Can it really be that bad!
A survey of 16,000 final-year students by High Flyers Research has found that 64% of them are not expecting to join the job market this year. Apparently, only one in five final year students expects to leave university with a job.
To make matters worse, expected starting salaries are also lower than the last couple of years, at an average of £22,000.This contrasts with student debts which, on average, have risen to £18,000
I think that we should look at some of these findings. Firstly, many students, despite advice to the contrary, do not start their job search until finals are out of the way. Their focus is on getting the best possible result at finals and who can criticise that objective. But, in my view, the student who gets their job sorted in the autumn term is best placed to do well in finals.
Secondly, is it realistic to think that about two-thirds of final year students will not join the job market this year? If it is, we can expect a political uproar. Just how many students can afford to go travelling or do voluntary work and how many are sufficiently well qualified or financially secure to be able to fund a further degree or post graduate research?
Well, at the end of the day, we can only do what we’re motivated to do and, for me, that involves getting a job. Us graduates have to be less choosey but a bit more circumspect about what we want to do with our future.
I don’t think it’s anywhere near as bad as the media would have us believe. Tenacity and patience still pay off and presumably, those are qualities that graduates have acquired if they’ve achieved their degree.
My sister graduated last year with a 2:2. As far as her university was concerned, she would never get a job with that grade in this climate. And she proved them wrong and took great pleasure in doing so. Kick-starting graduate careers has gotten harder, there’s no doubt about that but if you’re patient, flexible, tenacious and you don’t believe what the media’s telling you, you’ll be ok.