The Student Room Group

are older graduates/mature students eligible for 'graduate schemes' ?

As the title asks....

are ''graduate schemes'' restricted to young graduates of traditional age ie early 20s or can mature students graduating join them (say, late 20s to early 30s)


Thank you if anyone knows
Reply 1
Not restricted no!
Think would be illegal under age discrimination?
However, this presumably would not stop an older candidate being rejected for a different reason!

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Reply 2
As above. Employers cannot discriminate purely due to age. If you're a graduate, then you meet the basic requirement for a graduate scheme. However that doesn't stop them "noticing" your age e,g, if you have O Levels rather than GCSEs, and finding other ways of filtering you out.

There may well be other eligibility criteria. Some of the larger employers also state a UCAS points minimum for their grad schemes, so anyone who went to uni via the Access route is unlikely to meet those.
Ditto.

Find recruiters with a genuinely progressive approach to diversity :smile:
Reply 4
Original post by bloomblaze
As the title asks....

are ''graduate schemes'' restricted to young graduates of traditional age ie early 20s or can mature students graduating join them (say, late 20s to early 30s)


Thank you if anyone knows


It's quite difficult to get into a graduate scheme after you're past 25 to be honest.

If you're an older applicant you stand way better chance in looking at your past contacts and networking from your old jobs and use that as a foot in the door.

Also why restrict yourself to a low level position when an employer may view your past experience far more favourably and possibly put you in a higher position :smile:
Original post by bloomblaze
As the title asks....

are ''graduate schemes'' restricted to young graduates of traditional age ie early 20s or can mature students graduating join them (say, late 20s to early 30s)


Thank you if anyone knows


No, not at all, and in fact generally from what I have seen they have an easier time getting onto them as they usually already have some sort of experience and also soft-skills too.
Reply 6
Original post by Alfissti
It's quite difficult to get into a graduate scheme after you're past 25 to be honest.

If you're an older applicant you stand way better chance in looking at your past contacts and networking from your old jobs and use that as a foot in the door.

Also why restrict yourself to a low level position when an employer may view your past experience far more favourably and possibly put you in a higher position :smile:


To be honest, this is exactly what I feared ie employers prefer graduates who are young/tradtional age

Im really not sure if its worth me ggoing to university, for this very reason
Reply 7
A late reply but hopefully helpful to anyone in this boat: http://ww2.prospects.ac.uk/downloads/sis/booklets/Mature.pdf
Reply 8
Don't not go to university because of grad schemes
Many many jobs will only consider graduates. There will be many more opportunities open to you in relation to employment if you have a degree- grad schemes are just one option after uni.
Reply 9
I agree, dont just look for graduate scheme, but also don't overlook it.

I am a mature student (graduated at 35) and managed to get a graduate role with 30 others. There are 2 other mature graduates at 29 and 30yo. I would say it is harder for over 30s to get a graduate role but its not impossible ( I am out of 6 mature students in my class with me being the only to get a graduate role - I am the 3rd oldest). It took me 7 months and several graduate interviews, 4 graduate interviews got into 2nd stage with 2 of them offered me a role, and the rest stopped as soon as I mentioned I have a family and they asked questions that are in a breach of employment law.

The objectives of the graduate roles in the company is crucial so you need to find the right company. Most companies just want highly skilled cheap labour. The company I work for more interested in your potential as they expect graduates to be the future leaders in the company. So your maturity will be a big advantage in managing workload, communicating with other etc.

From my experience, discrimination doesnt come from the company as we are protected by HR and employment law, but its more from your peers. I tend to be excluded by other graduates from activities, or discussion even when ur there! Cynical comments about nearly 40 and still in a grad level, and 'i will at least be a manager at that age' kind of comments, unfair comments when you do or don't do so well relating to age (from colleagues or grad peers). Some colleagues also treat you differently when they know your age as they see you as a threat more than 'a kid'. Eventhough in all fairness my knowledge of the business is the same as a new starter at what ever age they are as I have never worked in this environment before (very technical).

But don't be discourage, keep going, you got this far. Use your age and life experience as an advantage. The big boss in my company says, 'mature students have better work ethics and sense of responsibility than the younger ones because we don't work for the weekends' which I found to be true.

Good luck for all the mature students out there!
(edited 8 years ago)
PricewaterhouseCooper recently stopped using UCAS points as an entry criteria for graduate positions, thus opening up the application process to mature students without A Levels. Let's hope that other firms follow suit!

http://pwc.blogs.com/press_room/2015/05/pwc-scraps-ucas-points-as-entry-criteria-for-graduate-jobs.html
I am 27, I left school with 3 GCSEs, I didn't study A levels (I still have 0 UCAS points) and I have just received an offer to join a graduate scheme of one of the Big 4 accounting firms* for when I graduate in 2017.

From an employer's perspective, the GCSE results I (didn't) achieved 10 years ago are much less important than the fact that I have achieved a first in every year I have been at university, the fact I achieved a first class in each and every module/assignment in my second year and the fact I have spent every day of every summer getting full-time experience in the accounting industry.

For the OP, don't believe the naysayers. Commit yourself 100% to your degree and always keep in mind the career you want when you graduate.

Good luck!

* one of the big four with a UCAS requirement

Edit: Just looked at the date of the OP - Sorry!
(edited 7 years ago)
Definitely more difficult to get into a Grad Scheme as a mature student I feel.

I moved to Australia when I graduated at 31, so as this was a new country and way of working, I thought I'd apply for a Grad Scheme. I must have sent off 20+ applications, and I only got one request for an interview.

As it happens, my experience put me in to a higher role earning loads more than what I would have accepted at a grad level (and would have been happy with), so trust me when I say its not all about Grad Schemes. Even companies in the UK still expect to train up new recruits probably just as much as graduates anyway.

Regards,

Dan
Reply 13
Original post by Contempt

Edit: Just looked at the date of the OP - Sorry!


I actually think it's worth updating this thread, as the prevailing mood has changed pretty sharply over the past few years. The majors who have/had UCAS points restrictions are definitely starting to realise that they're excluding a pool of excellent candidates.

I read an article recently which said that a London-based company thought they were losing business in the north, because they were sending in teams of Oxford graduates who put people's backs up and didn't have any kind of rapport with the companies where they were based. They've started recruiting for more diversity, as a principle which will get them more business. Graduate recruitment seems to be getting a lot more intelligent. It's happening slowly, but it is happening.
PwC still uses UCAS points.

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