How are you helping your DC deal with the terrible job market?

[Holluschickie]

Posting here for some emotional support. Not practical tips. Are any of your DC suffering in the brutal job market?

Interview after interview and rejection after rejection? Mine are and it is very hard to keep good cheer and motivate them to keep applying.

Yes, mine is too - really dispiriting. He is either hearing nothing back or getting rejected on the third round of interviews with no feedback.

The same here. So dispiriting watching them work hard for great A levels and great grades only to find that even internships require 3 plus rounds of interviews. I don't know how to model resilience for them

I have encouraged my DD to look more widely as realistically she has little chance in her preferred area (social research). She'd really hoped that her placement year would have resulted in a job offer but hardly anyone got an offer. She's used to rejections as competition for part time work was fierce in our area and likewise for placement years. Also who got the jobs was somewhat random.

Hates being ghosted by the company she has applied to. Hates also the number of stages and length of recruitment process. God knows why they bring 100s through to final stage when there is 1-2 jobs.

She's decided to go for teaching maths as a backup option but this might well end up her career for a bit.

My older 2 have had it much easier. The vocational degree DC is in an area where there are shortages so you don't need to be great. My middle one was lucky (only applied for 3 jobs got 1 - process took a month). Still there 3 years later.

Yes @SandyIrving one of mine looked too narrowly and is regretting it. I also think they need to brush up on interview technique. But they refuse to accept suggestions from me!

The most difficult aspect is when recruiter ghost candidates. Both my kids have had interviews (in one case a full day of assessments) and then ...nothing! Follow up emails completely ignored as well.

Its so bad of the companies to do this.

@Holluschickie true about interview technique. My middle one has just had a internal promotion interview last week. By his own admission he wasn't the best candidate. Plus he lacked experience to give good examples to some questions during the interview. However he interviews really well (very charming for want of a better word and talks a good game). He got the job. Of my 3 he's the least hard working.

My DD has had practise interviews with good feedback. Even the feedback from her rejections (when they bothered) was you were appointable but others were better eg masters or higher degree or more relevant experience. She's loathe to spend £25k on a masters so maybe entry level job and working up. My DD is my most academic child and hardest working so its hard to see her struggling most in the job market.

I am so pleased I have found this thread. DS21 graduated in the summer with a 2:1 in business management, worked in a summer job over the summer but for the last month has applied for so many jobs which have led know where. As you say limited feedback which is very demoralising. I want him to think about teaching as he is great with kids but je dies not fancy further debts to complete the pgce.

DD2 got made redundant from her grad job, which was linked specifically to her degree. She’s now earning the same working in a cinema selling popcorn. DD1 gave up in U.K. and went to Europe, to the country of her second nationality. She’s teaching English, which pays extremely well, as native speakers are thin on the ground post Brexit.

I’ll be back when I can get on my laptop later … but lots of empathy to all.

Good for your DC thinking out of the box.Mine may have to.
DD has another interview for a much longed for job next week.
Don't think I can stand the stress! And the misery if she doesn't get it.

DD qualified via the apprenticeship route - one more year and she can leave without paying a penny back.

My DD1 graduated in June and is still looking but it seems hyper competitive out there. Still, she's bright, personable and got a decent 2:1 so still hopeful.

Good luck to all those with interviews or changing direction. My DD has just pointed out that Christmas market job pays more per hour than some of the graduate schemes.

Any recommendations on practise for VR tests. My DD thinks she should be scoring higher (perhaps analyses too much). Her numeracy (worst subject at school) is much better.

I dont think high grades help. Dd has a first. But she seems to lack practical skills and data analysis skills. Uni seems to teach them only theory.

Could she do a stand alone data analytics course/boot camp? I don’t know where you are but in London there are cheap ones at City Lit and the line. No idea if they are any good. There are also online courses. I am keeping it in back pocket for DC who is in a final year of a humanities degree.

It’s brutal though - a friend who is still at Goldman gave me this stat for the US: 4700 summer internships positions (that’s obviously across all roles not just IBD), 315,000 applications.

DC is probably going to do a masters to buy another year in hopes of job market improving.

Whoever has a positive experience please come and update - good to have positive outcomes to hang on to.

The process is totally hostile and dehumanising.

Both DD and DS plan to do masters. They are quite academic. But even with masters who knows if the market will improve?I am worried they may find themselves a year later and poorer still looking for jobs.

@AliceInWonderland24 DD also did a humanities degree. Tbh she is not great at quants but I think she will do one of those data skills courses . All her interviews have asked for data skills. One even asked her to design a website!

DS is doing a hard quants degree, so quants is not the problem but insane competition for internships.

I am having a moment where I am wondering why I brought them into this cruel cruel world ( don't say this in front of them). DH and I both got jobs so easily.

I am having a moment where I am wondering why I brought them into this cruel cruel world ( don't say this in front of them). DH and I both got jobs so easily.

Same 😢 add to this the cost of housing, overall COL vs wage growth etc.

DC is not super quantitative either but I think it’s more to tick the box and know how to visualize data.

Designing a website is fucking stupid - it will all be outsourced to India /Asia plus AI. True value add is about asking the right questions and actually trying to figure out what the website is trying to achieve. Doing it is a menial task. Rant over. It’s just stupid. I know I sound immature but I just despair at the state of the world for the younger generation.

what I want to know is who are all those DCs who do get on these super competitive grad schemes? What is the secret sauce? Someone must be getting through. Or is it all fake job posts so employers can pretend they are actually recruiting not to lose face with universities/not to damage brand.

Re your DS, at least he has a structured path so it’s a matter of practising assessments. My bright (but not top 5-10% more like quartile) humanities DC has no clue to what they actually want to do. Which makes it even more difficult and labour intensive.

Also, what masters people’s DCs are doing? I am wondering if I should encourage DV to do something vocational in an area where there are more employment opportunities. For now, they just want to do the same subject as undergraduate degree.

If they've had that many interviews, and that many rejections, they must be learning what their weak spots are for the careers they are chasing.

DS just finished his masters and really is struggling to find a job in his field. He was offered a place on the civil service direct appointment scheme but has still not been matched to a job. He is currently earning a good wage doing ground maintenance work just to keep busy. It is so difficult for them.

Another one here - 1st from top ten Uni. Endless applications with little feedback or 4 stages of assessment/interviews - got down to last 2 and didn't make it on one.

Trying very hard to keep them 'up' and trying. Masters has also been considered but as said before - that's just more debt and delay - what will change.

Ultimately there are way too many excellent graduates chasing very few jobs in an economy where graduate jobs are being lost, not created.

Having posted on a similar thread I basically got told that they should accept anything - care work, warehouse work etc.

I don't agree - I think 1. Employers won't take them as they know they will leave asap and 2. Once you're in this role graduate employers wonder why you've accepted it.

I also feel so angry for someone who has worked so hard against difficult personal odds to note be given any chance.

There are still graduate jobs - but they are going to people from the 'right school', with parents in the industry or who live in London - or a combination of these.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/aug/29/uk-graduates-struggle-job-market

My son applied for 30 plus management consultancy summer internships and got one. Each application process had multiple tests, interviews, group tasks etc. It was relentless.

He has been given a grad job for September but only 40% of the interns were offered jobs whereas it's usually 90%. It's all brutally competitive.