Poll: Graduated within last 2 years?
- Thread starter compboyo
- Start date
In case you're thinking of going to uni/going there I give you 2 big advices.
First do a summer placement in the place you want to get accepted for graduate scheme between 2nd and 3d (last) and
Get a minimum of 2.1 at all cost. Firstly in second year to get into summer internship, and in final year to get the graduate scheme place.
oh and obviously do something that your employer wants not a sham degree.
First do a summer placement in the place you want to get accepted for graduate scheme between 2nd and 3d (last) and
Get a minimum of 2.1 at all cost. Firstly in second year to get into summer internship, and in final year to get the graduate scheme place.
oh and obviously do something that your employer wants not a sham degree.
worked in a supermarket for best part of 2 years, quit because I hated it so much and wasted those 2 years doing nothing, here we are doing freelance work where I can trying to avoid signing on and doing my best to find an entry level job (not easy especially with a 2 year old degree).
Hence the reason I'm replying to this thread at 3am.
edit: I studied the wrong subject, got a 2:2. Dont be stupid like me.
Hence the reason I'm replying to this thread at 3am.
edit: I studied the wrong subject, got a 2:2. Dont be stupid like me.
sounds typical
shoulda made a poll like
unemployed
crappy job
career
further study
can someone make a poll?
Graduated 2 months ago, should've been last year, but I deferred my finals. Working in a pub and doing a teaching course, to ultimately head back to China. Got a 2:1, and could've applied for any number of random graduate jobs, but I did my degree to be abroad, and I'm out of the pub in 3 weeks. Things are sort of working out.
What teaching course are you doing? Was it in Edinburgh?
teach English abroad?
I heard they pay big money, free accommodation and flights for South Korea?
Teaching's really just my way to get sponsored back in to the country, I got job offers there last time in other companies just through meeting people, so I'll head back teaching and see what else I can find, But once I inevitably get angry at China again, I can still head anywhere else on the back of teaching.
Got a friend teaching in South Korea just now. Everything's free for him, as far as I can tell, but that's more down to his French girlfriend working all day and night and paying for everything. Crazy woman.
wow a french gf eh...maybe ill just try to get one off them
but as for teaching you have tefl? you can make good money doing this in china? where else? get murdered in japan,.....
Whats your job when not teaching?
CELTA, as opposed to TEFL. Similar idea. You can make easily enough money to live comfortably in China and put some aside, but it's not the kind of job that's going to leave you set for life. More just, getting enough to move on to the next interesting sounding posting. And you probably won't be murdered.
Back in the UK, I'm a barman. Exciting times.
Back in the UK, I'm a barman. Exciting times.
Just to add to this, I don't think that CELTA & English language teaching is really "big money" - the bandwagon has grown and the market has settled down to the point where there's not such an imbalance in supply/demand that the pay is extremely good. I completed my CELTA back in 2008 for an optional career path and for the interest (and because my Uni subsidised it
) and whilst I enjoyed it, it was never going to be the way into a lucrative career.I graduated in July 2010 with an MEng in Chemical Engineering, and moved straight into an industrially-sponsored PhD in the same subject. The summer placement advice is worth repeating - there's a lot of competition around from graduates not just in your year but the previous couple of years as well. I did a summer internship in my second-year summer at a local Chemical company under the Shell Step scheme, and then I did one after graduating at a company up in York doing Carbon Capture and Storage stuff. The summer internships really help you to get a leg up - and I suppose in Engineering you're in the relatively privileged position that the pay isn't bad for them either.
Graduated from university in 2010 with a 2.1 MEng Chemical Engineering (also did a year long placement during the course).
Since September 2010 I've worked for an oil & gas consultancy company. The job I do at the moment is pretty dull, but it pays very well and I'm moving roles soon as this one was always temporary.
Associate
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- 14 Nov 2006
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- Manchester, UK
Finished Uni last July with a 2:2. Bummed in a part time job till January where I went on holiday for a month. Came back, walked into a great job in IT. Move to New Zealand in December for a better IT life.
Busy busy
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Man of Honour
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Graduated 2 years ago with BEng Computing (2.2) and no job lined up. Managed to land one in about 3 weeks as a Graduate Developer, now working as Developer within the same company.
I graduated last year with a 2:1 BA English and Sociology.
While I was there, I saw a few interesting jobs advertised in publishing and for internet writers for Phones4U. I thought something like that would be good to work towards but it seems like since I left there's just nothing.
I ended up getting a job as a care assistant. The job description had only mentioned working with people with learning disabilities etc who are working towards living independently. I would help them with basic tasks around the house or take them out to help them integrate into society. When I went for my induction, the job was nothing like had been advertised. Effectively they had decided instead they were going to give the female staff the "personal care" duties. The majority of my schedule involved old ladies, and cleaning them in various ways, and I really didn't want to do that. I quit that day and luckily managed to get my old job back as a sales assistant at a petrol station.
I decided to go for a teaching course, was a bit later than most sending off my application but got an interview for April. Didn't get on the course and couldn't find anywhere else that still had places to send it off to. Had to resort to sending off for an Early Years course with Edge Hill uni despite wanting to work with older kids really, and unsurprisingly wasn't even offered an interview because I didn't have experience with kids in that age group.
Since then I have applied for many jobs and not had much response. I got an interview with Morrisons but they wanted to put me in the café because I had previous café experience. I hated working in Sainsbury's café so I ended up turning the job down and it was less hours than I'm on now anyway!
I ended up sending off an application for a customer service advisor job in a call centre and managed to get it. I start in 2 weeks. I can't say it's my dream job, and I was desperately hoping to do something that was less customer service focused because I've been doing that type of work for 5 years through college and uni and always thought it was just something to keep me going through that really.
The majority of my graduate friends are either doing something similar to me, or are on further education courses, or are teachers. There is so much competition these days for teaching. Even people I know who have said they would never teach are now applying for courses because it seems like one of the only reasonably stable jobs.
I just hope I can do something a bit more interesting soon! I'm hoping not to be there too long to be honest.
My advice would be if you're still at uni, do some volunteer work. I did some voluntary work in schools which helped me get the interview for my teaching course. I think the only reasons I didn't get it was because of how much competition there is and in all honesty a lack of preparation on my part.
Volunteer in multiple different jobs if you want to, even if just for a few weeks. The fact that you have spent your own time learning more about a job will be very attractive to employers especially when now we are often competing with people who have years of experience who have been made redundant etc.
EDIT: Wow this is long. I think I treated this as a bit of a therapy session. I've been a bit bitter about having to do a full time customer service job in a bloody call centre!
While I was there, I saw a few interesting jobs advertised in publishing and for internet writers for Phones4U. I thought something like that would be good to work towards but it seems like since I left there's just nothing.
I ended up getting a job as a care assistant. The job description had only mentioned working with people with learning disabilities etc who are working towards living independently. I would help them with basic tasks around the house or take them out to help them integrate into society. When I went for my induction, the job was nothing like had been advertised. Effectively they had decided instead they were going to give the female staff the "personal care" duties. The majority of my schedule involved old ladies, and cleaning them in various ways, and I really didn't want to do that. I quit that day and luckily managed to get my old job back as a sales assistant at a petrol station.
I decided to go for a teaching course, was a bit later than most sending off my application but got an interview for April. Didn't get on the course and couldn't find anywhere else that still had places to send it off to. Had to resort to sending off for an Early Years course with Edge Hill uni despite wanting to work with older kids really, and unsurprisingly wasn't even offered an interview because I didn't have experience with kids in that age group.
Since then I have applied for many jobs and not had much response. I got an interview with Morrisons but they wanted to put me in the café because I had previous café experience. I hated working in Sainsbury's café so I ended up turning the job down and it was less hours than I'm on now anyway!
I ended up sending off an application for a customer service advisor job in a call centre and managed to get it. I start in 2 weeks. I can't say it's my dream job, and I was desperately hoping to do something that was less customer service focused because I've been doing that type of work for 5 years through college and uni and always thought it was just something to keep me going through that really.
The majority of my graduate friends are either doing something similar to me, or are on further education courses, or are teachers. There is so much competition these days for teaching. Even people I know who have said they would never teach are now applying for courses because it seems like one of the only reasonably stable jobs.
I just hope I can do something a bit more interesting soon! I'm hoping not to be there too long to be honest.
My advice would be if you're still at uni, do some volunteer work. I did some voluntary work in schools which helped me get the interview for my teaching course. I think the only reasons I didn't get it was because of how much competition there is and in all honesty a lack of preparation on my part.
Volunteer in multiple different jobs if you want to, even if just for a few weeks. The fact that you have spent your own time learning more about a job will be very attractive to employers especially when now we are often competing with people who have years of experience who have been made redundant etc.
EDIT: Wow this is long. I think I treated this as a bit of a therapy session. I've been a bit bitter about having to do a full time customer service job in a bloody call centre!
Graduated last year with a 2:1 in Sociology, carried on working at my student job of Currys team leader, still doing it full time (albeit on a much better wage than I was), and am close to getting a 20k job working for a Disney store as an AM (should hear back in the next few days). Not quite the career I had planned, but at least I'm moving in the upwards direction.
After a year of stagnation, I've decided to get off my ass and start looking for more money wherever I can find it.
After a year of stagnation, I've decided to get off my ass and start looking for more money wherever I can find it.