Thread 55 - Covid GCSE Cohort - Autumn 25 - Yr 4 Uni and Graduates

[Oblomov25]

This is a support thread for our young adults post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting, and their results ( or life updates for those who went into work or have had results earlier). It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, uni vs employment please don't within this thread.
Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue. We were previously on the secondary board and then further education, now we shall be here in 'Parents of Adult Children' gulp
Our DS/DD may continue down various pathways ( employment, apprenticeships, higher ed). Experience is that everyone is welcomed wherever, whatever their child is doing we have some in work, gap years , apprenticeships etc too. Lots of contributors with different experiences and always sympathy and advice to be had.
Previous thread 54:
Thread 54

Brilliant news @crazycrofter and fingers crossed @Shimy

@Piggywaspushed the whole system is broken isn’t it, the more jobs they apply for, the higher volume of applicants each role receives, the more they have to rely on AI screening. I have to say if she’s applying for 20 jobs a day whilst juggling work, study and running a business I take my hat off to her, but possibly she isn’t tailoring her applications enough etc. But with that CV she should stand out regardless.

Yeah but you'd think AI could do rejection letters too and not ghost applicants.

@Shimyi thought it was a letter m rather than n, but when I did the @ shiny came up 🤷‍♀️

That’s exactly how dd is feeling. It’s just so wrong. Each application takes hours and hours.

Good luck to Ds @Shimy - hopefully he might still hear. Commiserations to dd @NCTDN - she will get something but it’s definitely disheartening to not even hear back 😩 Does she have anything in the pipeline?

Thanks for the congratulations for dd - I’m really pleased. To be honest, she’s a professional job-applyer at this point, she’s been applying for jobs almost continually since first year - originally part time, for money as well as relevant experience- but I think that means that a. She can dash off applications fairly quickly and b. She’s not fazed when she doesn’t hear back! She’s also improved her interview technique over the years - I don’t think she was that great initially as she speaks very fast.

Really hope all those still applying will find something soon. @JustHereWithMyPopcorn i was thinking about your Ds who hated his job - what’s happened with that?

Congratulations to your DD @crazycrofter👏🥂
I would think extending a deadline is a good thing @NCTDN and fingers crossed your DD hears from them.
Good luck to your DS hearing soon @Shimy I always picture a big pile of applications and those who are unsuccessful get told quickly while they deliberate on the rest so fingers crossed he gets considered and hears soon.
That article was a tough read @Piggywaspushedthat poor girl and I obviously see the parallels with your DS’s experiences too. So so rude to be ghosted.

Ds had a Teams call with someone from the careers team yesterday (he's still at home!), because he wants to try to get a placement year and/or a summer internship next year, and I was really impressed with how helpful they were. She gave lots of advice about applying the skills he's already got from part time work/volunteering and how to structure his CV to make the most of these. She also explained how to use LinkedIn to his advantage. @Piggywaspushed I was wondering if it's worth your ds1 re-connecting with his uni careers office - if that's allowed?

They do have 7 hour a week placements for year 2 Politics students too - she seemed to think there was a 50:50 chance of getting one.

It's all very different from 'our day' isn't it, when you didn't start thinking about employment until your final year and you didn't need to do anything in particular to market yourself, beyond having a decent degree and a part time job or two on your CV.

He has an actual careers adviser via some therapy he goes to. It honestly doesn't make a difference.

He didn't get either of the jobs he had interviews for last week.

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that @Piggywaspushed . Has he applied for the management trainee roles at Dunelm/ has he spoken to anyone there about being put forward for promotion? I know it's a different company, but last year when ds was wavering on whether to go to uni or not, he spoke to his manager at Tesco and they suggested he apply for one of the shift runner roles that were open at that point. It would have been the first step towards the shift manager/store manager/area manager progression route. He didn't apply in the end, but the competition was pretty modest, only a few went for it and one of his friends got it.

So sorry @Piggywaspushed , all he can do is keep trying which i'm sure he's fed up of hearing by now. They've done everything right, schooled, got the grades, went to uni and then reality with a hard bump. Has he thought about work abroad at all? Ds2 is going to do that if he doesn't get anything here.

No , he hasn't. He hasn't got the money to do that and I'm not sure what he would do.

I think the point is that it doesn't matter what you do any more to 'build your CV'. It all just doesn't seem to matter.

Yes, he has! Several of them. No luck.

He is up against people with retail management and business degrees there , I expect.

Teaching English abroad? Not sure how much money you need upfront - it looks like some programmes train you themselves.

I'm sorry you're feeling so downhearted about the situation; it must be really difficult for all of you. It's true that it's not so much what's on your CV, but how you use it/apply it - and that can be tricky, especially if he's feeling negative and down. I'm sure he will find something soon, but in the meantime could he get more hours at Dunelm? More money will give him more options and if he's more visible there, he'll have the chance to build connections/they might be more willing to offer him the next step up.

Again, I don't know if Dunelm is very different from Tesco, but ds has found that by doing loads of hours (he does 60 pw when he can!) and also different shifts - earlies/lates/days/nights - he gets to know loads of different people and can get in with different managers.

Best of luck to him anyway and to the others still looking @NCTDN @Shimy and anyone else I've missed!

@Shimy does ds regret not taking his placement year offer now? 😬I know you weren't convinced it was a good idea turning it down

@crazycrofter He doesn't. I still think it was a stupid thing to do.

They won't give him more hours. His contract is 16 hours and they don't need more staff, unfortunately. He hates it anyway, to be honest!

He is just very depressed, really.

That’s a real shame 😢 Is there anything he could volunteer in that would bring him some joy and increase his self-esteem? Youth work? Scouts? Football referee? My dd absolutely loves the youth and kids work she does. It sounds like he needs something to give him a purpose and sense of worth. 🤔 It must be so hard to hate your work.

Referees are treated terribly and they need actual qualifications. I might suggest it but he isn't available on Sundays.

He isn't a volunteering type really. He'd tell you it was exploitation! He literally has zero skills scouts would want. The thought is horrifying!

It's not that he needs stuff to fill his time, honestly. He's nearly 25. He needs a real job.

His latest hobby is following our lower league team around the country so he does do things. Unfortunately, the season ends soon.

I actually asked him and he said he looked into reffing but there are no courses at the moment- so he did think about this!

After getting a first in Engineering at Exeter, my friend’s DS has just landed a job after 9 months of applying. She said there were very few grad schemes, so he has gone for a junior role in a good company. He will have to move 150 miles away from home but he is delighted he has finally landed a job after so many applications. He had an influx of interviews in the last month and now has a firm offer with a defence company. It is so hard out there for young people.

9 months is good , to be honest!

It is really really hard getting graduate jobs as lots of these posts prove 😞
thanks for the good luck messages to dd. She puts lots on LinkedIn but I’m not sure they’re always a good thing. They’re so strongly referenced to her beliefs that I think some employers will take it as negative not positive. We’ll see.

Hopefully her views will align with potential employers’ views @NCTDN 🤞

Speaking to a young lady at church this morning who’s currently on a marketing placement year, and she said she borrowed books from the library to practise the psychometric testing! She also started applying in the August. She got the first one she interviewed for! 😮

Hopefully her views will align with potential employers’ views @NCTDN 🤞

Speaking to a young lady at church this morning who’s currently on a marketing placement year, and she said she borrowed books from the library to practise the psychometric testing! She also started applying in the August. She got the first one she interviewed for! 😮

Sorry for the duplicate post!

And sorry , that post sounds particularly unhelpful in retrospect 😩 What I took away from the conversation, to pass on to ds, was practise the tests and start applying in August! I suspect this girl is an outstanding candidate though…