Most graduates 'in non-graduate jobs', says CIPD

[DennisNedry]

Doesn't surprise me at all.

 

The admin assistant at my office has a History degree.

 

My best mate has a degree in business and since graduating spent 6 months working in payroll for just over minimum wage before jacking it in and is now doing another (entirely unrelated) degree whilst working part time in admin for the NHS.

 

I've got other mates (and my girlfriend) who went to Uni and dropped out before graduating and work minimum wage jobs in retail, with all they have to show for Uni is a shit ton of debt and a bunch of drunken night out photos on Facebook. 

 

I'm so glad I didn't go after initially thinking I'd missed out on something. Unless you have a really clear career in mind and a degree is the only pathway into said career, University is a big waste of time and money.

[The Doctor]

But the problem is as much down to employers unwilling to employ graduates, even from top Universities without at least a year or two full time experience.

This is the big one in my experience - everywhere wants the mythical fresh graduate with years of industrial experience. I've been knocked back by several dozens of applications over the past 5 months, and the experience has been the common factor in pretty much every response.

I'd say the other thing besides stupid degrees like football studies is that the job centre don't have a clue how to handle graduates, I've had them suggesting applying for microbiology roles (I'm a graduate chemist) because "well it's in a lab isn't it?" along with applying for teaching roles that aren't NQT without a PGCE - so your graduates just go to Next or a warehouse because that's what they could get help finding

[bovril]

Doesn't surprise me at all.

 

The admin assistant at my office has a History degree.

 

My best mate has a degree in business and since graduating spent 6 months working in payroll for just over minimum wage before jacking it in and is now doing another (entirely unrelated) degree whilst working part time in admin for the NHS.

 

I've got other mates (and my girlfriend) who went to Uni and dropped out before graduating and work minimum wage jobs in retail, with all they have to show for Uni is a shit ton of debt and a bunch of drunken night out photos on Facebook. 

 

I'm so glad I didn't go after initially thinking I'd missed out on something. Unless you have a really clear career in mind and a degree is the only pathway into said career, University is a big waste of time and money.

 

My best mate has a degree in Media Studies from Northampton Uni and is now working in the City earning loads.

 

You see, we can all anonymously post anecdotal evidence to support our world view...

[lavrentis]

In what I do, I learnt probably 5x more from my job than my degree.

[Charl91]

Even if I hadn't got a job out of Uni, it was the best 3 years of my life. Wouldn't trade that experience in for the world.

[Richard]

Getting an Education isn't just about the financial reward, in fact that should be a secondary concern. Education is about expanding your mind and broadening your horizons. It shouldn't be seen as a conveyor belt churning out good little economic units and for that reason judging it on the jobs graduates go into is incorrect.

Spot on. If you genuinely don't want to learn (and education certainly isn't for everyone) then don't go.

I'm going to end up with ~£45k debt to the government plus the generosity of my parents to allow me to pay my rent each month . It would be a complete waste of time and money to put yourself on such a shit start in working life if you don't have a passion for broadening your mind

[yorkie1999]

The problem is there are just not enough jobs for school leavers and hence the government solution was to increase the capacity of further education to accomadate school leavers and shift the problem further down the time line. When I left school , it was mainly proper academics, arty types or wealthy kids who went to uni, the rest of us got apprenticeships, did unskilled work, went down the pit or went in the forces. But, it was a different time with less pressure and you could earn a good living. I was lucky enough to get a technical apprenticeship, did an onc and have never been unemployed, but it's the current and future generations I feel for. I could afford a 3 bed detatched when I was 23, How the fvck is a 23 year old going to do that now. 30 grand of debt because they are quite litteraly forced down the route of having to go to uni because there's very little else. And it will get worse in the future. The government should scrap student fees and give firms major financial assistance to employ apprentists instead of subsidising collages that offer apprentice courses that don't have any guarentees of employment at the end .

[Wymsey]

I blame the Tories.

[ousefox]

My best mate has a degree in Media Studies from Northampton Uni and is now working in the City earning loads.

 

You see, we can all anonymously post anecdotal evidence to support our world view...

Agreed. This annoys me. There is without doubt going to be more examples of people not going to uni and forever earning £7-12ph than all these 'my mate success stories'.

 

Graduates earn on average about £10k a year more than non-graduates. If you don't think it's worth going to uni for that, fair enough.

[yorkie1999]

I blame the Tories.

Governments want to be blamed, that way they can say they recognise and can provide the solutions and can carry on the cycle of making the rich richer, the poor poorer and feeding bollocks to the rest of us.

[Wymsey]

Think Universities, in particular, need to make Graduates better-equipped for the workplace (for example developing teamwork and commercial awareness skills).

It's alright in getting strong grades via exams/coursework, but they need to understand what businesses want from employees in general.

[yorkie1999]

Think universities should be measured , a consequently funded, by the amount of students that end up in a career that they have studied for in the first place.

[Steven]

I'm so glad I didn't go after initially thinking I'd missed out on something. Unless you have a really clear career in mind and a degree is the only pathway into said career, University is a big waste of time and money.

 

A non-sequitur. A conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement. You didn't go and yet you know it is a big waste of time and money. 

 

For anyone in any doubt, going to University has merit in itself without considering the wider opportunities that it affords.

[Guest Col city fan]

The time spent at Uni...as in physically having to attend for SOME courses is ridiculous. And I mean, ridiculous.

9k per year and my son in his second year had to attend for something like 7 hours per week, then did months of 'work experience' then has been off for 'the summer' starting in about May.

9k per year for the level of input he's had and has been expected to physically attend is fookin scandalous, it's a joke.

The degree he's doing should enable him to do the job he wants (Teaching) and yes he's met some good lads. But the Unis are saturated with kids who only went there because they had no idea what else to do, they were no jobs to go into after school anyway, or because they though they 'should'.

[Guest]

Getting an Education isn't just about the financial reward, in fact that should be a secondary concern. Education is about expanding your mind and broadening your horizons. It shouldn't be seen as a conveyor belt churning out good little economic units and for that reason judging it on the jobs graduates go into is incorrect.

Well said.

[Guest Col city fan]

Getting an Education isn't just about the financial reward, in fact that should be a secondary concern. Education is about expanding your mind and broadening your horizons. It shouldn't be seen as a conveyor belt churning out good little economic units and for that reason judging it on the jobs graduates go into is incorrect.

I do agree Frank. Intellectualisation of any population serves usually for benefit.

However, if you believe that some of the courses delivered by some of the Unis represent some sort 'seat of learning' I think you could be looking at them with slightly rose tinted specs.

Where I went to Uni, back in the day, I met some great people. I also met some kids who I wouldn't piss on if they were on fire (maybe a bit strong, but you get my point).

And some of the academics are so far removed from reality that what they teach can be almost useless in the contemporary world.

If people want to go to Uni, I think they should be on some sort of path. To know why they are going, to what end. Medical students springs to mind. Sadly, I believe so many young people go because literally they have no idea what else to do. They then saddle themselves with 40 grand of debt and get the only job they can afterwards.

That's not what Higher Ed was ever meant for.

[Benji]

I do agree Frank. Intellectualisation of any population serves usually for benefit.

However, if you believe that some of the courses delivered by some of the Unis represent some sort 'seat of learning' I think you could be looking at them with slightly rose tinted specs.

Where I went to Uni, back in the day, I met some great people. I also met some kids who I wouldn't piss on if they were on fire (maybe a bit strong, but you get my point).

And some of the academics are so far removed from reality that what they teach can be almost useless in the contemporary world.

If people want to go to Uni, I think they should be on some sort of path. To know why they are going, to what end. Medical students springs to mind. Sadly, I believe so many young people go because literally they have no idea what else to do. They then saddle themselves with 40 grand of debt and get the only job they can afterwards.

That's not what Higher Ed was ever meant for.

I have no problem with anyone making that choice and the Government helping anyone explore their own opportunities and career paths, unfortunately self-entitlement kicks in when it doesn't work out and all of a sudden it's the Government's fault.

[RowlattsFox]

Needs to be a more practical element to degrees, too many people (myself included) come out of university with a degree but no practical experience. I know some courses do offer placements as part of their course but this needs to be considered an essential part of the course. The problem with that is getting employers on board to take on students, too few are willing to do that.

 

I read something a while back about Higher Education Apprenticeships which I think sounds like a good idea in principle.

 

I'd always recommend university to someone who is suitable, it is more than just a course. It certainly helped me develop as a person especially.

[Trav Le Bleu]

We have 40 posties at my workplace, at least four of them have degrees, which is 10%.

However, they are all 40+, so it's hardly a new thing.

[Wymsey]

We need more young entrepreneurs more than anything else to solve the 'saturation' problem.

[Unabomber]

I'm a graduate and not in a graduate job but in one that is relevant to my degree.

[Izzy]

We need more young entrepreneurs more than anything else to solve the 'saturation' problem.

I agree. But it's a shame that when young entrepreneurs take a risk, work hard and become successful, they'll then get accused on here of 'willy waving' and showing off.

[Saxondale]

I don't know why it's taken people so long to work out that too many kids are going to university.

It's been happening for years.

It's basically acadaemic inflation - ie. the degree has been completely devalued as a currency.

Wish I'd done an apprenticeship.

[bovril]

The time spent at Uni...as in physically having to attend for SOME courses is ridiculous. And I mean, ridiculous.

 

I don't disagree with this honestly. Like a lot of things in the UK you don't get much for your money, especially compared with other countries. And I'm not only talking super diligent Far-Eastern countries, I doubt any students spend less time at University than in the UK.

[hebangsthedrums]

I did a philosophy degree, which as you'd expect qualifies me for Almost nothing jobs wise, but I applied because I enjoyed the a level and new that it would be tough on graduating. When I graduated it got me onto a grad scheme, where it was something different from the tens of business studies or marketing degrees that others had. Job market is competitive whatever level, some of the people I graduated with (2007) sat around waiting to be offered jobs....