The life of an unemployed university graduate.

EMPLOYMENT! AT LAST! FULL PROPER EMPLOYMENT!!

Yes - you did read that right. Today was the day. Judgement day.

I had known for 3+ weeks that this would be the day that interviews would be given for the communications officer role that has been my temporary job has been since October, Thankfully I was shortlisted for interview along with 3 others (another internal candidate so it wasn't so much a 'going through the motions' event).

The interview hadn't really phased me which is quite strange. Admittedly it was a situation I have never been exposed to before:
a) I was doing the job that the job was advertised - so for once I didn't just know I could do the job advertised, the people interviewing knew it!
b) I was interviewed by my manager

Interview wise, I have to say I have never been so happier that I had been to uni. The knowledge on what I had to do was there (oh I had to give a quick presentation by the way as well as a normal interview) and my responses to the questions being asked were naturally all made simplier by the fact that for the past seven months I have been fulfilling this role. Doesn't mean I didn't still have my typical interview nerves; the babbling, the nervous dry mouth (or was that the mouth ulcer?), the feeling hot and sweaty sensation (oh yes employ me before I stink the room out!).

I am so happy that finally I have got the break I needed. The opportunity to gain experience in a field that I spent three years at uni learning about is so exciting. It may not be the big city, but it is a step in the right way and I have to say I am delighted.

The morale of the journey? My hatred to recruitment agencies...maybe I was wrong. Well, looking at todays outcome, I clearly was wrong! Reading back to the blog on the day I got the break of temping for the company to the journey that I have now completed (or are just starting? =D) Whilst the pay may have been greatly reduced through the agency, had I not gambled (and I did gamble considering my old boss offered me more money to work in retail than the agency offered me) then I would never have had this foothold into my future. Maybe I should document this journey a little better...

I will still continue my blog just at a greater reduced quantity - or maybe posting of additional helpful job-seeking grads out there. I hope my blog has offered people moments they can relate to, moments that make you realise you aren't the only jobless graduate in the UK. Lets not forget, it has taken me 236 days (+ the days I never counted before my blog which would take my tally easily beyond the year mark) to find full time employment.

Finally it feels like a weight is lifted from my shoulders...at least for now...

For those of you who have been wondering if my blog has become like the infinite number left unused on the internet - it hasn't!

As my blog surges into the 200+ days I feel it is time to relay information on what really has been happening in my life. 

My temporary post at work has finally been allocated a permanent role and has been thrown open internally to applicants; so to cater with the diversity and equal opportunities regulation. So following common sense, I have myself an application and I will be submitted it before the April 14th deadline.

An end could finally be in sight to this £6 per hour life! The daunting £200 weeks could finally be coming to a close! I understand that many people are out of work and so moaning about £200 per week is not ideal, but to be fair, when I was shaking the hand of the vice dean and receiving my degree certificate, I never saw myself spending almost seven months working for less than £200 per week (after tax!).

As for the role, there is no one better than me in that organisation to do what I do that is a fact. They wouldn't have kept me there if there was that's for sure. However, the role has been sent to our local job centre so the real threat comes from any prospective outside applicants. I have read through the application and, since I have spent the last seven months doing the job, I am confident that I meet all the criteria for the job.

This is a HUGE moment though in my quest for work if I am honest. If I do not manage to secure a job that I have been doing for more than half a year - well, there is something really wrong. I know my past interview skills seem to be where I have let myself down but hopefully those times are behind me and I can really perform in this interview.

It still isn't London, or Leeds, or Sheffield, or a city for that matter (unless you believe Google StreetView which has Scunthorpe as being a city ). But it is experience. It is work that I am really starting to get involved in. It is vital money!!

It will all happen in the next two weeks...stay tuned...

Well who would have thought that as 200 days approaches, I would find myself still extremely far from that idyllic graduate situation.

Let me refer to the prospectus website, where apparently the average graduate starting salary in 2008 was £24,048. Apparently only 4.7% lie in the lowest bracket (£16,000 - £19,000) with the majority of graduate employers offerings salaries between £22,001 - £24,000 (29.8%). I can honestly say I don't even make the lower bracket. Fair enough I don't actually have a secure income.

Back on day 50 (ish) my blog changed in the sense that I began temping for an organisation doing work that is actually degree related! Great! However unfortunately I found myself at the mercy of an agency who were more than happy to tell me: "We can't pay you any more money as it just isn't fanancially viable for us I'm afraid" (This at around November time when I was told my contract with the organisation would be extended for three months. I found myself with little choice, either  - continue to work for a meagre weekly wage, which quite frankly I could earn more in retail, or quit and give up on gaining valuable work experience in my degree field; I picked the experience route.)

Not that the experience route has proved valuable at all. I have recently reinvigorated my CV. Freshened it up. Removed my address so that employers can't discriminate on me not living nearby (Since I am more than happy to relocate immediately). I updated all my skills and knowledge gained from six months of marketing experience. I wrote a fresher cover letter that I can tweak to suit each job I apply for. I found five jobs last week; I've had no replies.

I have however spotted a new trend from recruiters. Today I received an email from one that was for a job I applied for a number of weeks ago stating: "Sorry that I am slow to respond to you, having reviewed your CV you look to have been a very ept candidate however unfortunately this role has been filled since I have received your CV" I have also had a similar reply sent to me before - once when I gave the recruiter my location, he responded with a similar reply saying it had been filled already; why ask for my location then?

I am in danger of rambling on so I will wrap up the Day 193 blog. Where do I go from here? I still can't purchase anything with peace of mind that I will have a job next week. I still don't seem to be getting anywhere despite a freshened up CV and a much better cover letter than I have been using. Yeah you might as well have just read blog 100 again for all the difference - or lack of it - that my working situation has encountered. 

Much has passed since we last spoke; and not merely the numerous pages on my word-a-day calendar.Recently I had a conversation with Daniel Igra of The Times newspaper regarding graduate unemployment.

Reciting through my blog days and living back the past eight + months it really does become apparent that I still have made it no nearer in reaching my goal to get out of my town. I'm no nearer to job security than six months ago when I began temping. I'm no better off financially (well, ok I have paid off £800 of my credit card bill and got my OD down to the -£200 float. But seriously in terms of being able to committ financially to anything - I can't.)

The story is still very much the same as when the blog began. I can find jobs still despite this "credit crunch", whilst they aren't as in such wealthy supply they do still exist. However the outcomes of my applications seem to remain the same; thanks but no thanks or simply no reply - yes, that horrible hope left lingering with no reply.

Fortunately for me I am not one to get down in my moods. There are times when not finding a job to progress life does bug me - for instance the girlfriends younger brother has landed an 18k job, company car, company laptop, company mobile and has recently invested in a new car for himself. I'm so happy for the guy, but in terms of careers, he is 20 and without a degree yet finds himself immensely ahead of me in terms of career progression.

Friday (Feb 27th) I was told that my work role is being put forward for a full time role. One that I would have to apply for if it does so. But do I want to? Whilst I am overjoyed at being able to play with graphics and work on web design (both things I love doing) should I be looking to slot in here or should I run the risk card of trying to just up and move to a city - Leeds sounds good if London won't accept me. Who knows. My contract has been extended for a rolling 2/3 weeks until the role is either accepted to be a full time position or rejected so there is time for me to contemplate the matter.

Post chat with Daniel (The Times) it did become apparent to me that there is little advice/training regardining the job situation for graduates. Granted they could not forsee the effect that would occur a couple of years after I had left, but we had a module entitled: "Key Skills" during which we focussed on playing with our CV etc. During this I feel it would have been invaluable to add in some form of serious interview skills - maybe getting the seminar class to seriously apply for some fictional role and grade in terms of how we perform? Reviewing back over my blog I have always looked to my interviewing skills that have let me down due to my CV seemingly being warmly received. With statistics suggesting that new student intakes for universities in 2009 being 8 per cent up on 2008 - surely the problem of more graduates flocking out with a degree and no employers to take them is only going to get worse. 

WOW! Ok so I have not blogged in a long long time but not because I have given up on the blog - more that I just haven't had anything to report, I figure I have just about enough to blog about after 3 weeks without writing! (my how time flys by!)

Well today I had the day booked off for a load of appointments (none to do with finding work) however this did give me the added drive to find vacancies across the net. Prior to this blog I have just applied to around 6 more advertisements (I have applied for a further 5 a few days ago - 3 of which sent me a rejection email the following day! The other two, lost applications that never return and leave me lingering like so many!)

It is these rejections that got me some inspiration to write this blog really. I am a university graduate with a 2 (i) BA (hons) in Business and Marketing. I have several years high end retail experience (I was practically the asst. manager and was offered a managerial role in a separate store) as well as now six months worth of marketing (yes - thats degree related experience) under my belt. However, I seem to be getting quicker rejecions than when I had no experience! So it got me thinking, what are employers looking for? I started to think that it could the prospect that my degree is from one of the lesser known universities. However, the girlfriend has a friend that graduated from Oxford university last summer and she has struggled to no more that seasonal work at Boots and prospective work experience over easter. So if it is not the degree, then what else? The work experience? Could it be the fact that I have not taken the leap to give my time to an organisation for nothing (or worked 60 hours a week for a pack of peanuts). Well having discussed this matter with the guys from work, one of them said he found his work experience practically useless. I guessed they would never give you too much responsibility given that you aren't getting paid for it, but from what he said, it was pretty much a waste of time.

So if it isn't where my degree is from, or my experience, what exactly is it?

I googled CVs and despite my acclaimed success on what people have said about my CV I have had a bit of a redesign. Once I did some reading I found a nice tip of 'leaving out your address so that they can not discriminate on your location'. Which if I think about it, I have noticed a lot of jobs recently stating:

'Must live within 10 miles commutable distance of blah blah blah'

So my CV no longer has my address on it. My cover letters all have had any inclination of my location ommitted so I could technically live anywhere - and I really don't mind where I end up living for a job to be honest!

So I have thrown the gauntlet out there really. The only thing I can think if I do not have any success with these applications is that they are looking for:

Job requirements
A recent graduate with a 1 or 2 (i) degree in a relevant subject
Must have impeccable MS office skills
Must have 18 years experience of working in an office
Must have 12 years experience in a marketing environment
Must have perfect knowledge of Quark, Dreamweaver and Adobe CS

Salary:
£5,000

Who knows, depending on how pissed off and bored I get, I may even write those onto a CV for the hell of it and see if they contact me...

Adios!

CONFIRMATION.

There it was in my inbox waiting for me when I got home from work today, and I quote:

"Dear candidate, 

Thank you for attending the interview.

Unfortunately you have not be successful in this application.

All the best for the future."

Didn't even give me a personalised response! So I did the usual post-rejection task, email for feedback, which since I didn't get a personal rejection will no doubt be an auto feedback reply.

So where next eh?! I know I have said it before, but I seriously thought that interview went as near perfect as I could get. Well, I updated my CV with some of my skills (and future skills - I have to give one to one training to some managers on how to use the website that I have been the editor of for the past four months). I then logged onto reed.co.uk and managed to filter out 3/4 worthwhile jobs to apply for and shipped off my newly updated CV. It can't be my CV due to the positive feedback it has received, so I will stick with the design for now

Maybe I need to get more sapient (word of the day; possessing or expressing great sagacity: wise) to the whole employment game. I have probably sent out 150+ applications since I begin job hunting after my graduation - that was July 07 btw! Maybe I need to go for the selective approach rather than blanketing my CV across the board.

Song moment: Christopher Cross - Arthurs Theme

Hmmmm, well having had my interview officially a week ago and having not heard anything - I was told the dreaded: "We will be in touch sometime next week" just before the handshake and kick out of the door after the interview - I am starting to feel that it was just another role that I didn't get. But this time, I truly am bewildered.

There were no stumpers.

There were no moments where the room was silent and they had no idea why I was there

There were no moments where I "put my foot in it"

There was nothing mentioned that was out of my experience / qualification range

All in all, it was a pretty confident interview and I felt good about it - especially given the large "Maybe" wrote on my application cover letter (as I previously said, whether or not this was before my interview or during I am not sure).

So what the *%^& do I have to do to get a job? Sure my temp job is great but I need a future to start - something I even told them at this interview in the hope that my desire to commit would also gain me positives.

Whilst I shall continue to remain the positive soul that I am, it is just ridiculous now that the only job I have had since my graduation has come to me because I didn't attend an interview! 

Word of the day: Kinetic; relating to the motion of material bodies and the forces and energy associated with them.

Well I haven't blogged for some time, in part because my life has toiled on and had little to report but the typical days that I have come to know.

Happy 2009 everybody by the way.

As I tore off my word of the day calendar this morning I revealed something quite ironic - Cat's-paw: meaning one used by another as a tool; a dupe. Could any word reing truer to my current situation in my temping role?

Today I was given some clarity in a meeting that my position at the company is secured until the end of February 2009, which is great, but still doesn't give me any real security and still holds me back from investing in any serious form of financial involvement (but clear my debts from my credit card and that isn't fun ). But also during the meeting, they outlined that my role over the coming weeks is to train everyone else in the company (everyone being those who are necessary to update the sections of the website that I have been employed to produce over the past months). So I kind of get the feeling that I have served my time and I am now left to distribute my job among those who are full time employees.

However - on the good side, yesterday I attended an interview in Sheffield with a large outdoor clothing organisation, and I have to say, it was probably one of the best interviews I have had. I didn't feel uncomfortable, or that I was doing my typical horrible rambling that I tend to do. Nor did I find myself on the end of any question stumpers. The role is indeed quite an interesting and challenging sounding role, not as creative as my temp role has been, but another side of marketing; a side that I feel is more professional and data driven. Oh and the pay is mighty fine!!!!!!

All in all, I felt the interview went good. I am going to try and stay positive, though slight doubt creeps in my mind that they didn't ring me today or in the evening yesterday saying "Yes! Yes! We want you! Come back!", but then maybe that doesn't always happen...I hope.

I must admit my lack of blogging has been my own fault as I have been extremely slack in applying for any additional full-time positions. I find myself in a contrasting positon; both hating the fact that I can not get any future security that I would get with a permanent job, but finding my job comfortable and happy to collect the experience that I have been doing so. I really do need to get myself in gear with this and get life moving, maybe I should blog more often to give me the drive...

The Christmas edition!

Well, at the start of my official Christmas break from my temporary role (with an extended 3 month contract under my belt!) I have to say, I do not miss this life of sitting about. I find it quite restless and unsatisfying unless I am with someone, or doing something - even if that is something unproductive like watching back to back episodes of That 70s Show or watching the hours go by on the xbox.

Needless to say I took a stroll down to Tesco ten minutes ago...woah! Now I expected it to be busy, but really c'mon! Every aisle was practically empty. Ransacked. Every check out is packed with a queue equally as long as the checkout itself - theres about 30 checkouts in the store. People with their trollies stacked upto the top with just food. What is it with people? Tesco will be there on Boxing day, chill out you freaks! 

Anyway, back to the work situation. I have an interview for a £25k job in Sheffield in the first week of January 09. Not London admittedly, but still in the marketing sector and something that I am more than capable of doing - and - with my new found confidence and experience from this temporary role, I am going to think positive on it and hopefully, just hopefully, it will rub off in my interview. Whilst I do like my temporary job - I am desparately seeking a secured role that will open me to the opportunity to spend money, to purchase products (car, flat rental, clothes!) without the worry that my temporary contract can end and that be that.

In a way over the past few weeks it has been comforting to see posts from other struggling graduates (that sounds awful!), I know my friends who graduatd are struggling too and still haven't found that evasive job. Apparently 1 in 7 under 25s are jobless (radio1 statement), if that is the case then I know at least 7 who arents so the other 42 who they know must be fine

Not much to blog as I am really preoccupied with my lack of Christmas presents being delivered...damn internet!

Though I have been working on a great business idea (pipe dream maybe?) that seems very feasible!

If I do not blog before then, happy Christmas to everyone - I just hope I am in a good enough state to enjoy my Christmas meal!

Ok so in blogging terms this is it - make or break - am I back to my daily blogs because my contract ran out? Or did they choose to extend my stay?

*drum roll please*

Well they chose to extend my time with them - up to three months! Which is great because I really have started enjoying what I am doing. However, with such success there comes fall backs.

1) The role is through an agency, who are more than happy to take half of the money they charge the company I work for. Whilst the role might be a 24k job, I am only taking home 12k which, had the job not been related to my degree in any way, I would have laughed at and turned down 50 odd days ago.

2) The role is in Scunthorpe. I really do struggle with being at home. Yeah it is easier to save money etc but I am the last of my university housemates stuck at home, I am about ot be 24, I really do need to get out...and to London. The loss of independence, the loss of being able to style things how I want in rooms, to generally have my own place would just be great!

3) My current car is slowly dying so that needs replacing, obviously I don't want to buy new since the job is still temporary and in the long term I want to be in London, but I need a car so I can go see my girlfriend who is located in Burnley! So do I buy cheap since it is only going to be a run around, so I can save as much money as I can for my 2009 advance on London? Or do I go mid-range in the hope that it would work out cheaper regarding any faults etc?

Through all the fall backs thoughs, my manager has said she just couldn't let me go because they needed my expertise - isn't that just a great morale booster? She said they would look to take me on full time but for the problems of then having to advertising internally prior to it going external, so I would probably end losing my place. If only they could cut the agency out all together then it would just hand me all of the pie!

Either way, I am hoping that I can somehow come out of all this with a nice looking 1,000CR+ on my bank account, giving me some lovely financial backing for London, but then just the cause of finding an employer down there...which is where this blog all started...