. Very much suggesting they are looking at internees for employment. I’ve seen figures from the Sutton Trust saying 46% of students do internships. Elsewhere I saw 39%. Many are seen as directly linked to jobs. This is why they are so competitive for some firms in some sectors. Some careers don’t need them at all - eg medicine! Others seem to very much want intern experience.

Agree again with @TizerorFizz . Internships really help - the comments on this thread of DC experiences bear this out.

Applied for two and got one and is loving it. She seems to have landed lucky, good training, mentoring, very good pay rises and even a good old style team building graduate weekend in the wilds. OP, what field are they wanting to work in?

Operations and Logistics:
Applied for CS fast stream, NHS management, Next, Morrisons, TFL, BA, Sky, Aon (Catastrophe management), Atkins.

No rejections so far. Through to next rounds, assessment centres and video interviews.

Worth checking out the conversion rates of internships to jobs. DD did two internships (social science) that were more than happy to have her for 6 weeks each over the summer but generally only recruit PhDs and have no recruitment planned in next year or so (at least they told her this at interview so she was under no illusions).

Her sandwich year placement has only 30% chance of a job (even if she does well she still has to go thru the last 2 stages of the general graduate scheme). They were less than transparent. The cynic in me thinks they use the placement scheme to get cheap almost graduate labour for a year before replacing them with the next lot.

These are the ones I can remember! DC has graduated and just about to go off to Asia for Christmas.

I applied for three, got interviews for all of them, got offers from two so cancelled the final interview as I had already accepted my first choice.

The Sutton Trust is concerned that “working class” Dc don’t apply. For various reasons. London has more opportunities than elsewhere so London snd SE based Dc have more opportunities. Therefore it would be wrong for firms to choose purely from interns. However they have ploughed a lot of effort into them and should look wider for possible candidates. The Sutton Trust seems to think more could be done.

Conversion rates are difficult to find. However this surely depends on company and if there’s a shortage of qualified people in the sector? Some sectors would be delighted to see a raft of excellent interns!

Consumer goods includes food which is a massive sector of course. So many companies are involved in feeding us all and I’m amazed how few people study food tech given it is future proof.

Many many years ago now, i applied for the CS diplomatic fast stream for several years on the trot and always fell at the assessment centre stage. Instead, i looked at direct entry to the Civil Service as EO or HEO. HEO is a similar starting salary to that of the FS (it differs between Depts). I got a role, and managed to get to the same level as when you finish in the FS in only 1 year longer than the FS would have taken. So I'd strongly encourage this approach as well.

Once you are in the CS, you can also apply as an internal candidate for the FS too, if thats something still of interest. All the jobs can be searched on civilservicejobs.gov.uk so they can look for roles that are of interest. Im now 10years on and in a senior role - ive never felt held back by not doing the schemes.

Fast stream CS has 1000/1 stats or worse for jobs. Better to apply after getting a job with cs but of course some applicants are successful.

The attached shows the issues.

Can’t read that tizer- any way you can make it bigger?

I can assure you that my comments are accurate based on tangible evidence I have in my day job. I work with the employers and their intakes. A simple "stick your hand up if you did an internship with your employer or another" question gives all the proof needed.

There is a frenzy of activity from those able to access internships and they all insist they are vital. They're not. Many students don't have access to such things if (say) they live in Cornwall or Pembrokeshire for a 6 week summer job. They are still undoubtedly getting the jobs.

True. It also doesn't have to be a related degree. DD got onto a Big 4 grad scheme with a languages degree and no internship.

Football management, theology, physics, ML, maths, economics, business studies, drama, geography....they're not fussy! They expect you to be able to demonstrate skills (communication, commercial acumen, analysis & evaluation, professional scepticism & judgement) & away you go. Job offer bagged!

@Delphigirl Is this better? 15000 applied as first choice for diplomatic service. 28 vacancies!

Also here is the same table but split into two.

@HewasH2O You work with all major employers? Obviously they should cast their net wider and the Sutton Trust greatly encourages this. We still have interns taken on through family connections and other ways that are opaque. We do have students who worry about doing an internship for £0. Yes. They still exist too! So the better off do them. This is more rife in media and fashion but it still makes it more difficult for others who are less well off to get jobs.

If there was no advantage in an internship, why are some students applying for 20? Are they wasting their time? Presumably they don’t think so but are they?

I have witnessed internships being auctioned at public school fundraising events 🙄- for 4 figure sums!!!