Graduate daughter still looking for work.

[Bluelagoon02]

Hello Mums.

Few months ago I opened up about my daughter’s job situation. She graduated July 2024 but hasn’t been able to secure anything yet. At first she was very much trying to find a job in line with her studies. But as time moved on it became obvious she needed to lower her expectations so she applied to just anything UK based and abroad, mainly Spain and Italy. She managed to get through several job interviews but her shyness and lack of experience landed her to nothing. Lots of rejections that if you are lucky to hear back from companies or recruiters. I was genuine very scared when I originally wrote my very first post on this forum. Now I feel literally petrified to lose her. Every morning I go to her room fearing the worse. She lost contact with most of her Uni friends who had moved on. Her bf has some serious family issues so my daughter is pretty much on her own apart from us.
What do you suggest I should do ? What can I do ? I fear for her mental and physical health. It’s just so sad to see her going through this given what she had achieved not just academically but on a personal level too. She tried so hard, now she just burnt out staring into space. This isn’t healthy !
Applications after applications with very little response let alone feedbacks. Maybe you are a Mum like me who is struggling to keep her adult child alive. Maybe you lived the same situation and can offer advice. I would love to hear from anybody who can help. Thank you

Hi Op - sorry to hear about your daughter.
My son graduated 2023 and was extremely down when he came home. He still hasn’t got a graduate job - he’s applied for a lot, a couple of interviews but no luck.
However he managed to find a job in a bar/restaurant about 18 months ago and is still there. He is earning decent money , it has really brought him out of his shell having to deal with the public so he’s much happier in himself. He doesn’t want to stay there forever but it’s a stepping stone.
Maybe your daughter could look for bar work.

I agree that teaching conversational English online could be a great fit for her. My DD, who’s doing a STEM degree, volunteered as an online tutor to a girl in Ukraine. It was a good experience.

Your DD is far more qualified to tutor professionally and could also get a TOEFL certification.

Really sorry your daughter is going through this.

When I graduated I couldn’t find a job for a year and so ended up going to Madrid and getting paid to work as a language assistant with the British Council.

https://www.britishcouncil.org/study-work-abroad/outside-uk

My Spanish was amazing when I left, I met some nice friends and travelled around Spain. It also then got me into a teaching course.

Do you anyone who has a corporate job who could give you contact details?

I did the same degree as your DD. My dad worked at the time for a well-known technology firm. I wrote to the marketing director of one of their offices in Europe and asked for a summer internship, which I got because unbeknownst to my dad, the company had a policy of helping the children of their staff. I then got a 1 year paid internship, which was the 'sandwich' part of my degree. When I graduated, one of my friends from that company had moved to a competitor and he told me they were recruiting native English speakers in marketing and I got that job.

There is a very active Facebook group called Mum’s in Marketing. I would recommend your DD joins that. They quite often post recruitment ads - usually for smaller firms.

And I meant to say, I really feel for you and your DD.

Her health comes first.

I have to agree. As an ex employment advisor who for a few years specialised in supporting the 18-24 cohort, it’s just essential to do any type of volunteering and job just to mitigate firstly against the depression that lack of social contact and routine brings. I’d tell DD not to get to hung up on what she’s actually making at this stage. After all, the alternative is for her health to potentially decline further.

Once DD has a ‘living’ CV then she’ll have developed some transferable skills and along with her degree she’ll be able to make more impact.

I remember when I graduated, there were not many graduate jobs at all in my little hometown and I was feeling quite sorry for myself. However, thank goodness my brother quite literally frogmarched me into our local Oxfam and before I knew it I was working the till, banking takings, ordering stock and locking up. And I remember at my first proper job interview (secured after a year), that I really wanted (and for which there were a record number amount of applicants according to the interview panel), I was surprised they mainly wanted to talk about my volunteering. I got the job and the rest is history. Without a boyfriend or family support actually, 30 years later I own my own home alone and hold a senior position. There’s no reason why your DD can’t be successful but from what you say, maybe she does perhaps however first need to be seen by a GP.

Has she thought of an apprenticeship? There are apprenticeships in so many different working areas. A degree is great for knowledge but an apprenticeship will give her a broad range of real practical experience.

Has she tried to get a work experience placement? She could contact any business that she’d love to work at and ask to spend a week volunteering with them to gain some real work experience. This also helps her build contacts, professional network, a foot in the door for future vacancies.

Any job at all will give her an income and help boost her confidence. Bar work, waitressing, supermarket, seasonal jobs.

OP where are you located? Is your DD looking across a wide enough area? Is she open to both office and WFH? Have you seen her CV? Is she targeting it to each job and putting together a unique covering letter? Is she following up with the company?

is she applying on linked in? Do you have contacts who you can introduce her to

it sounds like she needs to concentrate on her mental health first.

I do think location matters too as I’m not seeing grads I know struggling to find grad jobs but I am aware that being in a major city likely gives a big advantage

Would she consider an entry level job in the Civil Service or local council? Lots of graduates start their career that way.

its so hard. My youngest DS has just completed his second year and was supposed to be doing a year in industry but every application has led nowhere. He has a part time customer facing job, volunteering experience and good grades and he’s at a good uni but he’s not been able to get more than a handful of interviews that have led nowhere despite applying daily for placements for months. Now with AI doing first sift of applications, some applications return rejected in minutes while most just disappear and you never hear from them. I’m fearful for when he graduates next year. Being knocked back so frequently and for so long must feel devastating, I feel for you and your DD

Temping in an office might lead to more permanent work, especially for public sector jobs if you register for their internal bank staff. I know we sometimes get asked by other teams if we can recommend a temp we’ve worked with previously who would be good at doing x and that often leads to a longer term role. Another thing to try would be tutoring online, I should imagine her Spanish would be helpful to students studying GCSE or A level Spanish. Try Tutor Hunt.

and if you’re not already doing so, try absolutely everyone you know. My eldest DS graduated 3 years ago and got a job through a friend. Essentially we asked everyone we knew about possible opportunities to volunteer, shadow, temp, placement with their employer and we struck lucky. Eventually.

Best of luck

Can she work as an online Spanish tutor? I can give you some websites to sign up as a language tutor. The Spanish tutor I know from that website makes a great living

Rather than constantly applying for work, could she become self-employed and teach Spanish? That could give her money and a purpose plus work experience for her CV

So sorry your daughter is going through this. I remember when I graduated (over 10 years ago now) I also struggled to find a job and it really crushed my self-esteem. I ended up temping for a while which gave me some experience to put on my CV. It’s always worth speaking to friends & family about her situation, a lot of opportunities come about through contacts.

Could she use her languages to teach?

Could she offer to volunteer to help with the marketing for a local charity, maybe?

If her mental health is sinking then she needs a gp appointment. Mental health services are stretched and she needs to be on their radar before a full blown crisis hits.
My ds crashed out of uni. His mental health was on the floor and a very messy relationship break up occurred shortly afterwards during a time when he was applying for jobs but struggling to follow through at interviews etc. He came home when he didn't want to but had no other options. He then realised that he HAD to have some kind of job in order to be able to live where he wanted. We put him on dog walking duty as at least he was then leaving the house 3 times a day.
He then had to take a 12 hours a week job in a supermarket which he hated in order to volunteer in an area he loved. That volunteering gave him the interviewing and people skills to then successfully interview 18 months later for what he wanted.

Please get the mental health checked. Conversely my step son is older and has now not worked for 8 years because the mental health side wasn't followed up correctly. Hes now totally convinced he can't work and his life has stalled.

My daughter was made redundant from her marketing job last year. AI is changing the dynamics. She actually decided to train as a teacher and has loved her placements.
This could be an option for your daughter in the future, a teacher able to teach languages and business…..

Can she drive? Our last 3 supermarket shops have been delivered by grads on gap years! The most recent one was a girl, she said she was really enjoying it and was hoping it would enable her to apply for other roles internally within the company that were more aligned to what she wants to do.

I have a friend who did voluntary work for a charity and then got offered a job with them. Another who went and did an apprenticeship with a council (lower money than they'd wanted) but able to slowly work up. I got a graduate job albeit low paid. They asked me my salary expectation and I went about 8k below the market level as I was getting very desperate. I figured it would get my foot in the door and I could work my way up / get the experience to switch to a better paid job. Another person I know just gave up and went and worked as a TA, then later on decided to qualify as a teacher.

I even know someone who took a year to get a job, and pretended she'd been off travelling rather than applying for jobs.

Marketing is difficult. The person I know who did marketing now works as a caterer.

Just tell her to hang on in there, don't give up, and eventually a break will come.

I'd recommend local govt. The admin roles can be entry level. Match every requirement with an example on the application. Can be from uni or personal life. Once you're in you can move up quickly. I've seen people go into procurement, accountancy, social work. All sorts really.

Did she do internships during the summers of university? People need to be doing networking and internships across uni which often get them fast-tracked for graduate jobs at that same company. I'd get her to have a look at insight schemes, and try to do courses to unskilled as she'll be competing with lots of people. I'd get her ready for the next cycle and then also work in maybe a smaller firm where you live so that when she applies for specific graduate schemes she can stand out more. What sort of jobs is she looking at @Bluelagoon02 - International Business is a broad degree she should look at media companies (Sky, Three, BT) she could do marketing, corporate strategy, governance, publishing. There's lots of different sectors she could go into.

Was going to suggest the same. She can try tutoring, there are websites where she can register as a tutor, possibly offer first session for free to get client base and positive reviews.
Teaching might be another option.

I use Preply website - I take a language class with an online tutor. Maybe she could look at that?

For the last entry level job we advertised almost all of the candidates had spent about two years in a combination of hospitality, retail and voluntary work. It was an absolute tragedy, part of me wanted to give them all jobs. It’s becoming very normal sadly.

I also think volunteering could really help. Something indirectly related to the work but also something really fun.

Guides/brownies could be a good example. You get to have a lot of fun being silly with the girls but are also gaining a ton of useful skills.

And I also agree she needs a job- not a career job just something she can do and gives routine. My son has had to pull out of education due to ill health. He doesn’t need the money as we are happy and able to fully support him but he will get a part time job as too much free unstructured time isn’t good for anyone. It is a stop gap.

Then once she is in a better place contact her unis career service, they can give great advise. Teacher is one option either business, politics or languages. Not an easy option and it is tough, especially the first few years. In know a few teachers who have come this route and have really enjoyed it and flourished.

Final alternative is to do a masters. If she starts looking now she could find one that starts soon. Look at all options, even wacky ones that initially seems really daft. I think you mentioned marketing, would HR be of interest? Could she find something that specialises in international HR?

Life is rarely a straight line, it’s the twists and turns that define it. There is no one correct route through life.

edited to add; here’s one example of a masters that might suit https://www.port.ac.uk/study/courses/postgraduate-taught/msc-international-human-resource-management