Graduated with a 1st, no job

I actually turned down someone with a first over someone without. It was my decision because I had been on the same course, I had experienced what the teachers considered 1st worthy (art course), and althought I knew they were very intelligent, I also knew they were very narrow minded and could only work inside the box.
Degrees are useful, experience is everything.
 
Not wanting to feed the troll but I graduated with a first in Computer Science 10 years ago and was unemployed for 6 months. Obviously I was applying for computing jobs but as I had no experience no one wanted me. In the end I got sick of it so started temping in crappy office jobs until one place I was temping at had an opening on their help desk so I applied and got the job. From there I moved into app development and now I'm a dirty contractor.

I'm tempted to think that basically the general problem today is that too many young people have become dependant on the state (or parents) to provide everything for them in life and are unable to forge their own path - essentially they are still mentally adolescent. Then again I could be wrong. :)
 
I'm sure some one else on here was doing a similar degree / masters... maybe Johnny Bravo, not 100% sure though.
 
Rockitt5 said:
I did a Masters in Elec Eng with nanotechnology (although really every specialisation route was the same)

I looked at doing a PhD and there was one that was really interesting but its minimum wage for 3 years and I dont want to live at uni again. Although I think I'm going to go back and beg my supervisor to let me do it again as I have nothing else to do but he might have someone else. It was really good and would have made me adept at using matlab and COMSOL and also dealt with reliability in high tech devices which is always important in engineering (how things fail) and also experience of developing new technology. If it was in another location I would have probably done it.

I couldnt just do a random phd for 3 years.

But other than that phd I dont know what to do, now im stuck and I dont want to sit another exam again but if I went on a graduate scheme I'm stuck on that as well.

I used minimum wage as an excuse for not doing the Phd but in reality I dont think I really care that much about money, I know that going on a graduate scheme at Atkins or somewhere will only have me on 22-25k for years and the Phd would have probably been more interesting.
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LOL some of you guys on this forum are pretty harsh. Did none of you feel lost after uni?

22-25K is a normal and good starting point. You're living in dream land if you think you're going to start on more than that even with a Phd!

Only do a Phd if you're serious about the subject.
 
Rockitt5 said:
I used minimum wage as an excuse for not doing the Phd but in reality I dont think I really care that much about money, I know that going on a graduate scheme at Atkins or somewhere will only have me on 22-25k for years and the Phd would have probably been more interesting.
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I do a PhD and my salary/stipend is in that salary bracket - not all of them are 13/15k! I'd do the PhD option if it's something that you're genuinely interested in. 3-4 years is a long time to commit to a project if you don't have an interest in the area, and I'm sure there's plenty in Elec Eng / Nano stuff. My neighbour here in college does his PhD in Elec Eng with Nanotechnology, so they must be out there!
 
Should I email him or travel down and ask in person? Its a 2 hour trip though, I feel like an idiot cos I asked him about it before and then I decided not to ask further even he wanted an application but I said I didnt want to live here for 3 more years.
 
When you've graduated, you should look for a job. You're not gonna get jobs thrown at your feet when you walk out that door...
 
And don't aim too high. Too many people leave Uni and expect that the degree will get them a higher paid job despite having no experience.

I will quote one recent graduate I interviewed who fairly early on in the interview asked how much the job would be offering as she "wouldn't get out of bed for less than £28,000 per annum". We cut the interview short.........
 
Greebo said:
And don't aim too high. Too many people leave Uni and expect that the degree will get them a higher paid job despite having no experience.

I will quote one recent graduate I interviewed who fairly early on in the interview asked how much the job would be offering as she "wouldn't get out of bed for less than £28,000 per annum". We cut the interview short.........
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Yup exactly what I did, my uni placement paid £16,000 so aimed for about £20,000 to start, ended up getting £26,000 for 11 months from the only interview I walked out of going "yeh not getting that one..." :)
 
Frapple said:
Practise 'Large or Super size?'?

:P
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Well, you'd fail that exam already, considering they don't do super size anymore..

For the record, I finished with a 1st in computer science in 2006, and took two weeks to find a job.

It could be a mix of factors. Perhaps there aren't many jobs in your industry if it's quite niche (it sounds like it is), but could it also be something that changing your location could help with? Moving to somewhere else in the country perhaps?
 
Karl said:
Well, you'd fail that exam already, considering they don't do super size anymore..

For the record, I finished with a 1st in computer science in 2006, and took two weeks to find a job.

It could be a mix of factors. Perhaps there aren't many jobs in your industry if it's quite niche (it sounds like it is), but could it also be something that changing your location could help with? Moving to somewhere else in the country perhaps?
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Took me 1,5 years to get a job under the same circumstances. I do live in a remote village, so that is one of those causes.
 
So wait - you graduated, what, June some time, and you haven't found a job by the end of July? Ermmmmm - a little more effort? :)

Do the PHD if you're really interested, but bear in mind that unless you can find a job afterwards that wants your exact specialisation, you might not be in any better position in terms of starting salary and opportunities than a 'mere' graduate.

Dont worry too much about graduate scheme starting salaries - they should go up pretty quickly if you prove yourself to be any good. You're no more 'stuck on one' than you would be in any other job, and as soon as you have some experience under your belt you can hop around easier and increase your salary faster.
 
Tyrone77 said:
Spent 8 months trying to find a job with my first. I even had two years managerial experience. Managed to get about 3 interviews in 8 months.

Went to a graduate fair in london (Islington) and got 4 interviews. So my advice, sign up to a graduates fair, research what stalls are on, decide some areas you would like to focus on and research the companys and really think about what your strengths would be for that company.

Go to the fair and be really confident (but not an idiot), be interested in what the people at the stalls say (to get an idea of what it is they do) but also explain why you're interested mentioning your strengths.
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Strange, might have just gone through a string of bad timing mate.

Sorry to hear of the struggle, I always went for a lower job if I couldn't find work easily. Make it as subtle as possible as to why you are doing this and keep looking whilst in said 'lower paid' job.

At least you are working then.

ags
 
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