Why is it that the first generation to have to pay for education are the ones who can't get a jo
Okay, so you're still at University or you are now lucky enough to have graduated. Huge congratulations and well done. But now what?
So many students are coming out of University with thousands of pounds worth of debt (£48,000 for me personally!) and either do not know what they want to do or literally have no idea where to start! Welcome to my world!!
The idea of a Master's degree sounds appealing, until the £8,000-£12,000 price tag is revealed. It wouldn't be so bad if there was going to be a job at the end of it, but unfortunately for a lot of us that isn't the case. Master's degrees today also can rely upon a work placement that you have to go out and find for yourself, which is another battle within itself.
In today's economy it is becoming more and more difficult to get your foot onto your desired career ladder. Many jobs are being outsourced to other, cheaper countries, the older generations cannot afford to retire meaning that we cannot take their jobs and a lot of employees are being replaced by machines which can do the job quicker and with a lot less hassle!
Funnily enough, it appears to be equally as difficult to find the statistics regarding employment on the web! Companies are promising more graduates to be employed this year than ever before, and that the countries top employees are planning on increasing their graduate recruitment by another 7.5%, yet key facts and figures appear to be missing. Much of the information on the internet regarding jobs is centred around the current politics of the country and appears to be a competition between the parties to prove who can better deal with unemployment. However, once again the figures are vague and therefore useless.
The house of commons report seems to be the most useful that I can find, so they are the statistics I will go with for the purpose of this blog. According to their July 2016 report
between March and May 617,000 16-24 year olds were unemployed. Over 200,000 of those were in full time education, meaning that the remaining 400,000 were not working or studying. Whilst the study shows that this is a decrease on previous years this is still a massive number of people who are unable to get a job. I appreciate that some of these people may have chosen not to work. Of all graduates from 2015, 60,000 of them were in 'non-professional' jobs like the ones previously mentioned and another 10,000 were in jobs that didn't require a degree of any sort. This may explain why so many young people are unemployed; those with a degree can't get a job that they want so are taking on jobs that don't even require a degree, meaning that those who do not have a degree have even less of a chance of getting a job.
What might be more worrying are the statistics regarding graduate employment. At least one third of graduates take jobs such as office assistants, cleaners and road sweepers within 6 months of graduating. Every year over 60,000 graduates go into 'non-professional' roles to keep themselves employed. It is becoming more and more difficult to break into the industry that you are keen to pursue due to the unrealistic expectations regarding experience. I'm sure most, if not all, of you have been turned down in a job interview due to a lack of experience. Whilst I appreciate that experience is important, it seems to be just as difficult to get said experience!
Here are some of my experiences to keep you entertained:
- Graduate interview number 1: I had a phone interview for a Business Graduate Scheme. The lady on the phone asked if I have any experience with presenting. I then went on to tell the lady that I am extremely experienced at presenting as I do it for my business (I have clearly outlined on my CV that I have my own business that I run on a part time basis.) I was then told by the lady that I would not have time to continue with my business as this job would require 50 hours a week of my time (for a £12,000 salary!) on top of an hours commute each way! I once again explained to the lady that the business is my own and therefore I work it around my commitments and that it wouldn't be a problem, to then be told that 'This is a career and you really won't have time for that.'
This to me is a prime example of a company that wants you to sell your soul in order to work for them. Whilst I am aware that sometimes things have to be done for work outside of designated working hours I do not appreciate being told what I can and cannot do in my spare time. I was, surprisingly, still offered a face to face interview which I declined.
-Graduate interview number 2: Graduate Lettings Agent. This interview was face to face and it's safe to say that it went better than the phone interview previously mentioned. Me and the interviewer got on well, I conducted an IQ test there and then which was fine, and the interviewer was able to answer all of my questions. Well, all except one. How much will I get paid? The reply to this question was 'This is something that we can discuss later on.' So the interview continued and he told me all about the commission on offer per house that I was to let and all about 'other' people and how much they had earned in the past. Once again the part regarding the basic salary was brushed over and the interview ended. A few days later I was offered the job over the phone and was told that the basic salary was £14,000. I kindly turned down the job stating that I wasn't in a position to take a pay drop as I am saving for a mortgage (that's a whole other blog story!). A few weeks later I was contacted again and asked to go in and speak again to discuss some changes to the offer. Whilst this excited me, that excitement was definitely short lived. Whilst the salary did increase to £16,000 the interviewer had failed to mention that I would be expected to work alternate 6 day weeks, and was being placed in an office that he had clearly previously explained to me (and also clearly forgotten that he had previously explained to me) didn't let many houses as it wasn't a very nice area. So there goes the chance of any commission! This office was an hour from my house, currently had no manager and the other lettings agent was brand new to her job also. Clearly not a recipe for success.
Graduate interview number 3: 'Events management.' (I use the inverted commas for a reason). Now this was a job that I could really see myself sinking my teeth into. Freedom to manage events, plan events and work with glamorous people, or so I was led to believe. On that note I would like to point out how deceitful some companies are regarding what job they are actually offering. The fact that the name of the company remained anonymous on the advert should have been a sign for me but I was optimistic so went along to my interview anyway. Once again the interview went really well and I could have seen myself working for the man who interviewed me. He had a pile of books on his desk that I had previously read so we had a lot to talk about and seemed to share things in common. I was asked what I was looking for in this job, to which I replied 'progression opportunities' and so I was then talked through the five levels of management. I was told that due to my management experience I could expect to progress through these five levels pretty quickly, within a year or two and then I 'could be' earning up to £75,000 a year. Now the man that I was speaking to introduced himself as the area manager of this company, and the room that he interviewed me in can only be described as being similar to a student dorm room where they have moved out but left the desk behind and a few chairs that didn't even match. So to believe that £75,000 was available in such a short space of time was difficult to believe yet still I pursued. I enquired about what the job actually entailed and was given a speech regarding all of my fancy responsibilities as an events manager. I left the interview feeling positive yet slightly sceptical. I went home and researched the company (now that I knew the name of it) to find that their idea of events management involved putting up a stall in a shopping centre and selling tv subscriptions, charity subscriptions and other such similar things. Hardly the glamorous job that it had been made out to be. I was then offered a second interview only to be told that this job was 100% commission based and actually had no basic salary at all.
So as you can see from some of my own personal experiences it appears to be difficult to find a job where you will actually be paid what you are worth without having to sell your soul or work every hour under the sun. More and more young people are turning to starting their own businesses which I personally believe is the best way. Why work for someone else and make them rich when you could do it for yourself? Again, that is a whole other blog but I wanted to reassure all the young graduates out there that you are not alone, we are all in a similar boat, keep going, keep pursuing your dreams and go out there and turn them into a reality, whatever they may be. Don't settle for less or ever let anyone tell you that you are worth less than you personally believe.
Love always
Zoe xx