Suffocating under the saturated job market in this country

A degree is relevant, but I think most employers take the piss with UCAS points.

Some people mature academically later than others, And not everyone who has **** UCAS points attend **** unis, many get into decent one's through clearing, or end up doing masters at top 15 universities.

At this rate, I seriously think the government/UCAS would be better of scrapping clearing and forcing people to resit their Alevels - otherwise it is a waste of time and money. But it's not in their interests to do that.

What is also the point in having psychometric testing if they are going to filter you out by UCAS points too?

That guy has a point though, for A LOT of jobs, you don't need a high level of intellectual ability. Take project mangement, if you applied to be a project manager at a corporate, you would need x amount of UCAS points and a 2.1. But if you look closely, do you really need that to be one?

If you have the UCAS points and a 1st, why dont you just apply to every corporate - it is not like you are barred. It's a numbers game at the end of the day.

Secondly, just so you know, there is a 6% chance to break into a grad scheme nationally. Don't take it personally that you have been rejected, it is just very hard to get into a corporate now days. Look at SMEs.

I know how frustrated you are, because like you, I hate how I get overlooked by corporates in my field by grads who are yet to prove themselves (commercially) in any shape or form.

Just a thought - on that occasion perhaps they were looking for 'team players' and you came over as more of a backroom boffin type.

quite possibly you'd have hated the place if you got in.

I am applying to every corporate scheme. I graduated from a top Uni though so the percentage is much higher- 80% of my peers are on grad schemes. THat average is just watered down by some of the Mickey Mouse ex polytechnics and Sociology degree people who no employer should want to take on in their right mind! If you go to a top Uni, and have a top grade in a hard subject the % is far higher.

Well said. I've been wiping the floor at Uni with people with over 600 UCAS points, yet I get rejected at most application stages as I don't have any (I Have Access to Higher Education diploma). Some companies are actually immensely impressed that I have achieved a high 1st with no A-levels, meaing that I had to learn A-level and Further Maths in my first year at Uni. Most corporate machines and HR idiots just reject me though, as they're too retarded to see UCAS points mean **** all. I graduated top of the year at a Uni requiring 360 points for gods sake.

I agree, I graduated with a high 1st in BSc Economics though not some Mickey Mouse subject like Sociology. Sociology and a number of other subjects are an absolute piss take, people on my Economics degree took a couple of sociology modules in the first year for a laugh, did no work, wrote a load of crap in the exam and still got a 2:1 or 1st. Show's what a worthless subject it is. Same problem with A-levels, some A-levels are actually decent and challenging such as the traditional Science's, Maths, Economics & Languages. But then you get these Mickey Mouse A-levels like Business studies, Sociology and whatever other crap they've produced for the people lacking intelligence these days. Then when you get to the recruitment process, the idiot in HR normally has a degree in Sociology or some piss easy subject and does not differentiate between an academically demanding subjects such as Maths, Economics or Physics and a piss easy Mickey Mouse subject like Sociology, Media Studies and other associated crap.

You don't do yourself any favours by calling anyone with an opposing opinion a retard. At the end of the day people giving you advice here are also well educated and have more experience than you in these matters so you'd do well to have a bit of humility.

Just because it is a minimum requirement, does not mean it is highly important (hence the term minimum ) - does the fact that some employers want certain GCSE grades and UCAS points mean they are also highly important? No, they are just a basic filtering tool. In fact I'm pretty sure you're the one complaining that they do take these academic qualifications into account. Just because someone got a 2:1 and you got a 1st does not make them a retard and does not make you 'better' than them. For the same reason you got **** GCSEs, they could've also missed out on a mark that showed their true potential due to circumstances. That is why you cannot solely rely on degree classifications as an indicator of someone's potential or suitability.

A stupid illogical minimum requirement.

What if you underperformed at alevels due to serious health issues.

I had them and I am still barred from grad schemes,

IT also means if say they let me thru, I am under extreme pressure to get things right the first time, whereas someone else who has the UCAS points can keep on reapplying.

For the record every time I do get let through I pass their psychometric tests. So I am clearly not thick.



He is frustrated. I totally empathise with him.

Put yourself in his situation, you have spent 3 years at university working your ass off, only to find you can't use that degree to do the job you want to do. Not only is he left feeling that he has wasted his money, but he feels that he has wasted his time and energy.

He has every reason to feel upset.


How would you like it if you were in his situation?

If you can't see why he is bitter. Then that says a lot about your ability to analyse the situation, along with your general lack of empathy, which btw are unattractive employment traits. As you need both when dealing with clients in order to qualify their needs.

Finally his work experience is a much better indicator of this then an A in media studies or other subjects.




He is bitter atm - the guy feels like he has been sold a lie.

TBH corporates need to rethink their recruitment strategy.

A stupid illogical minimum requirement.

What if you underperformed at alevels due to serious health issues.

I had them and I am still barred from grad schemes,

IT also means if say they let me thru, I am under extreme pressure to get things right the first time, whereas someone else who has the UCAS points can keep on reapplying.

For the record every time I do get let through I pass their psychometric tests. So I am clearly not thick.



He is frustrated. I totally empathise with him.

Put yourself in his situation, you have spent 3 years at university working your ass off, only to find you can't use that degree to do the job you want to do. Not only is he left feeling that he has wasted his money, but he feels that he has wasted his time and energy.

He has every reason to feel upset.


How would you like it if you were in his situation?

If you can't see why he is bitter. Then that says a lot about your ability to analyse the situation, along with your general lack of empathy, which btw are unattractive employment traits. As you need both when dealing with clients in order to qualify their needs.

Finally his work experience is a much better indicator of this then an A in media studies or other subjects.


He is bitter atm - the guy feels like he has been sold a lie.

TBH corporates need to rethink their recruitment strategy.

Believe me, I don't question why he's upset - he has every right to be. But that still doesn't give him the right to look down on others and if anything it's hypocritical to do so given his situation (he's looked down upon because he doesn't have the right A Levels). He's acting as if he's the only one who's suffered personal circumstances that have affected his education. It's his 'I'm better than everyone attitude' I have absolutely no time for so lends me to being less sympathetic. Yeah I haven't had an easy run in terms of education and I can't say I haven't bitched and moaned ever to my family and friends but I certainly didn't become bitter and I've never been arrogant despite knowing I'm above average intelligence.

It's not a fair system but you must and he must be able to understand that it becomes impossible to select candidates if you listen to every excuse and story from every applicant. Life isn't fair and you just have to persevere sometimes.






I don't need to be told what are and are not attractive employment traits. I'd actually say my analytical abilities and people skills are some of my strengths. He's worked hard and feels extremely hard done by - I get that - but he does not need to bite people's heads off when they're giving him advice or try and belittle other people's achievements who have succeeded in getting a job ahead of him. Like I said in a corporate job as well as life in general there will be many tough blows and his attitude will not see him through them.

As for your last point, it's a nice idea but they'd only be changing it for say yours or his or whoever's benefit and not their own. The current system works fine for them as it is and inevitably that's all they care about.

Believe me, I don't question why he's upset - he has every right to be. But that still doesn't give him the right to look down on others and if anything it's hypocritical to do so given his situation (he's looked down upon because he doesn't have the right A Levels). He's acting as if he's the only one who's suffered personal circumstances that have affected his education. It's his 'I'm better than everyone attitude' I have absolutely no time for so lends me to being less sympathetic. Yeah I haven't had an easy run in terms of education and I can't say I haven't bitched and moaned ever to my family and friends but I certainly didn't become bitter and I've never been arrogant despite knowing I'm above average intelligence.

It's not a fair system but you must and he must be able to understand that it becomes impossible to select candidates if you listen to every excuse and story from every applicant. Life isn't fair and you just have to persevere sometimes.






I don't need to be told what are and are not attractive employment traits. I'd actually say my analytical abilities and people skills are some of my strengths. He's worked hard and feels extremely hard done by - I get that - but he does not need to bite people's heads off when they're giving him advice or try and belittle other people's achievements who have succeeded in getting a job ahead of him. Like I said in a corporate job as well as life in general there will be many tough blows and his attitude will not see him through them.

As for your last point, it's a nice idea but they'd only be changing it for say yours or his or whoever's benefit and not their own. The current system works fine for them as it is and inevitably that's all they care about.

He is angry, frustrated and as a result has become depressed.

Rejections can corrode a man after a while. One positive thing for sure, its clear that he does care about his career otherwise he wouldn't react this way.

The fact people cant see this, is pathetic. These are the type of skills employers want in employees - which alevels dont teach you.

It's not a fair system but you must and he must be able to understand that it becomes impossible to select candidates if you listen to every excuse and story from every applicant. Life isn't fair and you just have to persevere sometimes.

Don't talk to me about tenacity. I served 4 years in the armed forces before returning to education. There I developed a level of team work that you will never know. I then adapted, instantaneously, to the world of academia demonstrating tenacity in abundance that saw me learn A-level Maths and Further Maths during my first year at University, before surpassing every man academically and collecting two scholarships on the road to a high first. That is the definition of tenacity, now what were you saying about people who have been spoon fed A-levels?!

I don't know what you're finding hard to understand about the fact I do get he is frustrated and angry (has he actually said he's depressed or are you just assuming that?).

This does not give him licence to insult others and him looking down on people makes him hypocritical as he is unsympathetic himself; why he expecting employers to give concessions, be understanding and look past qualifications when he himself is not that way? He judges how intelligent and worthy of a job people are purely because of their qualifications.

If you think it does that makes both you and him the pathetic ones. The fact that you don't understand that this attitude stinks and seem to share a similar attitude explains why you also struggle getting into the jobs you want. I'm actually giving him advice on how to deal with it and yes it may not be what he wants to hear but handling criticism and self evaluation are things he'll need to improve if he ever wants to be employed in a professional job and excel. He's not thinking about what he can do better, how he can improve etc. as if he thinks he's perfect how he is. Yes he did very well against the odds and although it should be enough, it just isn't in this current system and now he has another barrier to cross. There is no finish line when it comes to self development and if he makes it out the other side he'll be much better for it. If he is as **** hot as he says he is he will find a way through.

Don't talk to me about tenacity. I served 4 years in the armed forces before returning to education. There I developed a level of team work that you will never know. I then adapted, instantaneously, to the world of academia demonstrating tenacity in abundance that saw me learn A-level Maths and Further Maths during my first year at University, before surpassing every man academically and collecting two scholarships on the road to a high first. That is the definition of tenacity, now what were you saying about people who have been spoon fed A-levels?!

I don't know what you're finding hard to understand about the fact I do get he is frustrated and angry (has he actually said he's depressed or are you just assuming that?).

This does not give him licence to insult others and him looking down on people makes him hypocritical as he is unsympathetic himself; why he expecting employers to give concessions, be understanding and look past qualifications when he himself is not that way? He judges how intelligent and worthy of a job people are purely because of their qualifications.

If you think it does that makes both you and him the pathetic ones. The fact that you don't understand that this attitude stinks and seem to share a similar attitude explains why you also struggle getting into the jobs you want. I'm actually giving him advice on how to deal with it and yes it may not be what he wants to hear but handling criticism and self evaluation are things he'll need to improve if he ever wants to be employed in a professional job and excel. He's not thinking about what he can do better, how he can improve etc. as if he thinks he's perfect how he is. Yes he did very well against the odds and although it should be enough, it just isn't in this current system and now he has another barrier to cross. There is no finish line when it comes to self development and if he makes it out the other side he'll be much better for it. If he is as **** hot as he says he is he will find a way through.

If you feel either myself or fat_hobbit exhibit such characteristic's at assessment centres then you are sadly deluded; If I actually make it through the application stage and am not instantly rejected, due to taking a tougher route into education, than I generally fly through the recruitment stages. This is a forum where we can vent out frustrations about a floored system. And floored it is, that is not up for debate. Most of my rejections stem from a lack of education on the part of the HR department. I routinely get some retarded HR school leaver type person rejecting exemplarary applications based on their lack of understanding about the UCAS point tariff system, which by the way, explicitly states on the website that they should NOT be used for employment purposes because funnily enough not all qualifications carry UCAS points. Companies should be legally blocked from using such a tariff as doing so effectively amounts to discrimination.

Couldn't have said it better.

It's just elitism mate, some corporates have taken this to another level by asking for GCSE marks. The trouble is, if you didn't have access to the best schooling the odds for you being a strong academic performer early on is a lot less than one that has.

Exactly. The irony is, that most of these so called elitists at my University who the employers fight over, actually struggle to get the top marks. At my University the people who achieved the highest overall marks came from the dirt, these people came from nothing, from lower class state schools where they were not spoon fed their GCSE's and A-levels. And then when they got to University, Boom, their hard worked and dogged determination to succeed shows off. These are the characteristics that make someone successful in business, employers should take note.

Where as these people who have come from privilege, and had Daddy pay £XX,XXX for a top private school struggled to get a 1st, because at University there is no spoon feeding. Employers should recognise this, but they should also recognise the fact that people also take alternative routes to University and thereby take more note of degree results than prior qualifications. Some companies are fortunately starting to do this, such as Network Rail who scrapped their UCAS points system altogether last year.