Job Hunting Woes

m@rty

m@rty

m@rty

Soldato
Joined
5 Jul 2006
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I've recently graduated from university with a 2:1 in Business Management and currently finding it difficult to land myself a graduate position. However the difference being that I actually have real world employment experience having worked in a building services/engineering office for the past seven years while studying (I am 26 so have worked on and off beforehand)

I made the mistake of not spending quality time applying for graduate schemes before I finished my course so I have effectively missed out on those until they re-open towards the end of the year. Although I feel that I am now in the position that even if I do land a graduate role at the end of this year then it will most likely not start till the following September.

I've had a word with the MD and another Director in my current job but I just get the feeling they are leading me on and nothing will materialize (for instance they have scheduled a meeting to see if there are any graduate opportunities but this isn't until the middle of August!)

I just feel that I am stuck in limbo at the moment. I've been applying for normal jobs and also to the few grad schemes that are open year-round, however I am having very little success at the minute :(

I always assumed that as a recent graduate with a good deal of real life work experience that it would make me an appealing candidate for job roles compared to other graduates. I just get the feeling that most companies are overlooking my experience and simply looking at me as a fresh faced graduate or perhaps I am just applying for the wrong roles...

Has anyone been in a similar situation or would care to provide any advice?
 
Does your current workplace have a 'grad scheme' so to speak, if not then it might not exactly be clear what you mean by 'graduate opportunities' within the context of your own workplace. Are there any particular roles that you'd now have a better skill set to fulfill that you didn't previously? In which case you probably ought to simply push for those roles.

For graduate schemes, if your current employer doesn't offer them then you could look elsewhere... though that sort of thing can be a bit generic or involve a fair bit of chance in terms of where you then end* up unless you're going for a particular profession. Perhaps it would be better to decide what you actually want to do career wise and then pursue that instead of pursuing a 'graduate scheme' for the sake of it. For example, if you wanted to become an accountant you could still crack on with the first exams regardless of whether you got onto a relevant grad scheme immediately.


*I was on a 'grad scheme' a few years ago and the departments people ended up in didn't make much sense, we had one young female consultant in professional services who got home sick 1 week into her first posting overseas and asked to come home! We had another guy with an arts degree sent to development... he'd managed to **** off the developers he was sat with on the first day and had been moved to marketing before the end of the year.
 
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dowie said:
Does your current workplace have a 'grad scheme' so to speak, if not then it might not exactly be clear what you mean by 'graduate opportunities' within the context of your own workplace. Are there any particular roles that you'd now have a better skill set to fulfill that you didn't previously? In which case you probably ought to simply push for those roles.
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My current workplace doesn't have a grad scheme, which is rather disappointing considering they employ about 15,000 people! The MD is going to look for potential roles that would suit a graduate, however I just get the feeling that it will be something made up to get me off his back and won't actually lead to anything with a chance to progress within the company.


dowie said:
*I was on a 'grad scheme' a few years ago and the departments people ended up in didn't make much sense, we had one young female consultant in professional services who got home sick 1 week into her first posting overseas and asked to come home! We had another guy with an arts degree sent to development... he'd managed to **** off the developers he was sat with on the first day and had been moved to marketing before the end of the year.
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It's stuff like this I am trying to avoid, I have heard some horror stories about graduates just being placed anywhere and treated like crap really. I actually run my own team of about 9 staff in my current position and have decent managerial experience, although at a junior level. It's just a shame that it's not a long term sustainable job.


Edrof said:
Look online and through this OcUK thread to make sure your CV is the best it can be. It can make a big difference.
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Thanks will have a look at this, I've applied for quite a few jobs now so it might be my CV that's letting me down!
 
I think you've answered your own question in part in terms of having missed the milkround, the impression I get is that a lot of grad schemes are traditionally very set in their ways. When I tried applying for graduate jobs after leaving uni I didn't have much luck either. When you say that you thought real world experience might help you, when it comes to some graduate schemes the opposite may be true, in that they are just looking for fresh faced graduates who they can mould into their corporate image rather than having someone who has been contaminated by working elsewhere. You'll often see graduate schemes stipulate conditions like having to have graduated in the past 3 years or whatever (which I appreciate is true in your situation, just highlighting the thought processes).

As you have a degree and work experience I would just keep applying for 'normal' jobs and as mentioned dust off the CV to make sure it is presenting you in the best light. At least you have a job at the moment so can keep paying the bills whilst looking for something else and then dive into the milkround at the end of year if you haven't found anything.
 
m@rty said:
My current workplace doesn't have a grad scheme, which is rather disappointing considering they employ about 15,000 people! The MD is going to look for potential roles that would suit a graduate, however I just get the feeling that it will be something made up to get me off his back and won't actually lead to anything with a chance to progress within the company.
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seem like a very flawed approach and rather an open ended request for your MD, maybe the role you're currently in already would suit a graduate

I think you'd be much better off finding a specific are, role, career you'd like to work in and figuring out a way to achieve that instead of simply looking for some random 'graduate role' whatever that may actually be in
 
So I took all of the above comments on board and decided I was getting nowhere with my current employer, so I started looking elsewhere for junior level experienced roles within the same industry but with better opportunities.

I secured a job as an assistant consultant working for a global engineering firm with a great salary and plenty of training/development which was what I was really looking for.

What was even better was that they recognised I had more experience than their typical grads so have given me a higher salary than I would have received on their grad scheme as well as the opportunity to progress quicker than if I were on the grad scheme :)
 
m@rty said:
So I took all of the above comments on board and decided I was getting nowhere with my current employer, so I started looking elsewhere for junior level experienced roles within the same industry but with better opportunities.

I secured a job as an assistant consultant working for a global engineering firm with a great salary and plenty of training/development which was what I was really looking for.

What was even better was that they recognised I had more experience than their typical grads so have given me a higher salary than I would have received on their grad scheme as well as the opportunity to progress quicker than if I were on the grad scheme :)
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Congratulations on your move; onwards and upwards! :)
 
Congrats on your news.

Jumping on the thread a bit late, but i was going to say that graduate schemes are not all that. In my industry (comp sci) a lot of the grad schemes were a way of graduates trying out different areas of the company - for example a 2 year grad scheme, and you would have four 6 month rotations.
 
Semple said:
Congrats on your news.

Jumping on the thread a bit late, but i was going to say that graduate schemes are not all that. In my industry (comp sci) a lot of the grad schemes were a way of graduates trying out different areas of the company - for example a 2 year grad scheme, and you would have four 6 month rotations.
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This is really what I wanted to avoid if at all possible, while I admit the networking and other benefits of a grad scheme would have been good, I was well aware that quite a few grad schemes were rather poor and there is also no guarantee of a job at the end of it.

Luckily for me I have been offered a role with none of the restrictions of the grad scheme, a better salary and a permanent contract.

The Craig said:
Congrats! Which consultancy out of interest ? (can email if you prefer, only so I know the players if I ever fancy a return to Glasgow)
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I have sent you a trust message :)
 
Congrats OP! :D

I am still currently in the job hunting process post-graduation and am having the same issues that you were prior to landing your job. However, for my career choice, I have no choice but to get onto a grad scheme to become fully qualified (chartered accountant). I graduated with a first from Edinburgh uni so hopefully I have sone success now with the 2017 grad schemes. :O

Even finding a part time job hasn't been as easy as I thought it might be. Barely any responses for jobs working in shops etc. I didn't have any problems finding part time work whilst I was at uni.

Can I just go back to being in 1st year? :(
 
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Akmeeda said:
Congrats OP! :D

I am still currently in the job hunting process post-graduation and am having the same issues that you were prior to landing your job. However, for my career choice, I have no choice but to get onto a grad scheme to become fully qualified (chartered accountant). I graduated with a first from Edinburgh uni so hopefully I have sone success now with the 2017 grad schemes. :O

Even finding a part time job hasn't been as easy as I thought it might be. Barely any responses for jobs working in shops etc. I didn't have any problems finding part time work whilst I was at uni.

Can I just go back to being in 1st year? :(
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Have you used the University Careers Service? Lots of help available through them with the job hunt.
 
It's a complete nonsense. Someone in my school year got good A-levels and eyebrows were raised when he chose not to go to uni, instead at 18 he started his on the job training, roll forward a few years and he was fully qualified and earning coin whilst a lot of people were just rolling out of uni.

There are multiple routes: https://www.icas.com/education-and-qualifications/how-to-become-a-chartered-accountant-ca

That said - for someone with a degree, a grad scheme is a logical starting point.
 
sigma said:
A grad scheme is most definitely not the only way to become a charted accountant...
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rubberduck said:
why on earth would the only way to become a chartered accountant be via a grad scheme?
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Yeah I know, but as HangTime stated, it is the most logical way to go if you already have a degree.

Deiwos said:
Have you used the University Careers Service? Lots of help available through them with the job hunt.
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Yeah I have, but not nearly enough. They do mock assessment centers and I think that is my biggest hurdle in the job hunt, so will try to attend more of these.
 
Akmeeda said:
Yeah I know, but as HangTime stated, it is the most logical way to go if you already have a degree.
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or perhaps not so logical if you missed the boat and didn't get one one - why not study for and take some exams regardless and get some from of trainee accountant role without the need for it to also be labelled a 'grad scheme'?

Given that plenty of grads get hired then subsequently fail exams and drop out of or get thrown out of grad schemes then getting some passes under your belt ought to be a good way to land a job.
 
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