New graduate daughter can’t find work

[Bluelagoon02]

This is my first post so please be kind to me. I’m writing about my daughter who graduated last July (2024). Although she managed to get some interviews she hasn’t been able to secure anything yet. Her moods are quiet low and she also lost touch with most of her Uni friends. I’m seriously concerned for her physical and mental wellbeing. She was always very shy but Uni life really helped her develop. She was totally transformed and happy too. She also lived in Spain for a whole year which was part of her Uni business course. This is so frustrating but I can’t get upset with her. She has been looking for anything and keeps receiving rejection after rejection. It’s so heartbreaking to see her so sad and alone in her room all the time. I also looked for jobs for her but she does prefer to keep looking herself. She also applied for volunteering work with no success. I am very scared to lose her if something doesn’t come up soon. Any advice is truly appreciated. Thank you

Not to mention: starting a business with what funds! She’s not working and has just paid for university so unlikely to have a pile of savings. If she’s having difficulty landing her first job – not unusual – it’s not as though finding investors for an unproven business run by someone who’s never worked is going to be easier! Some people are on another planet, aren’t they?

Most charity shops need volunteers. We’ve had a few younger vols doing in the shop where I volunteer, they’ve been great. DGD did the same as well as finding cafe and bar work which she’s still doing. She’ll be off to uni this year, but might work p/t there, and certainly will in the holidays.

I think work experience is invaluable.

I don't think it is that unusual. Ds graduated in 2019 so got caught up in Pandemic recruitment freezes. He volunteered for a local charity running their social media, took a short-term contract then applied to Cvil Service. Dd took a gap year and worked for Explore Learning, a play centre, gained work experience opportunities in her proposed career path, volunteered in library and so on. It helps to have some experience to use on cv and in interviews.

@Overthebow I am unsure why some are giving you a hard time with advice to work PT. I encouraged DS to get a job. He had a paper round 13 to 16, kitchen porter 16 to 18 during A levels and then worked as a freight handler at an airport for a year, he finished A levels during lockdown. He applied and got a degree apprenticeship which is far harder to get on to than a degree at a University. They had thousands of applications for I think 30 places. The only filtering of people myself or DH has ever done is working with admissions teams in Universities to accept students and when everyone has all A levels at A grades work experience always makes them stand out and that’s a very different arena.

Sorry wrong reply.

@Bluelagoon02 sorry to hear your daughter has been struggling. Both mine struggled. One has just found the kind of job he wanted, 3 years after graduating. He has been doing crappy hospitality work in the meantime. DD temped as she was prepared to do office work and in the end found a good job in the area she wanted that way within 6 months of graduating. It is not easy out there!

I would encourage your daughter to be very broadminded about what she is prepared to do. It is always better to be working than not at all, even if it is not in her chosen profession. Would she consider temping / admin stuff?

Thanks for your reply. We are in Herts. My daughter applied for virtually anything, prioritising marketing which is her main field. She was hoping to find some temp work during the Christmas period but worked out that jobs in shops especially, are given to younger people. I mean it might not be the case for most shops of course but that’s the trend. She recently joined a couple of temping agencies. Her CV is uploaded all over the place, including LinkedIn and Indeed of course.

This is unfortunately pretty common for recent graduates. Companies want experience, but you can't get experience without a job. That initial hurdle can be really tough. I think at this point any job is good, even if it is not remotely related to her degree or aspirations.

Yes we thought about her doing a course to TEAFL. She could give Spanish lessons too but her confidence has taken a big hit. Very sad to see.
To be honest she hasn’t got that many interest but used to be very sporty.

@Bluelagoon02 what did she study if you're okay sharing?

She has a degree in Business Administration and Management with Spanish. Indeed it is luck of the draw right now. So many rejections is really soul destroying. I give her credit for persevering so much but it’s hard 😓

She was hoping to find some temp work during the Christmas period but worked out that jobs in shops especially, are given to younger people

Did she tell herself that - so didn't apply? As in talked herself out of an opportunity?

Or did she apply loads - but was told they only employ younger people?

Thanks for your reply. We are in Herts. My daughter applied for virtually anything, prioritising marketing which is her main field. She was hoping to find some temp work during the Christmas period but worked out that jobs in shops especially, are given to younger people. I mean it might not be the case for most shops of course but that’s the trend. She recently joined a couple of temping agencies. Her CV is uploaded all over the place, including LinkedIn and Indeed of course.

I don't think it's true that shops employ younger people. Many do take on A level students but your DD is just 21/22.

I hate to say it but it does come over as if she's not trying that hard to get any work. She will have left uni 9 months ago. I know it sounds harsh but she's left it late to join agencies.

She needs to consider volunteering- your local government website (for Herts) has lists of opportunities. Many charities often want volunteers with marketing skills.

Or, literally walking into shops and cafes and handing over her CV, asking if they have vacancies.

She has to stop 'just' applying for jobs related to her degree, as any work experience is better than none.

If she has no work experience at all (ie when she was at school or uni) it won't look good. Soft skills are as important as a degree.

I also suggest she gets someone to look over her CV- she may not be presenting herself as well as she could.

Take the advice here - she needs to contact the careers dept of her uni and talk to them.

As I said, both my DCs who went to Russell unis and got great degrees did 'menial' work for 6 months while they were registered with agencies.

One was offered very menial temp work (through an agency) in a company aligned to their degree, got chatting to someone in the staff cafe who realised they had a science degree, was interviewed for a job within the company (and got it.)

Please encourage her to do more and not expect anything to fall into her lap.

She'd never be told they only employ younger people. 21/22 IS young.

How good is her Spanish?

A school would probably bite her hand off if she offered to be a language assistant.

She might not be interested in schools as a workplace but teachers are laving in droves and agencies are desperate to have teachers sign up with them and graduates as cover supervisors.

If she has a car then care is another sector always looking for people.

At this stage she needs a job, any job or any volunteer work.

She honestly needs to be up, out of her room and doing anything reasonable.

Holding out for marketing jobs is not realistic.

It's about getting used to getting up, getting ready, getting to work, getting on with the work day.

She'll also be earning money, paying tax and NI (an essential if unwelcome dose of reality) and be in a pension scheme.

THAT will all be excellent personal development and character building experience, she'll learn things, meet people, build unexpected skills.

My first job out of uni was full time hotel receptionist. That'll be easy I thought, bit of typing, answer the phone nicely ...

Nope. A LOT of money handling, accounting, my first encounter with computers (long time ago ...) directing kitchen and cleaning staff, dealing with the occasional drunk, all male groups and one thief... I was 21.

That job then gave me excellent skills I hadn't expected to learn, for my challenging airport customer-facing skills career.

We build and build as time goes on. These will be her first steps. Not the ideal job. But step one - a job.

This is my degree and I work in marketing now as senior leader.
Pm me and tell her to connect me on linked in. I can take a look at her cv and profile.

Excellent advice!

Also if she is not working then she should really start work experience in marketing a couple of days a week. Contact all local companies and see if they need a hand, see if there is any local people who do freelance marketing that need someone to support. The experience will be so valuable on her cv. I did loads of free and low paid marketing for people to get experience. Others will be doing this, if she wants that career she is gping to have to fight for it and find her competative spirit. Marketing basically IS about beating your competitors, thats the game.

@Bluelagoon02 you have my sympathies as we are in same position. A tech degree but no jobs for grads without experience.
After over 100 rejections my DC's mood was really low due to all the rejections and being stuck at home with nothing. At Christmas they picked up a temp hospitality job and have been kept on. It's only part time so plenty time for job applications. They've got their spark back again and just had a job interview this week after nothing for months.
IMPORTANTLY at the interview DC was asked for a full job history and details of what they had been doing since finishing uni last summer.
So it's really important your DD does something job of volunteering wise.

I wish her luck as it's tough for new grads at moment. Companies don't want people without experience but it's a very short sighted approach

We're in Herts, one of ds's friends is in a similar situation and got a Christmas job - she's talking herself out of jobs before she's even applied - avoidance, fear and setting unrealistic expectation of the first job is holding her back. You can apply for hundreds of jobs but there's no point if you don't have a realistic chance of getting them.
And don't believe the nonsense that it's a numbers game. It's a quality of application first and foremost. Five excellent well-tailored applications will give her a better chance than 100 mediocre applications.

Does she have a Linkedin profile filled with a good number of contacts - that's a great way to get a job - recruiters come to you and when they do you have already passed the first sift of applications. LinkedIn got ds his first job and dd is currently in her final year at Uni and much to her surprise has been approached countless times for grad schemes and jobs from recruiters.

When she asks for feedback after the interviews what do they say?

Also is she just applying for shop jobs that she's overqualified and underexperienced for, or is she actually applying for roles that ask for a degree and make sense for what she wants to do?

Agree with the LinkedIn advice, also searching specifically for graduate level jobs on the job sites to see what sounds interesting to her.

She may have to move to a totally different area, I did in 2008 during the recession when jobs were like hen's teeth. My friends who refused to move anywhere remained jobless and on benefits for several years.

If she is applying for the "right" types of jobs then it is a numbers game at that point, but if she's applying for all kinds of random stuff that she wouldn't really be interested in that's definitely the wrong way to go.

Would she consider volunteering as an English teacher in a Spanish speaking country? TOAFL qualification is quite easy to get. She could then try getting involved into a local marketing market. I am fairly positive some local firms would be interested on her experience.

Another good way to meet people is your local political party. I am a proud LIbDem member for £1 month. I am always invited to join this and that. I do help out around election time. Politics and marketing have a lot in common.

Agree with others, she needs to get out of the house. Rolling stone gathers no moss

I was going to suggest this
My Godson did the Princes Trust course for three months
All types of people were on the course (including graduates ). They helped him get voluntary work in an IT role and he ended up
being offered a full time role
The hard truth is that many graduates are not going to walk into a job and this is why I have always focused on the importance of resilience and looking at different opportunities .

She can’t apply for UC. I won’t explain why because it is rather private. But yeah I wish she could. She has the session booked for next week with a job coach. Really hope that she’ll get some valuable info.