After all the struggle...

Having freshly graduated with a first i (wrongly) assumed that getting a grad job would be a walk in the park. Ha how wrong was i !
In total id guess, which i think is close enough that i had applied to around 500 jobs give or take a few. And out that i got around 20 interviews. Pretty rubbish ratios but thats how the job market was. Every week there would e a frontpage headlining story of how unemployment was increasing, more graduates without jobs, 1000 graduates applying for one job in Costa and so on...

I was wrong at the start to think securing a grad scheme would be a piece of cake since i got a first. But thats all i had, stellar academics and hardly any expierincr which is as equally important if not more.

I remember it took my a good whole day to fill in an application properly as some companies asked rediculous essay type questions such as if we gave u a million quid what would you invest in? Such a waste of time. But i knew rushing applications would have an impact on quality. After a few months about 3-4 i realised i was getting no-where, i would be knocked out at the online tests, assessment centres, group and final interviews constantly for various reasons. I was soon becomming very depressed and started doubting myself and losing hope. While being broke and staying at home constantly applying for jobs didnt happen.

I then made a choice to stop applying jobs for a while and look at short term employment and got a job in Oxford Street Next. Which was as difficult to secure since hundreds of people applied, grads like me i assume. So for a while i had some funds coming in and i could do things and go out for a while. But you could never imagine how bad it was at Next. Being locked for hours on end in the basement stockroom was killing my soul. I hated waking up to go to work and was depressed as to how crap my life was. There was a guy at work who said i also when to the same uni as you about 30 years ago. Hearing that made me think, great if we both went to the same uni and he works here then i guess im going to have the same future. But contemplating for days at work i realised i wantes a better life and live my dreams and that was enough motivation for me to get back to applying for jobs again. I went back to the basics, redone my CV, gained an understanding of the job market and looked at what the reasons of my
Past rejections were and made improvements. This was also helped by the fact that my job at Next ended which didnt phase me one bit. I would have resigned i think if i stayed any longer.

So around nov i started getting more success with interviews and kept getting them often, even if i didnt get the job in the end. I saw improvements in myself. I also started to vary the type of jobs i applied to and used agencies, and recruiters who specialised in the field of work that i wanted a career in.

I also recall having gone to the london careers fair which was an absolute waste of time. In fact it was an event where u could pick up free handouts only to realise that they all said apply online. BUT, im glad i went for one reason only as there were hundreds if not thousanda of graduates lined up outside waiting to get in. This made me realised that i wasnt alone and that i had to work even harder. It also felt reassuring in a strange way since appying to jobs on reed, your told the number of applicants so i guess those lined up were them lol. And that these people did exist. I decided againt killing most of them since it wouldnt have much difference haha.

So one particulary application i sent i had reached the final stage which included various rounds of testing, interviews and grilling which spaned over a month. I had a feeling that this was it, i was going to get a job since i nailed every test and interview. So i got a call saying im in the final two and they would deliberate and get back to me next week. Next week came and they said no since the other person had more experience. As gutted as i was it felt good in a way knowing it came down to a flip of a coin.

I think after getting that specific rejection i felt low again as giving my all didnt seem enough. So i started looking at self studying for my accountin qualification and began to research. But not long into that i got a call from the employers with whom i reached the final stage that they want to interview me for an accelerated 3 month finanial analyst internship. She metioned that they were all impressed with me, laughed and had a great time at the interviews and saw i was talented, motivated and had potential. So after another interview the gave me an offer. I couldn't even tell you how i felt that day, after months of hard work i finally got the job i wanted. Albeit only for three months, i may or may not be kept on (hopefully i am) the experience would be gold dust.

If you've read so far thanks as ive written quite an essay, i hope u take some inspiration and find that u could relate at some points. Just want to say never lose hope, and to always work harder.

To be continued...

Having freshly graduated with a first i (wrongly) assumed that getting a grad job would be a walk in the park. Ha how wrong was i !
In total id guess, which i think is close enough that i had applied to around 500 jobs give or take a few. And out that i got around 20 interviews. Pretty rubbish ratios but thats how the job market was. Every week there would e a frontpage headlining story of how unemployment was increasing, more graduates without jobs, 1000 graduates applying for one job in Costa and so on...

I was wrong at the start to think securing a grad scheme would be a piece of cake since i got a first. But thats all i had, stellar academics and hardly any expierincr which is as equally important if not more.

I remember it took my a good whole day to fill in an application properly as some companies asked rediculous essay type questions such as if we gave u a million quid what would you invest in? Such a waste of time. But i knew rushing applications would have an impact on quality. After a few months about 3-4 i realised i was getting no-where, i would be knocked out at the online tests, assessment centres, group and final interviews constantly for various reasons. I was soon becomming very depressed and started doubting myself and losing hope. While being broke and staying at home constantly applying for jobs didnt happen.

I then made a choice to stop applying jobs for a while and look at short term employment and got a job in Oxford Street Next. Which was as difficult to secure since hundreds of people applied, grads like me i assume. So for a while i had some funds coming in and i could do things and go out for a while. But you could never imagine how bad it was at Next. Being locked for hours on end in the basement stockroom was killing my soul. I hated waking up to go to work and was depressed as to how crap my life was. There was a guy at work who said i also when to the same uni as you about 30 years ago. Hearing that made me think, great if we both went to the same uni and he works here then i guess im going to have the same future. But contemplating for days at work i realised i wantes a better life and live my dreams and that was enough motivation for me to get back to applying for jobs again. I went back to the basics, redone my CV, gained an understanding of the job market and looked at what the reasons of my
Past rejections were and made improvements. This was also helped by the fact that my job at Next ended which didnt phase me one bit. I would have resigned i think if i stayed any longer.

So around nov i started getting more success with interviews and kept getting them often, even if i didnt get the job in the end. I saw improvements in myself. I also started to vary the type of jobs i applied to and used agencies, and recruiters who specialised in the field of work that i wanted a career in.

I also recall having gone to the london careers fair which was an absolute waste of time. In fact it was an event where u could pick up free handouts only to realise that they all said apply online. BUT, im glad i went for one reason only as there were hundreds if not thousanda of graduates lined up outside waiting to get in. This made me realised that i wasnt alone and that i had to work even harder. It also felt reassuring in a strange way since appying to jobs on reed, your told the number of applicants so i guess those lined up were them lol. And that these people did exist. I decided againt killing most of them since it wouldnt have much difference haha.

So one particulary application i sent i had reached the final stage which included various rounds of testing, interviews and grilling which spaned over a month. I had a feeling that this was it, i was going to get a job since i nailed every test and interview. So i got a call saying im in the final two and they would deliberate and get back to me next week. Next week came and they said no since the other person had more experience. As gutted as i was it felt good in a way knowing it came down to a flip of a coin.

I think after getting that specific rejection i felt low again as giving my all didnt seem enough. So i started looking at self studying for my accountin qualification and began to research. But not long into that i got a call from the employers with whom i reached the final stage that they want to interview me for an accelerated 3 month finanial analyst internship. She metioned that they were all impressed with me, laughed and had a great time at the interviews and saw i was talented, motivated and had potential. So after another interview the gave me an offer. I couldn't even tell you how i felt that day, after months of hard work i finally got the job i wanted. Albeit only for three months, i may or may not be kept on (hopefully i am) the experience would be gold dust.

If you've read so far thanks as ive written quite an essay, i hope u take some inspiration and find that u could relate at some points. Just want to say never lose hope, and to always work harder.

To be continued...

Thanks for that, I'm graduating in a couple of months and I'm so panicked about it, all I do is read news articles about how bad it is out there. It's nice to read a positive story for a change. Well done on getting a job and good luck with your career.

Thanks mate, trust me i know how you feel since i went through it all myself. I hope having read my story you can see how hard it was, which my best advice is to start early and have a reasonable idea of what you would like to do. Also while your at Uni still try and get your CV and application forms checked out. But it can be tough with exams and cw, to look for jobs. And if grad jobs arent the only type of jobs that we can apply to which many people don't realise.

You got a first, defiantly not in English grammar or spelling.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Thanks for that, I'm graduating in a couple of months and I'm so panicked about it, all I do is read news articles about how bad it is out there. It's nice to read a positive story for a change. Well done on getting a job and good luck with your career.

OP, sounds like you didn't bother to build your CV beyond academics prior to graduation and you ended up paying the price with the extended job hunt. Glad you got something sorted in the end, but if you thought you were going to walk in to a grad job with no experience just because you had a first, then you clearly did no research whatsoever. I find it hard to sympathise, as after all it was your own choice not to do internships, placements etc.



If you're graduating in a couple of months I severely hope you're already putting in your applications - you're already very late as it is!

Having freshly graduated with a first i (wrongly) assumed that getting a grad job would be a walk in the park. Ha how wrong was i !
In total id guess, which i think is close enough that i had applied to around 500 jobs give or take a few. And out that i got around 20 interviews. Pretty rubbish ratios but thats how the job market was. Every week there would e a frontpage headlining story of how unemployment was increasing, more graduates without jobs, 1000 graduates applying for one job in Costa and so on...

I was wrong at the start to think securing a grad scheme would be a piece of cake since i got a first. But thats all i had, stellar academics and hardly any expierincr which is as equally important if not more.

I remember it took my a good whole day to fill in an application properly as some companies asked rediculous essay type questions such as if we gave u a million quid what would you invest in? Such a waste of time. But i knew rushing applications would have an impact on quality. After a few months about 3-4 i realised i was getting no-where, i would be knocked out at the online tests, assessment centres, group and final interviews constantly for various reasons. I was soon becomming very depressed and started doubting myself and losing hope. While being broke and staying at home constantly applying for jobs didnt happen.

I then made a choice to stop applying jobs for a while and look at short term employment and got a job in Oxford Street Next. Which was as difficult to secure since hundreds of people applied, grads like me i assume. So for a while i had some funds coming in and i could do things and go out for a while. But you could never imagine how bad it was at Next. Being locked for hours on end in the basement stockroom was killing my soul. I hated waking up to go to work and was depressed as to how crap my life was. There was a guy at work who said i also when to the same uni as you about 30 years ago. Hearing that made me think, great if we both went to the same uni and he works here then i guess im going to have the same future. But contemplating for days at work i realised i wantes a better life and live my dreams and that was enough motivation for me to get back to applying for jobs again. I went back to the basics, redone my CV, gained an understanding of the job market and looked at what the reasons of my
Past rejections were and made improvements. This was also helped by the fact that my job at Next ended which didnt phase me one bit. I would have resigned i think if i stayed any longer.

So around nov i started getting more success with interviews and kept getting them often, even if i didnt get the job in the end. I saw improvements in myself. I also started to vary the type of jobs i applied to and used agencies, and recruiters who specialised in the field of work that i wanted a career in.

I also recall having gone to the london careers fair which was an absolute waste of time. In fact it was an event where u could pick up free handouts only to realise that they all said apply online. BUT, im glad i went for one reason only as there were hundreds if not thousanda of graduates lined up outside waiting to get in. This made me realised that i wasnt alone and that i had to work even harder. It also felt reassuring in a strange way since appying to jobs on reed, your told the number of applicants so i guess those lined up were them lol. And that these people did exist. I decided againt killing most of them since it wouldnt have much difference haha.

So one particulary application i sent i had reached the final stage which included various rounds of testing, interviews and grilling which spaned over a month. I had a feeling that this was it, i was going to get a job since i nailed every test and interview. So i got a call saying im in the final two and they would deliberate and get back to me next week. Next week came and they said no since the other person had more experience. As gutted as i was it felt good in a way knowing it came down to a flip of a coin.

I think after getting that specific rejection i felt low again as giving my all didnt seem enough. So i started looking at self studying for my accountin qualification and began to research. But not long into that i got a call from the employers with whom i reached the final stage that they want to interview me for an accelerated 3 month finanial analyst internship. She metioned that they were all impressed with me, laughed and had a great time at the interviews and saw i was talented, motivated and had potential. So after another interview the gave me an offer. I couldn't even tell you how i felt that day, after months of hard work i finally got the job i wanted. Albeit only for three months, i may or may not be kept on (hopefully i am) the experience would be gold dust.

If you've read so far thanks as ive written quite an essay, i hope u take some inspiration and find that u could relate at some points. Just want to say never lose hope, and to always work harder.

To be continued...

Thanks for the encouragement.

What university did you go and study what? Good luck with the job.

You got a first, defiantly not in English grammar or spelling.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Well done OP, that is exactly the kind of attitude all new grads need to have these days Like you, I slogged through a ton of rejections, and was initially unemployed for nearly 3 months following my return from travelling - I realise some graduates have had it way harder than that, but for me those 3 months felt like 3 years!

Anyway, like you I've taken every rejection/negative feedback as a learning experience, trying my best to always be improving along the way - nearly 3 years after initially graduating, I'm now an analyst in the City on circa £30k (been with same firm for over two years, worked hard and got promoted internally.)

I also didn't get a first or a 2:1 (2:2 in Law from redbrick uni) - whilst this wasn't ideal, looking back it wasn't all bad. I guess if there is one positive to getting a poorer grade, it's that I was prepared for things to be tough - I knew I might have to go through 20, 30, 40 rejections to get that one golden opportunity; and once there I would have to work twice as hard as everyone else.

Don't get me wrong, I'd 100% rather have got a 1st (!) but, at the same time, I see a lot of threads getting started on here by people who get top degrees from top unis, and think that it is their 'golden ticket,' and that now riches & prosperity are guaranteed. Sadly this isn't the case - the degree is literally just the entry point to the "rat-race" of work, a race which a fresh graduate hasn't even started yet.

U are exhibiting signs of a perfectionist, mate, that won't help you much in life.

Nowadays, finding a job feels like dating. You're trying to find people you connect with, a job you enjoy along with something that stretches you. Unfortunately there are thousands of other people looking for the same thing. What do you do when that happens?