Does your Graduate child have a job?

[Karma2023]

The volume of advertised jobs for Graduates is apparentely at a historical low which is obviously worrying for students and their parents.

Just interested in sharing experience and perhaps offering assistance to those going through the job hunting process.

Has your young person secured a job? If so what subject did they do and how did they find the role?

I have a dc who secured an internship this summer, he is studying STEM and found the job directly from the company site. He is hoping to get a return job offer however he hasn't loved the job so will be looking for other opportunities. He may take a year out and improve his language skills as it might add to his CV.

My newly graduated DS has a 16 hour a week job in retail whilst applying for other full time roles. I guess it's better than nothing.

My DS graduated last year with degree in Maths. Started job searching in September and pretty soon landed a grad job in insurance pricing. He really likes it. The selection was tough , some maths tests, whole day interview in London and then more interviews on line . Initial interview was via AI. He started in January this year and so far so good , he’s enjoying it .

@CinnamonJellyBeans I also read the comparison from 2017. I also had one DC graduate in 2020/1 and whilst the grad ceremony was disruptive the job market was so much better. I remember trying to hire and it was really difficult.

Labour policies have had an impact, without a doubt. Mostly because they were so sudden. The lowering of the NI threshold is very significant for part time employment however the UK has had little growth for a long time, numerous factors such as increased pension age so more mature workers, effect of Brexit, migration and taxation that makes business costs high (not just employment, energy is major cost).

Yes. Offered a job from a paid summer internship last year, and then applied and got a different job via a very long interview process. Majority of their uni friends also have graduate jobs relevant to their degree.

Clever but lazy is the best description of DS really- I am prouder of DD who works much harder- she is off to Uni in September.

DS graduated in biology last year. He started applying for jobs in the Oct of year 3. Was fortunate enough to secure a grad scheme place in a STEM role in the food sector. The job was advertised on Indeed. He had worked all three summer holidays though not in related roles until the final summer.

DS graduated in Chemistry from Oxford in 2024. Received 3 tax accountancy offers. Spent 18 months with his first role and then was headhunted for his second role at a multinational business.

My daughter's apprenticeship pays the minimum wage. Because Labour put it up she can afford to live on her salary.

My DC is mid-degree and currently doing an internship. Several of their friends of have been doing degree-related work, paid or unpaid this summer. However, they say lots of other friends don’t seem to think there is any hurry and are confident there will be roles waiting for them
at the end of their degrees. DC is astonished by their confidence.

@PollysKenwood Yes my dc has friends in similar positions. It's difficult because they often don't know what they want to do.

I'm pleasantly surprised how many have found roles.

I had heard that opportunities to join digs is fiercely competitive, often favoring those from the country of the site. What a fascinating career and I hope she enjoys it.

My DS graduated with a 1st in International Business Management from a Russel group Uni last year.

He did some travelling and started properly job hunting this January. He applied for anything and everything in his field. Interviewed with a handful of companies, got through to final stages but no joy.

I saw a FB job ad for a summer admin temp job with a local company, he applied and got it. Within a week they asked him to apply for a permanent role (in his field) and he just heard that he got it 🎉

Yes, one works as an organic chemist for a drug company. One is an English teacher and the other is a lead for continuous improvements and development at a university. All three are educated to Masters level.

Took dsd 2 years to get a proper full time job and that wasn’t graduate level, took her dp one year, one of mine started immediately but she had sponsorship during her degree and my other dd, is well still pondering what to do! It’s tough but there’s jobs if you really try, my unemployed dd isn’t quite honestly

My DS did a degree in Real Estate and got a job straight away for a big national company as a residential surveyor. It’s intense but he enjoys it and is very well paid.

@Karma2023 Doctorates are not jobs though! You need a paid job at the end of it.

MN tend to have the best most switched in grads at the best unis. They are not the ones unlikely to get a job. There’s not enough jobs to go round so a good cv, dedication to what career you want and getting ducks in a row in y2 matter. Grads with no idea usually come up short.

MeetMeOnTheCorner, I think the commitment to a further study is admiral, although I do someone who used it as a way to delay getting a job.

Maybe MN is not representative. I know two students studying STEM at Warwick who haven't managed to get any work experience or internships and a Cambridge STEM student who had some work experience but only through a parent.

Another parent who graduated many years ago was expecting employers to sell themselves to students during internships/recruitment process..I think those days have well and truly gone.

If there are jobs if you "really try", why are so many graduates unemployed?

I was absolutely amazed that DS1 landed a good job two weeks after graduation as he had concentrated on uni work and didn’t start looking until he finished all his exams, he also had an unsatisfactory internship last summer as he left it to the last minute to apply and ended up working for a start up unpaid and online only. However, he did get a first and his Comp Sci honours project seems to have been of interest to employers. He was a mature student which might have helped him stand out. His younger brother ( humanities graduate with a Masters) is also starting a graduate traineeship next week but it has taken him nearly two years to secure one in his preferred career which is rather niche, he had to do a lot of volunteering in the field which took a lot of effort as we live rurally. He failed to secure any other interim jobs despite applying for as many as he could to satisfy the job centre!

My ds graduated this summer in CompSci he didn't manage to get any internships. Applied for about 25 jobs over the course of his 3rd year but was mainly focused on his studies. He did manage to get a grad job within a month of finishing which surprised us all. It's in Tech Support which isn't what he wants to do but it's well paid and in a medium sized Tech company so I've told him there will be other opportunities there and to count his blessings he has a job even though its not exactly what he wants.

I hope your ds isn’t aware of the fact that you’re prouder of his sister than you are of him…

In my DC’s case, this is quite a specific STEM subject so if those on the course don’t know if they want to do a job relating to the field, they need to thinking about switching quick!

Maybe he’d agree.

Yes, DD has a graduate job starting next week. She attended the Uni job fair where she made contacts with future employers. Followed up a week later with an enquiry and was then invited for an interview. The rest is history!
I don't think the job was ever officially advertised- or we couldn't find it on job sites or their own website.

I think she was very very lucky! So anyone reading this with DC still at uni, make sure you attend the proffesional job fairs and yes, showing intrest and first impressions count!

DS did a law internship between years 2 and 3, after which he decided that a law conversion wasn’t for him…

After graduating, he applied for 70/80 jobs/internships and finally got a 6 month internship at a very good comms company in the November. But this was only possible because he could live (and eat!) at home.

The internship turned into a proper job - so it was basically a 6 month interview, only available to young people who had free accommodation in London.