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I'm a 2:2 graduate I can't even get minimum wage jobs

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I managed to get a good 25K a year job right after graduating with no work experience whatsoever, and I have a BA and went to a non RG mid ranked University.

Your University name will not get you hired, despite what many of you here naively believe. You'll realize that as soon as you enter the real world...
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Costalo
I managed to get a good 25K a year job right after graduating with no work experience whatsoever, and I have a BA and went to a non RG mid ranked University.

Your University name won't get you hired, despite what many of you here naively believe. You'll realize that as soon as you enter the real world...

What job? What degree? Thanx.
Original post by Costalo
I managed to get a good 25K a year job right after graduating with no work experience whatsoever, and I have a BA and went to a non RG mid ranked University.

Your University name won't get you hired, despite what many of you here naively believe. You'll realize that as soon as you enter the real world...


That's pretty much it tbh.. Get around 28K now or so (Shift allowance) Underpaid by 150%... Any how, the uni means nothing. The experience is what matters. This being said however, if you represent your university well, your employer is likely to hire someone from your uni again
Original post by The_Internet
That's pretty much it tbh.. Get around 28K now or so (Shift allowance) Underpaid by 150%... Any how, the uni means nothing. The experience is what matters. This being said however, if you represent your university well, your employer is likely to hire someone from your uni again


This ^

Literally the reason why some employers have target universities.

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Original post by MUN123
No


And therein lies your problem. You're up against applicants who have been working since they were 16, and you have no proof that you have the skills to be in the workplace (e.g. timekeeping), no employment references, and no relevant work experience. What's the number one thing that employers look for in prospective employees? Experience.

My first 'proper' job was working behind a bar, aged 18, pulling pints and doing other things that were far below what I was capable of. Years later, I've graduated and am in a full time graduate level job (and have been since the week I graduated). That bar job acted as a stepping stone which let me get more and increasingly relevant work experience, which enabled me to get grad jobs in a completely different sector.

You have, to a certain extent, brought this on yourself - I'm sure that people have been telling you for years that employers want experience. You will now need to go out and get the experience however you can, as you are starting rather later than most. It may not be the exact type of work you want, but you're going to have to suck it up and work your way up because you didn't put in the legwork when you should have done.
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


Well I work in IT support, have no degree and this is my first support job so no previous experience... thing with IT if you're not passionate you wont make it.. you have to demonstrate passion and tbh a degree doesn't demonstrate it, it simply means you took the generic route after A-levels..
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Dont take this the wrong way. But basically, unless you get into a graduate scheme you will have to take whatever comes along.

I got a 1st in international relations and politics, and although I have only applied to two grad schemes since i graduated in January 2015, no one else would employ you without experience.

I worked all throughout my degree as a bartender, but got my current office job because I took a temp contract for minimum wage, and they kept me on and I got a promotion.

It isnt exactly the career I am intending to pursue but it enriches my CV and it gives me key skills for the future.

Getting a degree doesnt guarantee you a job (as nice as that would be). And although generally I am not in favor of internships, some times you have no choice. At this point anything is better than nothing surely? It'll still give you transferable skills, and its better than doing nothing and complaining.
Reply 787
Original post by Souljer
Well I work in IT support, have no degree and this is my first support job so no previous experience... thing with IT if you're not passionate you wont make it.. you have to demonstrate passion and tbh a degree doesn't demonstrate it, it simply means you took the generic route after A-levels..
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With all your passion for IT why'd you choose service support? Oh wait, because the good entry jobs needed a degree...
Original post by Quady
With all your passion for IT why'd you choose service support? Oh wait, because the good entry jobs needed a degree...


No mate its a foot in the door you clearly know nothing about IT, people with degrees start of in support roles.

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Reply 789
Original post by Souljer
No mate its a foot in the door you clearly know nothing about IT, people with degrees start of in support roles.

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Really?

I started on £28k in service management. ITIL'd up?
Original post by Quady
Really?

I started on £28k in service management. ITIL'd up?


The fact the OP has a degree and can't get a support job ****s on your theory and yes I have ITIL intermediate certification, no intention of progressing further as I actually like technology not pretending to work in IT by having a service management job as I like working with the actual technology.

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Original post by Quady
With all your passion for IT why'd you choose service support? Oh wait, because the good entry jobs needed a degree...


Original post by Souljer
No mate its a foot in the door you clearly know nothing about IT, people with degrees start of in support roles.

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I did a placement year. HUUGE company. Was T3 over there. Now work at a large company, but basically became very large, very quickly, so still has that medium company feel. At any rate, I am now T2 (And honestly. The work is harder here than it was at the HUGE company (2nd largest company in the world for the industry it is in)

The first company was not an IT company. This company however is. I dont have any ITIL certificate. I work in an ITIL environment, but that's it. I dont see why I should need some certificate to prove that.

The only reason I see why I need a CCNA and above, is because well this company is a gold partner. The last company wasn't a gold partner.

Placement year wage: 12.5K (Now paying 15K)
After graduate wage: Some £28K, but very underpaid, however a **** tonne of chance for learning!
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by The_Internet
I did a placement year. HUUGE company. Was T3 over there. Now work at a large company, but basically became very large, very quickly, so still has that medium company feel. At any rate, I am now T2 (And honestly. The work is harder here than it was at the HUGE company (2nd largest company in the world for the industry it is in)

The first company was not an IT company. This company however is. I dont have any ITIL certificate. I work in an ITIL environment, but that's it. I dont see why I should need some certificate to prove that.

The only reason I see why I need a CCNA and above, is because well this company is a gold partner. The last company wasn't a gold partner.

Placement year wage: 12.5K (Now paying 15K)
After graduate wage: Some £28K, but very underpaid, however a **** tonne of chance for learning!

I'm not a grad but I'm on 24k starting so to be fair 28k isn't a big jump.


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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


What do you think would have helped you during your time at uni?
Did your uni ever give you any exposure to the world of work?

I'd be really interested to hear how you feel your situation could have been improved?
Thanks
Sam
For those who have found a career relevant to their degrees, how do you find it compares to your perception of the industry?
Did you have a good idea of what it would be like or have a few things taken you by surprise? Does anyone wish they'd known about it more before they took their course?
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


Is this meant to be suprising?
Reply 796
Hi guys unfortunately I don't really have anything to add to the thread as I'm a second year student but as part of my course I've been asked to research a graduate job and was wondering if anyone on here would give me an interview ? I study Geography but please respond if your job even loosely relates , i promise it'll be quick ill just send a few questions.
Original post by ron_trns
Enlighten me then, o' wise one. Pretty much everyone in this industry at some point as thought about quitting it all for something more simple (I hear this every day). His reasoning is perfectly understandable, he doesn't like sitting in front of a screen and prefers interacting with people. He should have used his degree to do something else/done something different in the first place yeah but maybe he realized too late (loads of people do). Infact loads of people realize this and still work in this industry. Also you are describing supermarket checkouts as reptitive, yet coding is not. I'm beginning to get the impression you've either not been working for long or have never worked in this field before.


It depends on the job. Sometimes it isn't. I've had days I worked 9 hours and didn't even realize. I also had tons of days (my old job) where I couldn't wait for home time, and would make sure to never do overtime. It depends on creative freedom + environment.

A job where you are required to do tons of nonsense to appease QA, where the source control system sucks or where code reviews stamp our any attempts to do anything creative (e.g. use fancy features of c++11) sucks. But not all jobs are like that; if you don't like what you are doing then leave. If you still haven't found anything you like after a couple of years - then yea it's boring.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Nununu
What job? What degree? Thanx.


Working for the police as a communications operator. I've got a 2.1 in Criminology.
You have two choices.
1 Keep looking for a job.
2 Make your own.

To look for a job target a company you really want to work for. Learn everything you can about that company. Who owns it, stock performance, product ans services, clients and customer base then use your skills to find away of adding to the strength of the company.
When you have some creative development for the company go to the PR or owner and tell them you want to work for them. Impress him with your knowledge of the company and how you can make
it better. All company's need creative people and growth.
Target the company you really really want to work for don't just throw yourself at everybody hoping they might like you. Show them they need you. Sell yourself but have something to sell to make the company stronger.

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