Need a job for a year before I go to university...

You probably have expectations far too high. What experience do you have? You wont get a good job just because you want to be intellectually challenged when there are candidates with degrees and experience.

Reply 2

FadedJade

Yeah, sounds like you have high expectations. As its only for a whle your best bet is shop work/bar work or something similar just until you go to uni. Half the time its difficult trying to get those jobs, let alone those of the type that you actually want.

Reply 3

lolilady---O

1

Without experience I think your best bet is an office junior/admin assistant type job. No matter what your marks without experience you'd most likely have to start from the bottom and work your way up.

Reply 4

Dionysus

Why do you need to get a job? Is it for financial reasons, in which case, you might as well forget anything intellectually stimulating... Even places like McDonalds are difficult to get into. If it's for intellectual reasons, you're better off doing something voluntary/expenses only. You won't get a job that requires a brain in the summer before Uni. Or if you do, you're the exception to the rule. By the way, do you actually have a place at Oxford then?

Reply 5

TheOneWho

12

If you want to study law you could try doing admin work in a law office. Might be hard if you have no experience of that type of work though. Not really intellectually stimulating but you might pick things up while you are there.

Reply 6

Stealth-Mode

13

Even if you secure a job within an industry that is generally intellectual stimulating, with no experience or degree, you will be working at the very bottom, i.e. administration/photo-copying/message-boy/making-tea etc- you won't be given any roles that cognitively engage- but see it from the employers point of view- why should they give you such a role?.... Just make sure you enjoy whatever you do- a year can go very slowly otherwise.

Good Luck

Reply 7

OP

Isn't capitalism ****?! And yeah, I sadly need one for financial reasons; this is really stressing me out actually! But stealth-mode I'm afraid I can't, or are too impertinent to, see it from an employer's point of view: in this glorious meritocracy that Gordon Brown keeps reminding that I live, surely I should be viewed as a person rather than a semi-autonomous record of the qualifications I have had 'programmed' into me - or am I just too idealistic?!

Thanks for all the kind replies though.

Reply 8

simon123

jismith1989

Isn't capitalism ****?! And yeah, I sadly need one for financial reasons; this is really stressing me out actually! But stealth-mode I'm afraid I can't, or are too impertinent to, see it from an employer's point of view: in this glorious meritocracy that Gordon Brown keeps reminding that I live, surely I should be viewed as a person rather than a semi-autonomous record of the qualifications I have had 'programmed' into me - or am I just too idealistic?!

Thanks for all the kind replies though.

Now back in the real world...you do not have a place at Oxford so that cant go on your CV, you are doing A Levels currently, so you dont have AAA. What evidence employers will even see from your CV to suggest you even deserve such a job I am not quite sure. Lower your expectations or you will not find work. Yes, and also, capitalism is indeed a meritocracy, the point being you have no formal qualifications on which to back up your view of yourself. Sorry to sound harsh, I think you just need to be realistic.

Reply 9

OP

Simon, I to some extent see your point, however, you must recognise my fundamental point that there is not a direct correlation between ability and qualifications, and thus it is unmeritocratic for employers to assume one to exist for simplicity. I suppose my intellectual ability could be evidenced, however, by the fact that I am a member of Mensa: i.e. an IQ in the top 2%. But i will, sadly, agree with you that I may have to lower my expectations.

Reply 10

simon123

jismith1989

Simon, I to some extent see your point, however, you must recognise my fundamental point that there is not a direct correlation between ability and qualifications, and thus it is unmeritocratic for employers to assume one to exist for simplicity. I suppose my intellectual ability could be evidenced, however, by the fact that I am a member of Mensa: i.e. an IQ in the top 2%. But i will, sadly, agree with you that I may have to lower my expectations.

I agree, there is not an exact correlation between qualifications and 'ability', but I am quite confident there is a strong link. You just have to consider it from the point of the employer, qualifications are a good signal of ability and so they use these in selecting candidates.

On a different note, you want to be a lawyer, go and email all the small law firms in your area and ask if they can provide work experience. Find them using a telephone directory. You might not get anywhere but its worth a shot and will be decent experience. However even if you did get an offer in this domain, be prepared for fairly boring work, this is the reality even for new graduates at least some of the time within their job.

Reply 11

FadedJade

IQ tests are rubbish. They are learnable and therefore no good. (Just my opinion, im convinced mine should be much lower than it apparently is)

But apart from that, these people that have degrees are also fairly likely to have had work experience and that is also very important in the work place. Everything I've applied for is competency based, and asked for examples of when you have done certain things, and it is work experience that provides many of those examples for a lot of people. This work experience isn't even directly relevant most of the time but it doesnt matter. This is something that you dont have, which will make it harder for you to get the jobs you are after.

Obviously I dont know you, but it could be that if you come across when you apply for these jobs as you are doing on here then they might not want to hire you? Not meaning to be rude but you are coming across as rather arrogant.

Reply 12

simon123

Nina

IQ tests are rubbish. They are learnable and therefore no good. (Just my opinion, im convinced mine should be much lower than it apparently is)

But apart from that, these people that have degrees are also fairly likely to have had work experience and that is also very important in the work place. Everything I've applied for is competency based, and asked for examples of when you have done certain things, and it is work experience that provides many of those examples for a lot of people. This work experience isn't even directly relevant most of the time but it doesnt matter. This is something that you dont have, which will make it harder for you to get the jobs you are after.

Obviously I dont know you, but it could be that if you come across when you apply for these jobs as you are doing on here then they might not want to hire you? Not meaning to be rude but you are coming across as rather arrogant.

I have to say I agree with this point.

Reply 13

OP

Sorry for putting forward an air of arrogance - you are right. But I do happen to believe that I am capable of more than stacking shelves at Tesco: if that's arrogance, you might as well sentence me!

I agree than IQ tests shouldn't be trusted though; it follows on from my point that all methods of testing, stratification and qualifications are necessarily flawed. Work experience, I agree, can be very useful, but surely there must be some, if only a minority, of jobs for which experience is in no way beneficial.

And just to finally jettison the arrogance, I'm weedy and crap at sport!

Reply 14

OP

But another point is that people generally, when I mention this, tell me how things are using the fact that they are that way as justification for them being so. Am I only the only person who wants to change the world?

Reply 15

FadedJade

No, and when I had a gap year I wanted to do a job that would challenge me and at the end of the day i had to take what i could get. 10 hours a week in a shop, i worked hard and 4 months later i was the manager. So you can progress to things, although that wasn't exactly rocket science, it gave me an opportunity to display skills that graduate jobs want.

Looking at it from the employers point of view, they are simply saving you time. If people apply with degrees and experience compared to you, its going to be them that they pick. So in that way they are just saving you some time and effort.

Reply 16

OP