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Jobs after uni
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Not sure whether this would go in the student forum or the work forum but anyhow....
Just wondering how many of you people had your job sorted before graduating from uni? I was planning to wait til I finish, partly because I want to focus on doing well in my degree, and partly because I'm a bit undecided on what I want to do.
It hasn't really worried me, it's just all my housemates seem to have a job lined up already, and I know my parents aren't gonna want me hanging around at home for long! I don't want to join one of the big firms or anything that do the milkround and recruit graduates.
So how long did it take you to find a job after university? Was it the type of job you wanted?
Just wondering how many of you people had your job sorted before graduating from uni? I was planning to wait til I finish, partly because I want to focus on doing well in my degree, and partly because I'm a bit undecided on what I want to do.
It hasn't really worried me, it's just all my housemates seem to have a job lined up already, and I know my parents aren't gonna want me hanging around at home for long! I don't want to join one of the big firms or anything that do the milkround and recruit graduates.
So how long did it take you to find a job after university? Was it the type of job you wanted?
Post edited by JustV on
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If you're applying to the big firms, they tend to close their applications around Christmas so unless you want to take a gap year after Uni which I don't, you have to do all your applying before Christmas of your last year which will mean that if you're successful, you'll have the offer of a job before you do your finals, normally conditional on a 2:1.
As Thunderstruck stated, it all depends on what you want to do and what you want to achieve.
The reason being is that I am not sure what I'm going to get this year. I'm under enough pressure as it is and I don't need the pressure of searching for a job on top of it.
I'm intending to apply for graduate jobs after university when I've got the time to really think about what I want to do. I'll probably be temping for a year doing random things.
I am going to decide what to write my final essay on (February ) and then start considering my job options. I have decided to not go straight to do a masters degree.
It's really hard to know where to start if you don't want to work for a big firm, isn't it? I'm in the same boat as you but honestly don't worry, a lot of people don't get a job lined up until after they graduate, even if they spend most of their final year going to interviews.
Going back to my final year at uni, half of the people on my course had their job sorted out to start the Monday after uni finished, while the other half were in the "I still don't know what I want to do after this" group - I was in the latter.
If you register with three of four recruitment agencies then you should get temp work no problem at all. Temp jobs can be really hit or miss but if you show you can do more then they'll usually give you more. I started that way after uni and now I'm working for a "big firm" in a great job.
It's quite common to not want to fall on to the graduate conveyor belt. A temp job will pay the rent, it'll be stress-free and allow you to find out what you'd prefer to do in the long term.
Quite a lot of graduate training schemes specify that they will only accept applications from people who will be graduating the following summer or who have graduated within the last three years, i.e. they are still relatively new out of university. There's no problem waiting till after you've finished your degree to apply but (from friends experiences) they may ask you what you have been doing in the meantime so it's good to organise some kind of work experience or something between graduating and applying for jobs, to show you're committed and have something to talk about at interviews.
Well I'm planning on temping for a bit and going on a few holidays!
To answer the OP, if you don't know what to do you will be better off temping for a bit and seeing what takes your fancy. If you're not interested in the graduate job it will show at interview, and it will harm your chances of getting the job anyway. The idea of a "graduate" job fills me with horror, as I don't want to be some lackey at some investment bank grounding poor people into the dirt to make my boss rich, and the "graduate" jobs marketplace seems to be nothing else.
A lot of people don't know what they want to do after they graduate- my office is full of law grads like me who don't really know what they want to do. Most office temps are graduates not knowing what they want to do too.
I think it's definitely worth starting to think about what you want to do next, but not everyone can reach the answer in time for graduation, especially with the stress of trying to get your degree at the same time!
Consider what's your perfect job and maybe start looking around for some part-time or temping work, to give you an idea of what's out there and what suits you.
You generally qualify for graduate recruitment schemes for a few years after you graduate, the length of time can vary depending on the scheme so it's best to check out the entry requirements early on for any that you're interested in.
Graduate recruitment fairs are a great opportunity to nab future employers and impress them with your skills, as well as quiz them to see if they're the right organisation for you.
Once you've managed to secure yourself an interview make sure you're set to dazzle them with the right preparation.
I have an idea of what I want to do, and I did start applying for jobs straight after I had finished my final exams, but never got past the interview stage in my chosen sector.
My current job is dull, but my contract finishes next week. :yippe: However, unless I manage to find a job in my chosen sector before January I will be back temping again!
Most of my friends are in the same position, but we all found temp work easily.
I've always wanted a job with a large company and they all seem to want applications in before the end of January, for starting in the summer after graduation. But it does depend what sort of role you're after or whether you want a year off or not. A lot of graduate jobs do start sometime between July and September so you'll probably find it difficult to find a grad job for next year if you leave it till after graduating to apply.