New graduate

[Smudgeis13]

My grandson has just achieved a 2.1 degree in Sound Technology. I would love to give him some pointers in starting a fulfilling career. I know that there are many jobs which would come under this heading but I am completely ignorant of the industry. Please are there any Mumsnetter who could give advice? E.g. are there any specialist recruitment companies? What kind of jobs are there? Which companies would be good to approach- government departments, councils, architects p. Any advice would be much appreciated.

What has he done so far for his own career planning and what are his goals?

Ideally he would have started a year ago and taken advantage of all the support and opportunities his university offered. He's probably missed the boat to secure a graduate role this year, unless there are employers who've had people drop out. As is commonly the case, our graduate intake for this year were offered jobs last year and are about to start now.

If he wants civil service schemes he'll also be looking at application now/autumn for entry next year. He might just need to find a job to pay the bills and develop an employment history while he applies for next year's graduate roles.

He should still have access to career advice from his university for 2 years after graduating so I'd recommend he takes that up.

Thank you atticstage. He has a part time job while he considers his options. I didn’t know about career advice from his Uni but he probably does.

Do you mean he wants to be a sound engineer? Music or events? Either way look at production companies in those two spheres. Could also look direct to venues eg NEC Group, The O2 , theatres, etc.

Yup - as pp have pointed out, he’s in much the best position to seek out the best advice and recruitment opportunities.

Has he really not mentioned the university careers service to you? I’m sure you have his best interests at heart but clearly this isn’t your specialist area - he needs to be communicating with people who do know about it. Ideally through his university and any relevant work experience he undertook during his course.

It's very nepotistic in the music and film production industry. The jobs in that field don't go out to general recruitment usually. His uni should have set him up with work experience, and industry networking etc. He's going to need to be extremely proactive and lucky.
Nearly everyone I know in this field does not make a living out of it. Even with years of experience.