Grad Schemes vs Normal Job Question...

Hey guys

most of my friends arent applying to grad schemes or already have job offers so i wanted to ask you guys a few questions to get some help.

So firstly I wondered where is best to look for schemes, it seems most are for really boring companies and there isnt much choice?

Secondly, is it worth applying for normal non grad jobs whilst still at uni? It seems a bit difficult that you can only pre apply to grad schemes that start after june where as normal jobs you would need to start right away?

So in general i just wondered what sort of opportunities there are as i need to get started on the search now!

Reply 1

wanderlust.xx

"Normal jobs", as you put it, can be just as attractive as graduate schemes. If they offer career progression, a good salary, good training and a permanent contract, then why is this somehow different to a scheme? If anything, schemes are sometimes limited to a fixed one year contract that can be terminated if required.

Reply 2

InfernoUk

Original post by wanderlust.xx

thanks i just meant normal as i didnt know a clearer way to phrase it, i feel if i went for a grad scheme im pushing myself to take anything and the pay isnt very good for most.

Id like a 'normal' job with good progression but the issue is i dont think i can pre apply now? Id have to wait until i would be ready to start and then apply and be unemployed in the mean time?

would it just be a case of trawling jobsites and finding something that dosent need much experience?

I have my 1 year placement in an area relevant to my degree already

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 3

M1011

Original post by InfernoUk

Is this some kind of joke? Practically every big company has a graduate scheme... Either you haven't looked or you're a bit dim...

A grad scheme is basically a normal job, with the benefit that it usually helps you progress quicker (training opportunities etc).

Reply 4

InfernoUk

Original post by M1011

yea cheers for that, what i mean the jobs are in companies I have no interest in, a super market, great, some utilities company, great, the only ones id be interested in a automotive due to me already having a year of experience in the industry.

Just because they are big companies in certainly dosent mean they are good schemes. I dont know if youve had any work experience before in a big company. It isnt all that great.

Reply 5

wanderlust.xx

Original post by InfernoUk

Isn't that life in general? Life in general isn't all that great, but it is what you make of it. It's your attitude towards the company and the work that makes it better. If you go around believing that there aren't many companies that would satisfy your basic needs then you have a very narrow mind for all the possibilities that large companies can bring, provided you excel at your role.

Reply 6

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by InfernoUk

So firstly I wondered where is best to look for schemes, it seems most are for really boring companies and there isnt much choice?

There is nothing specifically different between a Grad Scheme and any other graduate job. Graduate Scheme is just a posh title used to try and impress applicants. All it really means is that the employer recruits such large numbers of graduates every year that it has formalised its process, so it batches its entry points and then puts this cohort of new employees through a specific programme of training and experience building.

If you are a large, complex company with several different strands of work (technical, operational, logistical etc) then it serves you best to make the decision as to which stream people are finally recruited to, by giving them 3-6 months in each role, and then making the decision at the end. It's very hard for both a recent graduate and a business to know what professional skill set a person really has, without trying the work out. The waste of useful output you get and the cost of rotating them is usually outweighed by making the right decision at the end and getting people who are really suited to the line of work they go into.

In most cases employers either have a graduate scheme or they don't, so any presentation that this is an 'elite' way of entering the company is BS. Read the literature carefully, something like the Civil Service does run a dual entry system, recent/entry level graduates can apply for their very competitive Fast Track scheme, or they can just apply for entry level graduate jobs. But that dual track entry is the exception, rather than the norm.

So don't be swayed by joining a graduate scheme or not. Very few are actually a highly selective, fast track route to anything. In most case having a graduate scheme just indicates the size of the company.

Be careful using the term 'normal job', in conversation this might be presumed to be a non-graduate job.

Reply 7

Duck and Cover

Original post by InfernoUk

Have you looked at Jaguar Land Rover? They have quite a big grad intake.

Reply 8

Bloodbath

Do people think that websites like milkround/target/bright network suck because they only list big companies?

Best jobs are probably with smaller companies. Most small companies will usually suck more than the big ones but then you get them elite boutique types that I love

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 9

M1011

Original post by InfernoUk

So apply to automotive companies then? JLR, Aston Martin, GM etc. What interest area do you have that doesn't provide grad schemes, because so far you've only named one where all the top players in the industry DO offer grad schemes.

In answer to your question, yes I have had work experience with a 'big company', and currently work for another large firm. Nowhere did I claim that every big company had a good scheme (there's plenty of info out there on this), but to suggest as you do in your OP that grad schemes are with "really boring companies and there isnt much choice" is beyond ignorant!

Reply 10

InfernoUk

Original post by Duck and Cover

Have you looked at Jaguar Land Rover? They have quite a big grad intake.

I meant to do this but as far as i know they are now closed and i was to busy with uni work to pay attention.

Original post by M1011

hey yea sorry i think what i had to say came across wrong, i mean i wanted to work in an industry where i was interested by the product etc. Most of the companies ive seen are for thing that i personally have no interest in so couldnt be passionate about it.

Most auto jobs seemed to close really fast so i missed them all this time round, other than that electronics manufacturers are the only other real industry i would be interested in. If i look at milkround for example its all utilities and super markets usually, with a few FMCG companies.

I was just considering not bothering with a scheme and going for a traditional approach, but feel i would be handicapped by the lack of pre application you get with a grad scheme

oh, also another issue i was having with some places is they want 320 UCAS as well as a 2:1 in degree, Ill get the 2:1 no problem, but i didnt really care at A level so only have 300 points and without lying i cant even apply to a bunch of job!

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 11

M1011

Original post by InfernoUk

Fair enough, but all the top automotive companies / engineering companies do offer grad schemes, so absolutely keep an eye out for them! That said, nothing wrong with trying to apply for other jobs as well.

As for the UCAS, I had the same problem (300), it does prohibit applications to some places but thankfully the majority have the requirement set at 300. If there is a job you really want with a 320 requirement though, apply anyway, there's always an opportunity to explain the A-level results!

Reply 12

InfernoUk

thanks guys,

out of interest like 50% of grad jobs seem to be in 'recruitment'

whats the deal with this as all the jobs seem to be commission based claiming insane earning numbers which are clearly going to be false, just wondered why there's so many recruitment roles!

Reply 13

M1011

Original post by InfernoUk

Precisely because they're commission based. Costs the employer nothing but potential makes them money.

Avoid like the plague IMO.

Reply 14

dom99

Grad schemes Arnt always all they're cracked up to be. In the insurance company I now work for there's a grad scheme advertising at the moment, adverts went out just last week. The only up side to a scheme is the training and spending time in many different departments. The downsides are you will typically be on a lower wage than standard employees, you're not actually a full employee and can be let go at any time, plus spending 6 weeks in different departments means you become a hinderance to the people having to take time out of their day to tell you what to do.

I'm speaking from experience from a lloyds syndicate insurance company. But I suppose all schemes are different