The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

Some advice on graduate jobs and qualifications?

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone had some advice on an issue I've recently stumbled upon.

Okay, so when I was 19, I left Sixthform with appalling grades: B,D,U. This was partly my own doing and not having the motivation, whilst a factor of this was due to my mums illness... Anyway, 2 years later, I enrolled on an Access Course, passed with Distinctions and Merits and bagged a place on a Criminology degree. So far so good, nearly at the end of my first year and have had straight 1sts and 2:1s, until I started looking at placements and graduate jobs! Some jobs and placements require me to have A levels to demonstrate a 'thorough standard of general education', which is respectable, whilst at the same time, frustrating!

Would I be better of retaking some of my A levels alongside my degree or after my degree because some graduate schemes and jobs ask for UCAS tariff points and my Access Diploma carries none!

Any advice or guidance would be much appreciated,

Many thanks! :smile:
Reply 1
Avatar for emmbee90
emmbee90
Okie so don't ever waste time on these placements the truth is companies right now are using people to work for them for free giving them very little experience for the time spent there and the job centers are condoning it, this is why there is very little job openings these days although what are you doing in the graduate jobs?, i would definitely dump the placements i've been on one and well... all i did was waiting lol i'm sure you can get a whole lot better than placements.
Criminology is honestly fascinating i love watching CSI: Vegas, so exciting!. Let me tell you i have never even got Bs in my life i'm more of a C and D student but i know i can't get any better than that, that's my limit because nobody would ever really help me plus the college near me doesn't allow students to take their work home... lol what help that is...

Honestly i wouldn't ever touch anything like UCAS or anything where the job center can remotely peep into, they are hopeless... you ask them 1 simple question and they give you a complicated answer where you have no idea what they just said and then you have to ask 10 questions before you can work around the real answer, then they insist on blaming your downfalls on your CV and on you and they make things just as long as colleges do, there is no need to drag things out so much i feel they waste peoples time so much so i know how it feels, now that the internet has everything on it there is tones of resources on there to help you learn, all these silly schemes are not what they are cracked up to be at all, i've been to several of them and i was only left where i started, i will give you the same advice as i've given 2 others, try apprenticeships as they teach you far more and in a much better way, i find it terrible the amount of messing around that people go through and i've been the same, i've had the worst of it where i kept getting stuck in disability classes all because i'm terrible at the theory side, don't let them mess you around.
Reply 2
Avatar for Fowell555
Fowell555
OP
3
Original post by emmbee90
Okie so don't ever waste time on these placements the truth is companies right now are using people to work for them for free giving them very little experience for the time spent there and the job centers are condoning it, this is why there is very little job openings these days although what are you doing in the graduate jobs?, i would definitely dump the placements i've been on one and well... all i did was waiting lol i'm sure you can get a whole lot better than placements.
Criminology is honestly fascinating i love watching CSI: Vegas, so exciting!. Let me tell you i have never even got Bs in my life i'm more of a C and D student but i know i can't get any better than that, that's my limit because nobody would ever really help me plus the college near me doesn't allow students to take their work home... lol what help that is...

Honestly i wouldn't ever touch anything like UCAS or anything where the job center can remotely peep into, they are hopeless... you ask them 1 simple question and they give you a complicated answer where you have no idea what they just said and then you have to ask 10 questions before you can work around the real answer, then they insist on blaming your downfalls on your CV and on you and they make things just as long as colleges do, there is no need to drag things out so much i feel they waste peoples time so much so i know how it feels, now that the internet has everything on it there is tones of resources on there to help you learn, all these silly schemes are not what they are cracked up to be at all, i've been to several of them and i was only left where i started, i will give you the same advice as i've given 2 others, try apprenticeships as they teach you far more and in a much better way, i find it terrible the amount of messing around that people go through and i've been the same, i've had the worst of it where i kept getting stuck in disability classes all because i'm terrible at the theory side, don't let them mess you around.


Hey, thanks for the reply. I've had mixed responses from friends and employers, but starting to think my degree might be more important so I may not bother retaking them for now and I think I'll just start looking for a job as soon as I finish Uni. Luckily I have done some work experience within the CJS this year so even if I can't get onto any placements next year it's not the end of the world!

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you