Oxbridge graduates who can’t get a job

[AquaLeader]

Interesting article in The Times this morning.

Meet the Oxbridge graduates who can’t get a (good) job -
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/oxbridge-graduates-cant-get-good-job-d9ddj9dff

It is unlikely to be a coincidence that the graduates highlighted all appear to hold degrees in the humanities.

Maybe they need to apply more laterally and be prepared to learn on the job.
So essentially start at the bottom!
They’re obviously bright and able to study, but does that necessarily translate to being good in the workplace? In my opinion it doesn’t

I know some Oxbridge graduates who are clever but interview terribly and /or are difficult people to work with.

I also think it's hard job hunting atm.

Share token?

Not sure this is newsworthy (but can’t read the article).

Well of course in a population of thousands there are going to be a few clueless grads who finish there degrees and go “oh duh I forgot to organise any income for myself” and some jumped-up twits who assume that their degree will be a passport to a well-paid job and won’t demean to themselves by working alongside lesser mortals. And then complain about it to a national newspaper.

Oxbridge does tend to attract more than its fair share of ND individuals and these individuals not always best equipped to enter the workplace.

Majority of Oxbridge grads will be very bright, very organised, articulate and ambitious, with a clear plan to manage their early careers. Many will have gained work experience during uni breaks. All will have been encouraged by the personal tutors to consider their next move after university. Some may have ignored the good advice or vacillated about staying on for further studies. Some might struggle with relocation issues after university/ shortage of jobs in their local area. The kind of challenges that beset a lot of uni graduates.

@BunniB

archive access to article

None of them come across particularly well, some more entitled than others. But the main thing is that none of them seemed to have a focused career plan or have done much in the way of work experience. Of course it's tough when you are up against people who also hold very strong degrees but have managed at the same time to again relevant experience in the sector they want to work in.

Job hunting just is harder now though? DS recently applied for a one year engineering internship and the processes were universally horrendous with lots of AI screening before he even got to an interview stage.

For kids with non STEM degrees, the field of possible application routes is so vast that the process will be even longer.

Some of these kids have carried on to a Masters just because they couldn't find a job - that doesn't seem like a great approach?

DD will be a humanities graduate.... not holding out any hope for a smooth ride

Work experience is hard to get but essential because it makes your application stand out and shows genuine interest in the role/sector. I’m astonished how the parents of these young people who presumably have had jobs have failed to inform their children that great academics aren’t enough on their own.

Work experience is hard to get but essential because it makes your application stand out and shows genuine interest in the role/sector. I’m astonished how the parents of these young people who presumably have had jobs have failed to inform their children that great academics aren’t enough on their own.

I think that students have to take a strategic approach to job hunting . It doesn’t start when you have graduated but when you are in sixth form studying for Alevels
There are schemes, organisations which can provide help and guidance for aspiring university students .
My dd wanted to study my economics , before starting university she contacted Economics students and graduates on LinkedIn and on social media . They advised her about Spring Weeks , Summer internships in investment banks etc. Many people are not even aware that Spring Weeks even exist , yet they are often a gateway into finance jobs
DD used this information she gained and is currently doing an internship at a top investment bank and will join them next year when she completes her final year

Also, the job market is not great and so students may have to be prepared to take entry level jobs .
A university degree ( on its own) does not guarantee a great well paid job anymore .
Realism and resilience are what is required

There was only one who admitted to having had a degree of arrogance about what privilege an Oxbridge degree would provide. I don’t think any of them came across particularly well. They really didn’t seem to have given any thought to life after university until it had finished and seemed quite indignant that things hadn’t just fallen into place for them.
I graduated in a bit of a slump time myself, and it was just a matter of getting a pretty rubbishy job that led onto greater things. My sympathy was very limited when I read the piece tbh.

In my opinion, The Times is grinding two of its axes with this article: rubbishing elite universities and dissing humanities degrees. The journalist sought out graduates who haven't yet found a job. A very skewed sample and not good journalism.

Based on sector-wide data collected independently, the majority of Oxbridge graduates are employed within six months of graduating. A more interesting and balanced article would have been one that looked at the employability of both STEM and humanities graduates, with case studies of both, and data to help draw conclusions (see further axes below). This article leaves you (one) thinking: Oxbridge? Why bother? Ludicrous when both universities are consistently in the top 10 in international league tables.

Other, related Times' axes are: the number PPE graduates in the senior Civil Service; private school candidates are disadvantaged when applying to Oxbridge; universities have been taken over by 'the woke brigade'; and VAT on school fees isn't fair.

I left Oxford in 1987. Even then it was not a magic gateway to a well-paying job.

I remember an old joke which went ;

"What do you say to an Oxbridge English graduate?

"Big Mac and fries please."

Plus ca change.

Don’t bash the humanities. I work in the media and we are still hiring bright humanities graduates. I agree though that work experience is key, you have to work for free for a while basically

It think they all need to temp to learn some actual office skills.

As someone who works in publishing I do think the Oxbridge English degrees aren’t massively helpful. Leeds, Manchester etc have much more up to date courses that lend themselves to today’s publishing jobs by covering children’s lit, romantasy etc

We’re also more likely to hire someone who has worked an admin job somewhere for a year as that’s basically what entry level publishing is

I also think it's hard job hunting atm.
Definitely This. I work in a supermarket there are a lot of graduates working here as they cannot find a job in a field they want. Some stay for years but are always applying for jobs.

Employers don't just want bright young people with a degree though. They want some skills and experience. Interviews are competency based so if you don't have some experience of work you may well struggle to pass that stage.

Experience doesn't have to be grad job level, even a basic job in a fast food place should equip you with experience you can use to talk about teamwork, problem solving, prioritising and other common Interview questions.

Oxford and Cambridge don't allow students to work in term time. Their terms are no doubt intense but this approach may not be helpful for their students

I left UCL in 1982 with an English degree and no plan. So I could afford to carry on paying my rent in a flat share, I got a job sending out engineers for photocopiers and offset litho machines. From it I learnt that anti-racism and feminism are not a given; how to deal with angry customers on the phone; how to keep my opinions to myself most of the time; and how to learn new skills quickly. Internships make it far easier to acquire those and similar skills now.

They all come across as entitled and arrogant. Not willing to work their way up, instead expecting the holy grail of jobs because "wahhh I went to Oxford wahhh."

In particular the first woman saying she could have started at a café she'd previously worked at but instead decided to take tax payers cash because clearly she's too good to work at a poxy café.

Being clever doesn’t equal people skills, and often they don’t interview well.

Annoying article! There are loads of Oxbridge humanities graduates going into fantastic jobs in a range of sectors.

I've just recently read articles about computer science grads not getting jobs.

Basically you need a degree plus a bit of gumption! Not exactly groundbreaking info.

Common themes appear to be scattergun applications across several sectors and the belief that Oxbridge would open doors. Schools do kids like these no favours either - treating them as though they are a superior species.

There are hundreds of thousands of hard working, intelligent and motivated students at other (the horror!) universities. And I reckon that there are plenty of people in high up positions who were rejected from Oxbridge 25 years ago and still retain a bit of saltiness about it - and wouldn’t look favourably on applications from these young people. I know someone who has really excelled in her career - she openly hates Oxbridge graduates and overlooks any applications from them that cross her desk.

I don't think Oxbridge has ever actually had the highest employability stats. I'm sure there are a whole host of reasons for that.

Thought it was interesting that one of them realised they had stuffed up their interviews because the Oxbridge tutor systems encourages them to be forthright, opinionated, defensive of their position… and just a little bit arrogant. He seemed to realise now that a job interview is supposed to be about a establishing rapport and mutual benefit and you need to park your ego outside the door. He mentioned that the system is there for draconian and out of date, so he understands why employers may not be overwhelmed by academic achievements.

My DH is a STEM grad from Cambridge. He said recently (we were discussing out DC’s UCAS prospects) that he wouldn’t apply now, given its current hyper political reputation and the fact that it would, in fact, be more of an impediment than an advantage. His firm operates ‘blind selection’ so no-one interviewing or even shortlisting applications knows which uni candidates attended.