Spporting graduates struggling with unemployment and rejection?

[anotherglass]

Son (22) graudated last summer with engineering degree. Since then he has been applied for 100+ jobs, had interviews, but never got the job. He volunteers part-time in a charity store and works for a sustainability charity. He is learning another language, and playing in a band. In spite of this, he is steadily becoming demotivated and demoralised by the constant rejection.
Parents of l-t unemployed young adults, how do you deal with this?

Apologies if i am bit prickly but being pleasant 24/7 is a bit of a challenge when you are dealing with what I am dealing with. Some posters here get it, others don't.

I was coming here to say this.

Yes, people do know how difficult it is.
Many of us have dc the same age.
It is all over the news.

People have tried to help and you have just been rude to them.

Has he tried networking? The ICE, IMECHE, CIWEM, RICS and all these professional institutions hold meetings all the time where you can make connections. They are often free to grads/unemployed/students. They hold regional meetings so you can meet local folk or national ones. It can't do any harm going to these, making connections and asking for advice.
Is he on LinkedIn and following the market? It is a good place for knowing all the industry goss which will help a lot in interviews.
Coding is a waste of time imo, as someone who works in the industry we are already using AI for that...

I hope that is helpful. I do think you have been very rude to others and very dismissive of advice so far...

Hi, Government funding for Level 7 apprenticeships (equivalent to a Master's degree) is no longer available for learners aged 22 and over. My son would not qualify as he is 22.

You are looking for camaraderie and emotional support because the situation is draining.

Thank you. It is frustrating as a year in he has tried 90% of the suggestions made here. He has not done the prof institutions so will suggest that but I am dealing with a demoralised young man. Networking routes out of a job hole are harder to overcome when your confidence is low.

Yes and the impact of a brutal jobs market on families is not nearly recognised enough.

Yes doing now.

Just came to offer sympathy. DS has just finished uni and has applied for about 30 jobs/ schemes so far with very little response.

He’s coming home this week, so we are looking at him applying for a masters to give another year for the job market to improve.

He has experience of jobs in the summer, when in 6th form etc. Has decent references, full driving licence and a DBS. He doesn’t expect to walk into an amazing job, but would like to do something other than clean Airbnb rentals or charge around trying to do home care- just about the only options he can find.

It’s shit for them OP, I hear you.

Thank you and I really feel for your son. Best of luck to him. x

We have 'get Oldham working ' and that helps some.

It's awfully hard for young people.

He could go along and sit at the back and not talk to anyone if he wants for the first couple so he can see how it all works and gets his confidence back up before approaching others/networking.

Maybe he could even call some of these institutions to ask for advice. They are generally quite helpful.

Some of the big conferences have free student/grad tickets so he could ask the institutions about that. I am at one in a couple weeks that will have all the big engineering consultants and contractors there - all have stands and they had 100 free tickets. They have all gone now but it is conferences season now and in the Autumn so he could do some digging to find more info

Are these engineering jobs abroad? How does the visa situation work?

I am so sorry that your ds is having a tough time. It is hard on parents too to watch their children treading water and not be able to help. Dd graduated last year (creative role) and nobody in her course got a job in their industry. The only one who did got a job in industry made redundant barely after starting.

Dd is working in a shop only through our connections. She also got made redundant from her part time publishing job through the same connection. She lives at home with us and just got an emotional support cat.

Hope that your ds gets his break soon. My ds is finishing the first year of his engineering course. I suspect he will be in the same boat when he graduates.

As dc take longer to launch these days, I will work for longer before retiring to give them a financial buffer. We are also not downsizing as dc will probably come home to live with us in the meantime.

Thank you. Son was born in Uk but has dual citizenship. Best of luck to both your daughter and son. x

I think it was a bit naive to assume that things are as simple as degree = graduate job. It's been many (a great many!) years since one almost always led to the other although the education system has been selling the 'do this or you'll never get a "good" job story since that time, which explains why people still persist in actions driven by unfounded beliefs.

Most graduates don't start out on fantastic salaries, the difference (if it ever materialises) usually becomes more apparent a bit further down the line so maybe a reality check about what kind of wage he can expect to earn is due. If moving out / on in life and some independence is key, I second the suggestion to look into teaching abroad opportunities. It's probably not a long term solution and certainly isn't going to pay highly but it is better than sitting at home being ignored and rejected.

I was going to say the same thing. A degree doesn’t guarantee you a graduate job, and it hasn’t done for at least the past 2 decades. I graduated over 15 years ago, and even then, around a third of graduates ended up in non-graduate jobs. It surprises me to some extent that this message hasn’t filtered down, and so many people still go to uni with the expectation that it will automatically lead to a graduate career.

If he’s done a sandwich degree with a year in industry then he will likely have a much better chance. Also, if he has good grades from a good university, he will likely land something eventually, even if he has to wait a while for the employment market to improve. If not, then he might need to consider other options.

I get that graduates don't necessarily go into a graduate job but engineering is a difficult degree and demanding course. OP is entitled to think that her ds should be able to get a graduate job and feel frustrated it is not happening for him despite his efforts and willingness to try other routes.

I think a lot of the entry level jobs have gone. AI does a lot of the things that grads traditionally cut their teeth doing. Retail, factories etc are automated a lot now. I work in a team of about 35 and none of us are under 30.

Also it’s hard to know what to do for the best. The message always seems to be as a country we’re short of skilled engineers, nurses etc, so the kids knuckle down and study, but then what, where are the jobs? Where are we going to be in 5-10 years time when there’s a shortage of skills and experience because this cohort of grads found it hard to get a foot in the door?

I don’t think many of the youngsters expect it all on a plate, but there just doesn’t seem to be an obvious route in. It doesn’t feel too much to ask to be able to easily find a job and means of supporting yourself. It’s frustrating.

Then again I know of much older adults with lots of experience struggling to find work after redundancy.

Employers in hospitality and retail have been squeezed by tax rises (nice little own goal there Rachel). So instead of training up young people they can only afford to hire staff who can hit the ground running. Also there are many older people still having to work because of the rise in retirement age. Many of these are now applying for basic jobs in retail, hospitality and warehousing and the kinds of work traditionally done by younger people, They have employment experience and people skills so many employers prefer them.

Hasn't it always been like this to some extent tho. I didnt get a job for a year after I graduated. I did temp work and kept applying. I guess now there isn't even temp work.

If I were your son I'd apply abroad

What can you do? Everyone has a degree.

Lots of degree holders going for apprenticeships in our place. Apprentices are more likely to get promoted in the long game too because on paper statistically public sector employer wants to be seen to have supported someone all the way up from the start of their career.

He is.

I have no experience but just wanted to say it sounds really tough and I really hope your DS realises its not him and it really is the market.

This is a bit OT but to those of you saying ‘head overseas / teach English for a year or so until things improve’… why do you think things will improve in a couple of years? My impression is that the shifts that have happened in the UK employment market and the current situation of falling graduate jobs + huge oversupply of university graduates is not going to change 🤷‍♀️