Are you 18-24 and unemployed?

sr4470 said:
You can have experience but unless its the specific type, and knowledge, that the business is after they're not interested. Training is not a budget item during this recession.
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Generally it is, most of the companies I've emailed/applied for jobs with do at least something to do with my internship. Unfortunately even the company I did my internship isn't hiring. What gets me is that whilst there (this was last summer) and at career days these very people were saying "we are desperate for new people" and that there's a really short supply of graduates for the roles they need, which is why they do the internships...

Pneumonic said:
Its the same of all of us who graduated.. I graduated with an IT degree in the middle of the .com crash. I must have sent out 150+ applications and got no where so I done my CIMA via distant learning and took a job doing sales, I then volunteered for two afternoons a week in the accountancy department of the company and 2 months later got my first 'finance job'. Its about being proactive which by the sounds of it you are doing..

I admit it is very difficult to get a job when you have no industry experience that's something every graduate goes through and its down to being pro-active and trying to stand out from the crowd. Its made harder at the moment as it is an employers market.

I realise that my post was generalising and I am not saying that this is indicative of all graduates however I come across very few who I consider have the right attitude.. I don't expect a graduate to walk into a job on day one and be perfect, I do expect him/her to be able to show enthusiasm, commitment, intelligence, be self motivated, ambitious, etc..

.
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I realise you weren't tarring everyone with the same brush, but perhaps I don't have the right attitude as well. I think part of the problem is university is bigged up before, during and after by government, schools, universities and even companies themselves, it then gets a bit irksome when the companies then turn round (after you've spendt thousands and 3 years of study) and say "actually, a degree is nice, but we prefer experience"...:(

At the moment I have 4 windows open and multiple tabs, flicking between here, google, a couple of recruitment sites and some companies websites, trying to find new companies/jobs and sending off CV's. I've lost count the number of days i've been doing this, and it's just getting a bit.. boring.. I guess.. what's the point in spending all the time doing it when it's just coming back as essentially wasted time.. my day could be more productive sleeping.. it's obvious that no one wants me.. etc...

However I know that's not necessarily the case, and that hundreds of thousands are going through the same, it just wears you down.:p
 
sr4470 said:
I don't like having to take a huge loan (getting shafted with student finance) to get one, especially considering previous work and tax paid. If the universities were not subsidised then it would be a different story...

Surely my real world experience is more relevant, generally speaking, than some management bureaucracy that I spend an entire module on?
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Depends.. if we are talking about a graduate role then I would take a graduate with some experience over one without all other attributes being equal.. If its a role for someone with 2+ years experience then to be honest qualifications really aren't a concern.

My point is that frankly rightly or wrongly I could advertise a graduate role now and have 50 C.V. on my desk 9am tomorrow morning.. the trick for graduates is to make themselves stand out.. .that means a good C.V. that grabs an employers attention within the first 5 seconds of looking at it.. if not afraid it's in the bin.. To get a job you need to get to interview..
 
I'm 17, a students and unemployed, not even part time.
I wish I could say I was the type that hasn't bothered applying, but unfortunately I'm that type that nobody seems to want to employ -.-
Yey for no money.
My family are also in that category which means I get no government support.
FML.
Life goes on though, applied for 2 part time jobs today :D
 
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Pneumonic said:
Depends.. if we are talking about a graduate role then I would take a graduate with some experience over one without all other attributes being equal.. If its a role for someone with 2+ years experience then to be honest qualifications really aren't a concern.

My point is that frankly rightly or wrongly I could advertise a graduate role now and have 50 C.V. on my desk 9am tomorrow morning.. the trick for graduates is to make themselves stand out.. .that means a good C.V. that grabs an employers attention within the first 5 seconds of looking at it.. if not afraid it's in the bin.. To get a job you need to get to interview..
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I won't be the stereotypical 21 year old with next to no experience though, so I'd hope that would make some difference.

However, what I'm really talking about is being unable to enter a field altogether because of experience requirements (this particularly applies to hospitality, retail and some others). Hardly glamourous stuff. It seems like I wasted time getting educated beyond GCSEs...
 
It must be tough to find work in the 18-24 age group atm...

We have been filling up jobs that would normally go to those kinda people, with people in their 30-40s who are somewhat over qualified, become unemployed in the last 6-12 months but haven't had luck anywhere else... hell we have guys in their 50s creaking through fairly physically demanding jobs who are better qualified and suited to sitting behind a desk.
 
sr4470 said:
I won't be the stereotypical 21 year old with next to no experience though, so I'd hope that would make some difference.

However, what I'm really talking about is being unable to enter a field altogether because of experience requirements (this particularly applies to hospitality, retail and some others). Hardly glamourous stuff. It seems like I wasted time getting educated beyond GCSEs...
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It's a hard to answer if people should educate themselves to a degree level, certainly its required for some jobs but it certainly isn't a prerequisite to do well in life in some fields of work. If you are going to do a degree or are doing a degree I would certainly recommend a placement year given the competitive nature of most job markets at the moment.
 
Rroff said:
It must be tough to find work in the 18-24 age group atm...

We have been filling up jobs that would normally go to those kinda people, with people in their 30-40s who are somewhat over qualified, become unemployed in the last 6-12 months but haven't had luck anywhere else... hell we have guys in their 50s creaking through fairly physically demanding jobs who are better qualified and suited to sitting behind a desk.
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18-24 year olds by default cannot have more experience than the majority of 30-40 year olds. It also isn't their fault the last generation got free degrees and more favourable conditions to begin with...

Pneumonic said:
It's a hard to answer if people should educate themselves to a degree level, certainly its required for some jobs but it certainly isn't a prerequisite to do well in life in some fields of work. If you are going to do a degree or are doing a degree I would certainly recommend a placement year given the competitive nature of most job markets at the moment.
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My degree is 9 hours a week and not very academic. As I alluded to above, it also includes a module dedicated to management. More specifically, project management.

I have plenty of time to do a job, it will be necessary to survive given the student finance fiasco so really its just a case of who has the most bargaining power in the market. Which is firmly in the employers' favour right now.
 
Rroff said:
It must be tough to find work in the 18-24 age group atm...

We have been filling up jobs that would normally go to those kinda people, with people in their 30-40s who are somewhat over qualified, become unemployed in the last 6-12 months but haven't had luck anywhere else... hell we have guys in their 50s creaking through fairly physically demanding jobs who are better qualified and suited to sitting behind a desk.
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Very true a lot of people having to take a step down the ladder at the moment due to the current climate..
 
sr4470 said:
18-24 year olds by default cannot have more experience than the majority of 30-40 year olds. It also isn't their fault the last generation got free degrees and more favourable conditions to begin with...



My degree is 9 hours a week and not very academic. As I alluded to above, it also includes a module dedicated to management. More specifically, project management.

I have plenty of time to do a job, it will be necessary to survive given the student finance fiasco so really its just a case of who has the most bargaining power in the market. Which is firmly in the employers' favour right now.
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Well it's certainly not 'fair'.. but employers are going to employ the best individual for the price they are willing to offer.. at the moment you can get quite a bit of 'employee' for your money
 
Pneumonic said:
Well it's certainly not 'fair'.. but employers are going to employ the best individual for the price they are willing to offer.. at the moment you can get quite a bit of 'employee' for your money
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I don't have a set price though, I'd gladly volunteer for the short term to prove my worth... I'm not sure just what we're supposed to do here to satisfy the "dole scroungers" brigade.
 
Saundie said:
Set fire to ourselves en masse while chanting "we're not worthy" to those with jobs, apparently...
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To be fair, things like H&S and national insurance are getting ridiculous - but these aren't exclusively problems for a business. Individuals still have to comply. Corporation tax is no worse than personal income taxation.

The majority of the UK economy, well, 95% or so is small businesses so they may well be more affected. I suspect when people have no income\savings left to consume with or be taxed on, the whole house of cards will collapse in a heap.
 
21 unemployed, finished my degree in may/june

although i havent applied to any job yet

going to have to get a job soon my bank account has been negative for the last year
 
sr4470 said:
To be fair, things like H&S and national insurance are getting ridiculous - but these aren't exclusively problems for a business. Individuals still have to comply. Corporation tax is no worse than personal income taxation.

The majority of the UK economy, well, 95% or so is small businesses so they may well be more affected. I suspect when people have no income\savings left to consume with or be taxed on, the whole house of cards will collapse in a heap.
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You're right, of course, but it is deeply frustrating when you mention to somebody that you've been unable to find work for a while, and they start slinging the "dole scrounger" garbage at you. People these days are so quick to jump to the conclusion that you're deliberately working the system.
 
Pneumonic said:
It's a hard to answer if people should educate themselves to a degree level, certainly its required for some jobs but it certainly isn't a prerequisite to do well in life in some fields of work. If you are going to do a degree or are doing a degree I would certainly recommend a placement year given the competitive nature of most job markets at the moment.
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The problem is even fields that need a degree (engineering, earth and physical sciences etc.) you still need that experience apparently, and it still gets you to the point of asking why you just spent 3 years and thousands of pounds on a degree that apparently the companies don't care too much about.

I agree on the placement things, if you get the chance take it as even with some experience you will struggle.


I was just thinking about my friends and whether they would fall into this category, and out of around 20 or so friends who graduated last year and this around half of them do. Most having gone to uni, there are only 4 that have "proper" jobs (one works in recruitement, one as a cashier at a bank, one a teacher and one with his dad), around 4 have decided to do masters/pgce's and the rest either have no job or are still looking for a proper job and just working part time (mostly in retail). That is a terrible statistic considering most were not the "dumbest" people in school and all but 2 have degrees...
 
sr4470 said:
I don't have a set price though, I'd gladly volunteer for the short term to prove my worth... I'm not sure just what we're supposed to do here to satisfy the "dole scroungers" brigade.
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I'm the same, however I doubt I would be able to volunteer with the companies I would want to work with (due to the cost of tests and courses I would need to go on), even generic volunteering is difficult to get into, unless of course you want to do one day a month cleaning a pond.
 
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