I&#x27;m a 2:2 graduate I can&#x27;t even get minimum wage jobs

Professional qualifications on these schemes are academic pursuits right? So the point about academia being redundant in such jobs is silly. You have an anti-academic bias. We, and most crucially, the firms, do not.

Reply 302

cactussed

15

Original post by MUN123

I graduated last month with a 2:2 in Computer science and since then I have been applying for graduate jobs non-stop with a lot of rejections. I then had to sign on JSA, now the Job center are advising me to work for free for 2 weeks in a call center to get "experience" which I've refused because I dislike to be exploited by the company and work for free in a field that does not interest me.

I explained to the Job centers that I'm interested in IT jobs to which they replied that they would not be paying me benefits so that I could sit and wait for a very specific job. And after applying to loads of minimum wage jobs and getting loads of rejections they want me to work for free in some crappy job to get experience.

The other day they sent me to a compulsory course which explained about how to use the internet to apply for jobs I thought it was laughable they must be stuck in the 90's. They have no clue on how to deal with graduates

Cba to sit through the whole discussion, just skimmed the last few pages, so apologies if I'm just parroting what's been said, but the worst thing you can do is fall into the trap of feeling sorry for yourself and wallowing in self-pity. By that point you'll have lost the motivation to keep applying and applying and applying, and not only that, but to submit good applications. The jobs market is **** at the moment (although even now it's improved from a few years ago) and competition is so fierce that employers can pick whoever they like.

I myself graduated last year with a redbrick 2:1, good ECs and GCSE/A Levels etc etc etc, and have only just this month started a proper well-paying grad job with an international technology company which also allows me to use my degree subject, which I would never have dared to believe would be possible just a few months ago when I was working full time in a supermarket. Not that I'm saying you don't need that belief, because without a belief in your abilities you will just turn up to interview after interview with half a mind to fail already.

I speak from (personal and third-party) experience when I say that receiving weekly rejections for anything from grad schemes to cleaning jobs chips away at your self-esteem and morale, and the only way to overcome this is by trying to remain positive and focusing on the long-term end result rather than viewing each individual application or job as being 'it'. If I were in your position (which is similar to my own a year ago) then I would accept the calling job seeing as it's only two weeks. It will get the job centre off your back for a bit, you get something to add to your CV, and it helps focus your mind. Working in a supermarket, while not an awful job in itself, made me hungry to better myself and escape the mediocrity that is working in retail as a graduate, which in turn helped to focus my mind on what I wanted and needed to do to achieve it.

Original post by SloaneRanger

But at the same time your brother Jalebi is depressed because he goes to BCU, he feels his life is gone. He is missing any form of female interaction, just through getting bad Alevels and going to a bad uni. There is no substitute for hardwork.

Who exactly is this Jalebi who's depressed at having gone to BCU?

Reply 303

Original post by Tom_Ford

Most reputable graduate roles require part time academic study. Look at the NHS business grad schemes, look at the accountancy/big four ones. Look at the legal profession.

So IBM is not reputable??? Yet is getting by without asking for UCAS points???

2.1 and ABB is not an extreme level of intelligence. It is the bare minimum because of competition. I can fairly say that I am mid tier when you consider that there are people with degrees and experiences from places like Oxbridge, Ivy's , LSE etc. These are the unis that require high UCAS points to get into... and employers obviously feel that the grads from these places are high quality and will make them a lot of money. History suggests that they are correct in their assumptions.

There are plenty of people that get great UCAS points, go to great universities and end up with a 2.2.

Does that make them thick or unlucky?

The point is, yes this has happened due to competition, but don't make these grad jobs sound harder than they are.

As I keep on saying, which is falling on death ears. If you want to test your intelligence, consider a career in academia.

HR in these corporates can devise a better recruiting system like IBM has, but are lazy to do so. OR they are just elitist.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 304

Original post by cactussed

Who exactly is this Jalebi who's depressed at having gone to BCU?

He is trolling me.

Him and Tom Ford.

Stimulus whores.

Reply 305

Original post by fat_hobbit

I don't work in sales.

I am a techie.

In the same way I can argue with you and say you know **** all about object oriented programming. Unfair comparison.

And what you do is no different to what a lot of other sales people do who need to pitch to clients.

Btw this is how i know you have never worked for sme or corp, because you think those are what it takes to run a business LMAO. Get real, those obsolete programs, a business is run by a CRM, its different working for your uncle - pen and paper. But real companies use things like salesforce/oracle/sage or even act. You have to learn the damn thing inside out and they aren't as easy as people think on top of that you wouldn't have a clue how to manage a flight planner,lol. So much goes on in the real world, but sales people in IT get the same accreditation and sit the same exams as developers and programmers. The idea is to know what they are selling and get the Fjitsu and IBM qualifications, hence the reps coming out. They go and do proper exams, if my uncle didn't tell me this i would hit him. They get industry accreditations, even the developer needs to know all these programs. Its how sme and corps interact within.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 306

Original post by fat_hobbit

So IBM is not reputable??? Yet is getting by without asking for UCAS points???

There are plenty of people that get great UCAS points, go to great universities and end up with a 2.2.

Does that make them thick or unlucky?

The point is, yes this has happened due to competition, but don't make these grad jobs sound harder than they are.

As I keep on saying, which is falling on death ears. If you want to test your intelligence, consider a career in academia.

HR in these corporates can devise a better recruiting system like IBM has, but are lazy to do so. OR they are just elitist.

No, it means that they did not get the requirements so the employer has a right to reject them straight off. They set the rules because it is their company. If they want academic types then they are well within their right to hire them, and they do.

Reply 307

Original post by Tom_Ford

Professional qualifications on these schemes are academic pursuits right? So the point about academia being redundant in such jobs is silly. You have an anti-academic bias. We, and most crucially, the firms, do not.

If it is all about academia, why was it that the the interviewers who studied at ploys, reject you from a job you wanted to do?

If they were doing the job you wanted to do, it goes to show you don't need superior academics to do it. You make jobs sound black and white when they are not.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 308

Original post by fat_hobbit

Some of the best sales people I know mate, are not academics.

Look at socialnoob, he does sales too, gets taught similar sales techniques as you, but doesn't have ALs.

Your job does not require a high level of academia, whatever way you dress it, it requires good social skills and from my knowledge there is not an AL in Social skills, is there?

Stop making your job sound better then it is.

He doesn't i was winding you up. He does media sales, something lower down the scale, i do boutique. I was testing whether you knew anything, LMAO. It was entertaining to watch, i thought told you this weeks ago.

Reply 309

Zorg

Have you ever had a job before? Be honest..

Original post by MUN123

No

That is your biggest hurdle, not the 2.2

The 2.2 would only hold you back in grad schemes, even there it's still doable. But currently you are a graduate with mediocre grades and nothing else to offer. I'd second the job centre's sentiments to volunteer for work, though perhaps in a more related/relevant field to you. I wouldn't see it as exploitation, the company will be investing time and money into your learning key skills that would contribute much more to your applications than your degree would.
Not meaning to offend but you do seem to have a chip on your shoulder which really wouldn't come across well to prospective employers.

On a side note I also agree with the JC that JSA is not there for you to pick and choose what job you'd like. Get a low paid job to keep you going where you can at least gain some experience if nothing else.

Reply 310

Original post by Tom_Ford

No, it means that they did not get the requirements so the employer has a right to reject them straight off. They set the rules because it is their company. If they want academic types then they are well within their right to hire them, and they do.

Yeah well don't make the actual jobs sound harder than they are, when they are not. Sales for example, what a ****ing joke. And Sloane needed x amount of UCAS points/2.1 degree just to get hired.

Company policy is creating the illusion that they are.

Only because it is an over subscribed market, and they have chosen to do things x way, does not mean their hiring process is fair.

Reply 311

Original post by fat_hobbit

If it is all about academia, why was it that the the interviewers who studied at ploys, reject you from a job you wanted to do?

If they were doing the job you wanted to do, it goes to show you don't need superior academics to do it.

As I mentioned before on this thread, it is because it was not a top company and the company was full of people from poly's. Obviously the culture is different at a top company like many of those on Milkround.

You wanted to apply to top firms... you got rejected straight off as you did not fulfil the UCAS points requirement. Unlike you, I have the luxury of being able to apply to both high UCAS points requirement companies and non/low UCAS points requirement companies.

Reply 312

Original post by Tom_Ford

Professional qualifications on these schemes are academic pursuits right? So the point about academia being redundant in such jobs is silly. You have an anti-academic bias. We, and most crucially, the firms, do not.

Always qualifications they put you forward for even that prince rubbish, you can get funded by for example. I hate L&D and having to account for what you have done every 6 months.

Original post by fat_hobbit

Which is what I am trying to tell these idiots - sloane etc. But they are shoving their elitism down mine and others throat, maybe I am the fool for entertaining it.

I really don't understand how one can think that being employed by these corporates is somehow "elite", because given that they're the biggest companies in the world, surely they also by definition employ the most amount of people? As someone who currently works for one of the world's biggest and most well known companies, I don't derive any haughty feelings from doing so.

Reply 314

Original post by SloaneRanger

He doesn't i was winding you up. He does media sales, something lower down the scale, i do boutique. I was testing whether you knew anything, LMAO. It was entertaining to watch, i thought told you this weeks ago.

And yet you spoke about sales techniques. Pitching etc.

You know there are a lot of clever people out there who are **** sales men. It is not an academic subject.

Reply 315

SophieSmall

21

OP from what I've seen on this thread you have a bad attitude and feel entitled to a job just because you went to university. I wouldn't hire you.
Yes it is stupid they made you do an internet course though, complete nonsense.
Take whatever experience you can, you're really not helping yourself by refusing.

Reply 316

Original post by fat_hobbit

Sloane is working in BA, he described his job role earlier.

Excel, SPSS.

IF you think that justifies extreme level of intelligence, you are very deluded.

And for tech, grad scheme or not, you will always be learning.

http://certification.salesforce.com

https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-gb/dynamics-certification.aspx

Each company uses a different one, you need to get an accreditation. If my uncle didn't tell me this i would use physical intervention into asking why.

Reply 317

Original post by Smack

I really don't understand how one can think that being employed by these corporates is somehow "elite", because given that they're the biggest companies in the world, surely they also by definition employ the most amount of people? As someone who currently works for one of the world's biggest and most well known companies, I don't derive any haughty feelings from doing so.

Smack, look at the way these guys are talking.

By the way I know you are a fellow Aberdeen grad, did you read the **** Sloane was coming out with about our uni earlier on?

You are an engineer, so he will think you are **** at what you do because you did not go to Imperial and do engineering.

Reply 318

Original post by fat_hobbit

Yeah well don't make the actual jobs sound harder than they are, when they are not. Sales for example, what a ****ing joke. And Sloane needed x amount of UCAS points/2.1 degree just to get hired.

Company policy is creating the illusion that they are.

Only because it is an over subscribed market, and they have chosen to do things x way, does not mean their hiring process is fair.

I am pretty sure sales skills are required in pretty much every job. Except for people like NHS doctors, obviously.

Reply 319