Graduates better off on dole than in low-end job?

maybe they will be financially better off but in the long run it would be better to work and have more options for the future
 
Maybe not better off on the dole as I'd never encourage it

But I can definitley agree from personal experience about naff stop gap jobs causing a lot of problems
 
Often these young people ended up in "a rut", he said. They became trapped in dead-end jobs without the motivation to leave, and lost confidence and self esteem. He said on balance being out of work might be better for career-minded graduates than taking a menial job.
Click to expand...

Depression is the key issue here, I think a lot of graduates struggle with the transition from student to work.

Graduates also include a variety of people whereas a couple of decades ago you needed GCSEs and A levels or some form of higher requirement to enter. Generally, someone with an academic approach and career awareness. The point here is that graduates feel lost after Uni because they don't have the support or guidance, high expectations or no clear direction.

I don't think they are better off on the dole, I do think Universitys need to do more to support them though. I have seen quite a few Uni's offer the resources for support into a job, career direction, etc but the method of communication is bulletin boards and email so it does not really get to the masses.
 
JBuk said:
maybe they will be financially better off but in the long run it would be better to work and have more options for the future
Click to expand...

The point is not that they will be financially better off (they might or might not be) but that they would be psychologically better off.
 
No, because you won't get any experience and you'll have a big black mark on your employment history that shouts out "I'm a dole scrounging bum"
 
I'm starting a course in September that's full-time - it's still only 3 days a week in college. I've been looking for a part time job to fill the rest of my schedule in the meantime, but there hasn't been a single job that actually pays more than the dole. It's pretty stupid but it's a serious problem. People actually wonder why we have so many dossers - well it's because the dole pays even more unless you're working the full 42 hours a week.

The fix is to lower the amount you recieve in jobseeker's allowance, or put diminishing returns on it. I have no idea why such a scheme is not implemented yet. It would fix a lot of problems, from saving money for the government to fund other more important schemes, to encouraging a lot more people to actually take on jobs, benefiting not only themselves, but the economy as a whole. It's a win-win situation but nothing is being done.

edit: I realize the thread is more focusing on the effects of graduates who find the transition between graduating and getting a proper job very difficult, but I thought it was relevant enough anyway. From a financial perspective, there is no doubt for the majority of people which situation would be far more beneficial. It needs to be changed.
 
Last edited:
Angilion said:
The point is not that they will be financially better off (they might or might not be) but that they would be psychologically better off.
Click to expand...


i only skimmed through the article so obviously missed that point


they may have a point that it could be mentally tough but then the same could be said for school leavers who go straight into jobs
 
What a load of rubbish.

Get an education, get out working and get your lazy backside into earning some money.

It's hard working in any job after the easy life at Uni (and there's no debating it is one of the easiest times of your life)

I fail to see how people could not take a dead-end job - it doesn't matter whether its in Tesco, Intel or McDonalds - you are working and earning money and not a useless layabout scrounger with no ability to work or any reason to get up or earn some money.
If your that good at you Uni profession, it won't be long before you can get to where you want.
 
Maybe for some graduates but I'm sure most engineers and accountants will walk into a well paid job, but for people doing psychology, history of art, media studies etc. then there will be limited employment oppertunites because so many people are doing it.
 
If you let the poor job stunt you then it would be your own fault.

It's not going to be easy, but everyone has the option to take the reigns and get cracking if they can be arsed. That article reads like it's trying to legitimise wallowing.
 
As a computer science graduate (Bristol), I won't be earning anything less than £20,000, and competition for places is not that high. It seems that technology, IT and software companies are clamoring for us this year.

Also, given the current market conditions a temping job is not going to look poor on your CV; it is understandable that you had to do what you had to. Stop-gap jobs that go on for a long period of time are only decremental when your degree has a direct application (Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Medical), as your degree and skills learned will begin to age and/or expire.
 
Last edited:
JimpsEd said:
As a computer science graduate (Bristol), I won't be earning anything less than £20,000, and competition for places is not that high. It seems that technology, IT and software companies are clamoring for us this year.

Also, given the current market conditions a temping job is not going to look poor on your CV; it is understandable that you had to do what you had to. Stop-gap jobs that go on for a long period of time are only decremental when your degree has a direct application (Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Medical), as your degree and skills learned will begin to age and/or expire.
Click to expand...

Yeah theres no way I could have worked a part time job while studying at uni. It would have effected my overall degree classification. Not a problem getting a job if you do a decent degree and get a good result.
 
I have to say I disagree with that article.
After I graduated I didn't have a job and ended up taking on some temporary data entry work (mostly because I never bothered to apply for anything while I was still at uni)
Anyway, after doing that job for a few months they made me permanent. A couple of months later I was working as a software developer for that same company.
Another few years down the line I had a job as a front office developer for a large US investment bank.

If you are intelligent and show initiative then taking on a low skilled job to start with is not going to significantly affect your career, and it will be a lot better for you than going on the dole IMO.
 
The fact is at LEAST 50% of degrees are not worth the paper they are written on.

The statement 'I have a degree' now means nothing, as Derby, staffordshite, lincoln, MMU, lancashire uni, teeside, oxford brookes etc etc are absolutely crap and are jokes to employers, as easy degrees worth absolutely nothing and they will earn sod all.
Also for the people who know the town burton on trent, burton tech college now calls itself a uni (oh dear oh dear).

I am an engineer at a big name uni, and it is damn hard, with lectures 5days a week covering over 20hours, every week. I know someone at sheffs (the bad one not the good one) and they say it is easier than 6th form (they are doing psycology) so obviously if it is easy it is worthless and they will end up on an asda till, along with all art/english/social sciences/geography/busineess studies students. Its a hard to take fact, but a true one. Naturally people here (probs the ones at crap unis) will disagree, but it is a true one, with the people doing 'real' subjects at 'proper' univiersities will 100% agree.

20 years ago uni was for clever people. Now it is for abolutely anyone. 20years ago if you had a degree from a uni and not a poly, you would almost certainly be earning big money. These days any old craphole calls itself a uni, and as a result graduates ARE better on the dole. Not that they would have a decent job anyway, and so never pay their uni loans back.
 
Last edited:
What about education beyond degrees? like a masters degree? are they thought of more highly? or are even they worthless?

I ask because im studying with the OU and am unsure if i should try go for a masters once i finish my current degree in 2 and a half years. The advantage of getting a masters for me is that the OU do a masters in a more specific area of ICT then the degree im studying, and its that area that i would like to learn about and get a job in. But would i just be wasting my time?
 
Dist said:
What about education beyond degrees? like a masters degree? are they thought of more highly? or are even they worthless?

I ask because im studying with the OU and am unsure if i should try go for a masters once i finish my current degree in 2 and a half years. The advantage of getting a masters for me is that the OU do a masters in a more specific area of ICT then the degree im studying, and its that area that i would like to learn about and get a job in. But would i just be wasting my time?
Click to expand...

open university?? open university degrees arent great. It sounds like I am just putting people down, but people dont realise they have wasted tax money (as most people doing silly degrees get it free anyway) until they graduate and realise it has no real life use.
I do not know which uni you are with:) However degrees these days are often pointless (but obviously not always)

I know someone who got a 2-1 in english at camebridge, and 18months on cant get a job, as apart from teaching, english degrees are of little use (just like history).
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom