Man, I've had a crappy time since i finished my degree

crinkleshoes said:
Physics with Astronomy, from a respectable red-brick (for Astronomy and Engineering, at least...)

He was a bit up-his-own-ass (more so than me), so is probably only going for decent, well-paying jobs straight away.

You generally have to start up in a crummy thing (or a graduate dev course, which could be considered the same, I suppose) if you have no real work experience... I have quite a bit, for my age, but still had to take a job on £7.50/hour (contractor!) for ~14 months before I could find a real job.

I had an horrific ~6 weeks on benefits... that wasn't fun... can't imagine 2 years, especially compared to what I'm earning now!
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Yeh i'm on JSA for a little while. ****ing hate it. Yeah have to start somewhere, I think i'm looking too high up at jobs aswell but hard to find decent baseline jobs which just arn't plain ******.

He's just lazy.
 
A friend of mine who has the same degree as me (BSc in comp science) really struggled after uni, me I had to work all the way through uni doing 38 hours a week during the nights and uni during the day. I found that I got a job within days of finishing uni, however 8 months later he was still looking for his first job so I got him in on a development role in the company I was working for at the time.


The conclusion I drew from this is that for students coming out of a degree that haven't worked previously seem to have a difficult time finding work.
 
Being on benefits was horrible :( Not having any money was torture.

My pay isn't great, but it is the graduate average.
I just need to do my accountancy exams so I can actually earn a lot more money
 
Welcome to the boat iv been in for about 7 months since I left NI. Haven't gotten a sniff of a job since getting back, did the odd bit of work here and there during my degree, got a good academic record from uni but just can't get my foot through the door. A complete lack of proven sitting at a computer and not being dense experience shuts the door on pretty much anything for me.

My solution is move back in with mum and go do an MSc just for something to do that isn't sit and look for jobs that ill get rejected from.

But yeah your not alone by a long way, consider going back to uni, moving for a job or just finding some hobbies that are cheap that can balance out the days looking for work :) (ill lend you some futurama and simpsons dvd's if its really bad)
 
Deep said:
Being on benefits was horrible :( Not having any money was torture.

My pay isn't great, but it is the graduate average.
I just need to do my accountancy exams so I can actually earn a lot more money
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Out of interest what is the average for a graduate these days?
 
exhashdotdot said:
I don't know if this is due to the current economic climate but I'm having a pretty rubbish time ever since I finished my degree.

I graduated with a First class in Physics and Computer Science and I've been unemployed since.

How do I do it? I've been applying to all these jobs on websites like brightrecruits and the graduate recruitment bureau and I either don't get a response or I get denied.

My CV isn't even bad. I'm worried this is all because I got a C in Physics at A level.

I'm starting to think I should just work at Morrisons for a year and then go do a masters.

Anyone got any advice? Stories to tell? Cool story bro?
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Why bother listing your A level grades - you have a first in Physics and CS, that is all that matters education wise.

What may make the difference is work experience (summer placements), prizes, awards, etc.
 
I was lazy when I finished uni as I had a fair bit of cash saved up. Sat around for 6 months doing nothing and eventually signed up to the dole due to NI reasons. Once I was on that I thought "screw this" as the whole scene was worrying.

Applied to one job and got it right away, been in it 6 months now on contract and just been told they want me back... with a huge payrise which beats all my other friends who are in the private sector ;).

Where's your degree from out of curiosity?
 
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rexehuk said:
I was lazy when I finished uni as I had a fair bit of cash saved up. Sat around for 6 months doing nothing and eventually signed up to the dole due to NI reasons. Once I was on that I thought "screw this" as the whole scene was worrying.

Applied to one job and got it right away, been in it 6 months now on contract and just been told they want me back... with a huge payrise which beats all my other friends who are in the private sector ;).

Where's your degree from out of curiosity?
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Do tell more about job / degree? i'm intrigued.
 
iamtheoneneo said:
all brains, no common sense? or no industry experience??

i am being serious, i'm sure your an intelligent human being - have you worked before? part time jobs at uni? work experience etc? employees want clever people yes, but they also want people that have a bit of history behind them too.

and why would you do a masters? what bc you cant find a job now? and you really think that will help?? it will just create even less opportunities for you at your age.

stop believing the uni tag lines, and start assessing the real world, only then will you really progress.
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Rubbish! While you are a little correct in your assumption that companies want experience as well as a degree the idea that a masters doesn't help is rubbish.

Lets put it this way, due to my masters the number of job interviews I have had during and after that (due to doing that masters) has been far greater than the entire year after my BSc.

OP I think the big question is if you want to do a generic job or something a bit more specialised. If you want to be generic it technician 57 or recruitment consultant 569 then the big recruitment websites sill do you fine. If you want to do something a bit more specialised then a Masters in that sector will probably help your job hunting a lot (even if its just for the contacts through the course), as will essentially ignoring the big recruitment websites and hitting the smaller specialised ones that are actually advertising proper "physics" jobs (for example). That's in my experience anyway.
 
I would consider moving to a main area... you want to be looking at London if you have a good degree. That of course comes from someone in London... others may have other ideas.

Do you actually want to work IN that field? Or are you happy to do something in banking as you must have the maths skills for it.


sp1ke said:
Do tell more about job / degree? i'm intrigued.
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Degree from UCL, job is public sector consultancy style work. Currently doing the Olympics and some IT procurement.
 
Amp34 said:
Rubbish! While you are a little correct in your assumption that companies want experience as well as a degree the idea that a masters doesn't help is rubbish.

Lets put it this way, due to my masters the number of job interviews I have had during and after that (due to doing that masters) has been far greater than the entire year after my BSc.

OP I think the big question is if you want to do a generic job or something a bit more specialised. If you want to be generic it technician 57 or recruitment consultant 569 then the big recruitment websites sill do you fine. If you want to do something a bit more specialised then a Masters in that sector will probably help your job hunting a lot (even if its just for the contacts through the course), as will essentially ignoring the big recruitment websites and hitting the smaller specialised ones that are actually advertising proper "physics" jobs (for example). That's in my experience anyway.
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Thats why i'm considering a masters, work hard at it get good class and then try for something specialised.
 
I would move to a bigger area, also don't be scared to do temping to start with. Lots of firms hire temps then keep the good ones on permenantly.
 
Deep said:
From the people I know, it ranged from £16k to £22k.
I know a few people above, but that is very rare.
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Tbh though it really depends on the industry you want to get into. A lot of my class wouldn't get out of bed for less than £25k for example (and feel rather cheated) I also have several undergrad friends who were probably on the equivalent of £40-50k pretty much straight out of uni.

sp1ke said:
Thats why i'm considering a masters, work hard at it get good class and then try for something specialised.
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Class isn't necessarily important, as long as you pass it should be fine.the quality and relevance of the masters is the biggest factor imo. If you can just slip into a masters without any issues then its probably not very good. If there are far more applicants than places and it has good words from the industry you want to get into then jump on it if you can get in.
 
Amp34 said:
Tbh though it really depends on the industry you want to get into. A lot of my class wouldn't get out of bed for less than £25k for example (and feel rather cheated) I also have several undergrad friends who were probably on the equivalent of £40-50k pretty much straight out of uni.



Class isn't necessarily important, as long as you pass it should be fine.the quality and relevance of the masters is the biggest factor imo. If you can just slip into a masters without any issues then its probably not very good. If there are far more applicants than places and it has good words from the industry you want to get into then jump on it if you can get in.
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Jesus christ...

What degree / jobs did they do? thats insane....
 
exhashdotdot said:
I don't know if this is due to the current economic climate but I'm having a pretty rubbish time ever since I finished my degree.

I graduated with a First class in Physics and Computer Science and I've been unemployed since.

How do I do it? I've been applying to all these jobs on websites like brightrecruits and the graduate recruitment bureau and I either don't get a response or I get denied.

My CV isn't even bad. I'm worried this is all because I got a C in Physics at A level.

I'm starting to think I should just work at Morrisons for a year and then go do a masters.

Anyone got any advice? Stories to tell? Cool story bro?
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Welcome to real world;)

I have been going through the same period aswell since graduating 5 years ago!!.

It's been a hell of a ride since entering real world and you soon find out how harsh and 'different' it is to academic environment.

During college, uni, etc most of the people are more or less of similar age group, hence it is easy to find common interests and have a good laugh.

In working world you are among the youngest and your interests, mindset etc will definitely clash with older workers to a large extent.

Not only that but for a large part, you will find yourself most often alone. The real world is a very lonely place if you don't know many people.
 
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