GRADUATES ARE TOLD TO REACH FOR THE STARS — BUT WHAT HAPPENS IF THEY DON’T MAKE IT?
**This is a guest post by Anne Wilson, careers coach and founder of Graduate Job Mentor**
I hate the term ‘dream job’. I think it’s exactly what the name implies — a fantasy, a big con.
In these times of recession, there’s so much emphasis on the slick CV, the perfect covering letter, the well-honed interview answer, that talking about the goal-setting element of starting a career has almost become taboo. Yet many of the grads I mentor week in, week out, struggle to distinguish between what’s expected of them, what they really want to do, and what they can realistically achieve.
Lois always wanted to be a writer — it says so on her CV. She has a modest degree from a Russell Group university, has had a few pieces published in a student paper and she’s done some hospital radio. She wants to be a TV journalist. She says she knows it’s competitive, but she reckons her CV shows her commitment and she’s confident about her interview. That’s the fantasy, now let’s look at the reality.
– Lois has very little idea about jobs in TV
– she’s not sure how you become a TV journalist
– she’s not aware of any websites for would-be journalists
– she can’t name three TV journalists she admires
– she’s not entirely sure what a journalist does
– she can’t articulate what skills a journalist needs
– she doesn’t write regularly
– she can’t afford to do internships with no pay
– she ‘s never tried to work for local papers, or freelance
– she only wants to be in London
– she doesn’t want to do long hours and she’s not that keen on shift work
– she doesn’t know what other jobs exist which might suit her skills
Lois is shocked when I tell her that most TV journalists are either Oxbridge educated with good connections, or start in jobs with no pay – or low pay – where they are treated little better than skivvies who exist only to take coffee orders.
Lois has a good degree and some very marketable skills — she’s great with people, she can write, she’s led a team (at her uni magazine), she’s ambitious and hard-working and — most importantly — she can back up every one of those statements with evidence. After following my advice, she’s now in a job with the internal communications department of a large company where she gets to write articles spreading the good news about company successes. Is Lois a failure? I don’t think so, and nor, I hope, does she.
What about Josh, who was short-listed for jobs several times but didn’t get an offer, so he started applying for jobs unrelated to his (very technical) degree. What does he actually want? To get away from home is the answer, but he also wants a job in the area for which he trained. I encourage him to identify companies that appeal to him in an area of the country where he has a place to stay. I help him persuade one of the companies to take him on as an unpaid intern for a week doing menial tasks, then as a paid intern for three months working alongside people doing the job he wants. Now he’s got a foot in the door, they see his value – and they’re giving him a chance. There won’t necessarily be a happy ending, but Josh is more realistic now about how companies work and is learning how to make his own luck.
Your first job won’t be your only job. Don’t expect too much. The most successful grads are those who are prepared to start at the bottom, make mistakes and to re-examine their choices and aspirations if things don’t work out first time.
Great article and I totally agree with you that people need to do their research and have realistic expectations of not just what is expected from a job but what skills, talents and experience they bring to the industry. I get to speak around the country to students mainly in high schools and colleges and get them to realise that it is tough and they have to work damn hard and do something spectacular to land a decent job.
I think there is such thing as a dream job for some people however. There are some people who have landed jobs (even if it is not the one they expected) and are doing the work they love. So we should encourage people to shoot for the stars, just make sure they are well prepared on what might happen on such a journey.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the comment David. Agree with your proviso on the dream job in the sense that it is possible to earn a living doing work you love. But I think finding something you love often involves letting go of other people’s expectations of what you ‘ought’ to achieve.
I think in the current climate of high unemployment and 40%+ of students going on to uni, only to find a few years later they have a mountain of suspended debt and far less hope of securing their ‘dream’ job they were convinced they would get if they went to uni, that it would be well worth a few of that 40% considering starting out in employment at 18, having no debt and gaining three years valuable on the job training whilst their peers rack up the debt (that is only paid back when you earn more than £21,000 a year, but hey, why educate yourself up to the hilt if youu then have to settle for a lesser paid job that won’t even see you meet the cost of living?)
Back in the sixties, the top 10% went on to university, the rest of us made out way into employment. Like many, I had not a clue what I wanted to do and ended up falling into my chosen profession because it paid twice as much as my then current job was paying. Would I have been better off going to university? We’ll never know. Maybe with the percentages stacked slightly more in my favour back then I would have. What I DO know, is that the system is cheating our children to an extent. Promising them the pot of gold which turns out to be a millstone. And that’s assuming they can get a job when competing with thousand upon thousand of graduates with the exact same qualification.
Hi all – Loving the philosophical discussion today – Have we raised the bar for 2011?!
Like Anne, I’m not a fan of the ‘dream career’ thing either – to be honest i find it to be not remotely helpful and in fact a teensy bit childish… I’m always amazed to see it cropping up in serious features in all the broadsheets – it makes the editors sound like they’re 5 years old.
The world of work is a place of constant change and zero guarantees – and the sooner we build this idea into the world of careers advice, the better… This ‘dream job’ idea is helping nobody, least of all graduates, who I think 9 times out of 10 are much better off just starting somewhere they might like for a bit – and then keeping an open mind, seeking out good advice, networking and grabbing opportunities as they come along.
I also agree with Anne in that I’m often alarmed by grads coming to me saying they ‘want to do something creative’ but they’re not sure what… Or they ‘don’t want a boring office job’ but again, they don’t know what they do want… Or they want to work in TV, but then it turns out they dont’ actually watch much themselves, or have any particular interest in trends within broadcasting, etc, they just like the IDEA of working in TV… There’s actually a big section on this in my book Dude?, all about why NOT to make career decisions based on stereotypes about that industry… It’s easily done but a very dangerous trap to fall into!
There’s also more on this in the ‘How to choose your career’ advice page on this website.
@Alconalcia – thanks for your comments. Although it’s interesting to hear your story (and you don’t say how old you are), I feel I must stress that an awful lot of things have changed in recent years which mean that unfortunately it’s not quite as simple as saying that young people should forget about university and work for three years instead. You say:
..but the fact is that now that so many young people have a degree, they now feel it is becoming something of a stigma NOT to have a degree. What i’m hearing is that the romantic idea that you can walk into a decent job aged 18 without a degree and graft your way up, receiving on-the-job training from your employer as well as a salary you can live off just isnt’ realistic anymore.
However, you will get no argument from me on this point:
The entire system is a complete mess. And unfortunately higher tuition fees are set to make it even messier. I read today that there’s a rush for places at uni this year, before the fees go up in 2012, but what will happen next year? The fact is there just isnt’ an alternative to uni set up yet, for all those who would have gone to uni, but have now decided that they can’t afford it (or don’t want the financial burden). What will happen to them? Will more recruiters start taking bright 18 year olds on, paying them properly and training them while they earn? During a recession? I honestly can’t see it happening… It’s a really worrying situation…
Great article – all grads should read it. The Lois example was particularly good at illustrating how many people wanting to break into the media have no clue how to go about it, or that freelancing (whilst steadying your income with copywriting, language tutoring, temping, shop work etc) is pretty much the only way. The other is to do one of the handful of long-running, well-regarded postgraduate journalism courses which provide access to major industry traineeships and contacts (BBC, ITV, Haymarket, Bloomberg), and do your damndest to get at them. Unfortunately, the latter is a huge, expensive gamble and you’re unlikely to be accepted onto the course in the first place if you can’t even name a journalist you admire or articulate what a journalist does.
You’re right Tanya. Who the hell would employ an 18 year old with no qualifications when they can have a desperate graduate – for little (or in some cases no) money! But before we all get too depressed, I think the important thing is for young people to focus on their skills rather than just their qualifications. Many graduates I see undersell themselves because they don’t sufficiently value their own evidence of enterprise, initiative, communication skills, teamwork, problem-solving and creativity. This is what employers want.
This is a prime example of how obsessed some people have become about the whole education thing. It’s quite scary really… http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23911112-parents-demand-11-plus-coaching-for-two-year-olds.do
Just to clarify my previous comment, I’m not saying categorically saying any Postgrad journalism course is a waste of time. Courses run by the likes of Cardiff, City and Sheffield are highly-regarded within the industry and rightly so. My personal circumstances have also impacted on my own job prospects in ways which won’t apply to others. But they are a gamble, and all the more so in this climate. Do think carefully, and weigh up the outright positives of a course (a network of contacts, learning things that’d take you a lot longer to learn on the job, like how not to sound like a complete chump when pitching articles) against the what-ifs and maybes. And don’t apply at all unless you’re fiercly committed – the process of researching and applying to places, and working out funding options, will take up a lot of time during your final undergraduate year. As a matter of fact, there are ten questions I’d encourage anyone applying for postgraduate journalism training to ask themselves, and I’ve tried sporadically during the last year to get various papers to print them in relevant sections but none have as yet – which says a lot in itself…
One of things I was trying to get at in this blog post is the (often hidden) area of parental and peer expectation. I’d love to know what people think about this – who is pulling your (emotional) strings at age 21 and how aware are you of that happening? At what age did you discover what you really want out of a job/career?
There are plenty of graduates who are wasting their time, other peoples time and money wishfully wanting that dream job, fine leave them to it and let them fall by the way side.
But,
There are plenty of graduates that are extremely hard working, that will do any job, for any hours and pay for a vague hope that some light might get through the door, let alone a foot.
As for this idea that you do some free work experience, then a internship, then find a entry level job… its rubbish, no body is interested in the hassle or dont have the work to need to take anyone inexperienced (but qualified) on, even for free.
What really struck me about the careers advice I received was that it was almost wishy washy in that they just talked about how people with “x” degree could end working in “x, y or even z” industry. Eg, that someone who did marine biology could end up working as a marine biologist or like Lois that many people with her degree end up working as TV journalists. In addition it was probably based on statistics from years ago that bear no relation to the current graduate situation.
There was no mention of how the marine biology gradute went from being an inexperienced 21 year old to a marine biologist, what his first job might have been, did he need to do a masters or how long it took so its no wonder some people naively get the impression that you can walk straight out of university and into your chosen job.
When I actually graduated and found myself applying for jobs I kind of realized that this advice was useless to me. What would have been helpful at this stage was advice on the kind of jobs that a recent graduate with little experience stood a chance of getting.
We need serious advice on where we should start rather than vague, wishy washy predictions of where we might end up in the future.
This discussion makes sense, but how do you know when you are ready?
What I mean is that some jobs are given titles and built up to be something extraordinary, when in fact the role might be nothing simple.
My family tell me; “I am being too humble and falling pray to the barriers employers put up.” I have been an intern for ages (6months- unpaid) doing communications/policy for charities.
Would I be aiming too high to apply for an entry level communications job?
Kahil, my advice to graduates in your position is to ask directly (in writing): “What do I have to do to persuade you to give me a permanent paid job?” This forces the organisation where you are an intern to declare their intentions and set the goal posts. If they say ‘there is no job available’ I suggest that you stop wasting your time and move on.
Iain, I disagree with you that unpaid internships are always a waste of time. I know of a number of graduates who have started their career successfully this way, but the trick is to know when to ask the above question and act on the information it elicits.
@Anne Wilson
I LOVE the sentiment of this:
Too many employers hog the control – and it makes interns feel powerless. Personally, I’m not sure I’d recommend stating it (in writing or in person) in quite such bald terms as “What do I have to do to persuade you to give me a permanent paid job?” but I agree 100% that smart interns should take charge and assess (realistically!) the chances of each placement ever becoming a paid role.
I’d advise grads to use whatever methods you feel most comfortable, whether it’s a quiet chat with your manager in the pub at Friday night drinks, or whatever. But however you do it, you do need to know the facts. Bear in mind that your employer does NOT want you to know the facts. It suits them nicely to keep you in the dark, and keep hoping that they’re just DAYS from offering you a permanent job. They may be – but it’s unlikely. So you need to know what’s going on. If they fob you off, they ahve no intention of ever hiring you. And they’re being unprofessional. Jog on!
This is a really excellent article and the comments are fascinating. It’s a topic that needs to be addressed by graduates, students and, very importantly, by young people deciding whether or not to go to university and what to study. There is far too much pressure put on 18 year olds to go to university and they are led to believe that the one hurdle they have to overcome is getting accepted on a degree course and that, with a university level education, their career will magically appear before their very eyes and be handed to them on a plate. It is STILL a dangerously, worryingly widespread belief that obtaining a degree = well-paid job without any further effort required. So many graduates are utterly clueless about the world of work and about the industries that exist and the jobs they could do within them. As the article points out, too many young people have incredibly cliched, vague and naive notions of what they would “like” to do. This is partially down to a lack of self-motivation and initiative on their behalf but there is also a wider problem in that society, as a whole, including teachers and parents, is often very ignorant about the job market nowadays and repeats the same outdated and scarily irrelevant ideas and advice to vulnerable 18 year olds who make the life changing decision to go to university in a terrifyingly offhand way. It is simply expected that teenagers will continue their studies at university and rarely, if ever, is the question of making a career choice and whether or not a degree is really going to aid them in their job search ever properly addressed until it’s much too late. I agree that graduates need to take things one step at a time and not have overblown expectations but also think that individual research and entrepreneurship should be fostered. It’s essential that young people become familiar with the industry they would like to work in and that they really understand, firstly, whether or not there are jobs available in the industry and secondly what the work really entails and whether they are truly suited to it. There is such a lack of solid, factual, real information regarding jobs that it is shocking. The situation in other European countries, particularly extremely wealthy countries with low unemployment and underemployment rates such as Germany, Sweden and Switzerland is so different-we need to be looking at why this is. So few students in the UK between the ages of 18-23 have really taken the time to investigate and intensively study their field/industry and to learn about it, as a business and from a realistic perspective. So much more work needs to happen in this area and I’m delighted that it’s being tackled here.
Just for the record: one of my mentees (on my advice) used exactly this wording in an email. He was offered a job and one of the company directors said to him “Well done for asking. Nothing would have happened if you hadn’t.”
@Anne Wilson – That’s great news that it worked for him!
I’m just not seeing it being the most appropriate tactic in all environments, esp media… Did he put other stuff in his email, or was that it? My fear is that it could come across a little bolshy / stark…!
But as I said, I LOVE the sentiment and would definitely agree that interns should be thinking about how they can get an answer to this question, whatever they judge to be the most appropriate approach, given the nature of their employer and their relationship with them…
@Christopher
I agree with you wholeheartedly on this! I think we have so much really advanced, interesting, sophisticated debate on Graduate Fog that we can easily forget this simple point, which as you say is CRUCIAL!
And this point too:
What difference do you think higher tuition fees will make to this – if any? I honestly can’t predict whether students will continue paying this huge amount on the assumption it will lead to a brilliant graduate job (!)… or whether the amounts being discussed (up to £9,000 per YEAR) will prompt them (and their parents) into doing some proper research before signing up to a hugely expensive qualification they have no idea of the true ‘value’ of on the job market…
There are elements of truth in all of these postings.
Alconalcia is right when he(or she) says that the system “is cheating our children to an extent. Promising them the pot of gold which turns out to be a millstone”.
But it can also sound in places a bit like “in my day people use to work as chimney sweeps” when the world has moved on.
It is also true that in the 1960’s only 10% of the eligibile population became graduates but its also not usually very upwardly mobile now not to have qualifications of any kind today as Tanya points out and in the 1960’s there were probably more good openings for people who weren’t dullards with no qualifications.
As in the thread about “are disabled graduates getting jobs” there are those people who can be very well educated/intelligent but they can have problem areas for doing non -degree jobs.
(Unless it’s street sweeping or benefits without more joined up thinking from those who work with such people who claim to know what they are talking about and seem instead to give them a false sense of empowerment.)
Those who occupy a kind of twilight world in which they are too intelligent to be considered simpletons but can have problem areas outside of an educational environment who are EXTREMELY hard working because educational psychologists said they were “university material”.
(Alconalcia and Mr Iain Smith take note.)
They can get top grades in their subjects(even supposedly very vocational ones) but when it comes to looking for post graduation niches where they thought they should thrive even because(rather than in spite) of these disability issues instead they are banging their heads against brick walls because as Catherine says the career advice given is a generalised one size fits all rubbish.
Because organisations like REMPLOY end up doing the sort of job they should be doing in the first place.
It’s essential that young people become familiar with the industry they would like to work in and that they really understand, firstly, whether or not there are jobs available in the industry and secondly what the work really entails and whether they are truly suited to it. There is such a lack of solid, factual, real information regarding jobs that it is shocking.
I think this is a really important point. And it raises the question of how young people get that information and who is teaching them the research skills they need to get it.
@Anne Wilson and Christopher
I think that the information given to students is often too generic to be of good use. I remember visiting the Careers Centre and receiving booklets about certain people who successfully worked in field X with an unusual degree, but not how they did it. I see the same things going out now, and the prospects are much worse than when I graduated. I wish more guidance would follow your ideas.
I feel like it would be better to encourage school leavers to explore a good fit for them, and what it would really take to succeed in that work. I don’t mean to say that they would need to do it for the next fifty years, but it makes sense to have a starting point for the next five to ten if we are going to let them be saddled by so much more debt for education than we took on. (I think this is sad, but that’s another soapbox!)
@Tanya
It’s a scary thought but I honestly don’t think that the increase in tuition fees will do very much to encourage potential university student/graduates to reconsider their decision and the value of their education. The reason why is because the price of getting a degree doesn’t really hit most students until after they graduate and receive the statement of exactly how much debt they have incurred from the student loans company… I don’t think that an 18 year can fully understand the financial implications of the loan and see it as a wise (or potentially unwise, depending on the degree subject) long-term, serious investment that they will have to work for many years to pay back. So therefore I think that students will only end up (significantly) increasing their debt and will continue to leave seriously considering their career and the fact that they will be beginning it in a serious amount of debt until it is, unfortunately, much too late. Let’s hope I’m very wrong!
@Anne
I really think that the development of career and job market awareness and careers education in general need to begin much younger- at 15/16 years old really. It is shocking how little many 21/22 year olds know about their “chosen” industry/so-called career aspirations and it seems to be socially acceptable to be naive and badly informed; people hide behind their age and use it as an excuse to make bad decisions and to float through the education system without any real direction or focus. I really think that needs to be addressed. As you say, we need to look at how young people are to develop these skills and who is advising/training them to take charge of their education and career path and to independently research their own options and manage their lives.
I agree with so many points on here. My school had the attitude that you either go to university and get a good job or you don’t and you won’t! There was no advice on planning your career or options other than university. I ended up going to university because it was ‘safe’, expected and I had no clue what to do if I didn’t or who could offer help for getting a job or training. Luckily for me I didn’t go when fees were so high but I still graduated confused about what to do next and went from one demoralising temp job to unemployment, then the next rubbish temp job before spiraling into years of clinical depression and anxiety (not caused just by my employment situation but it was a big factor). Having got into some voluntary work this year after years of doing nothing I’m trying to find a route into a paid employment again but the job market is awful. I’m 29 and starting from scratch again with so much competition which is really scary. Some people I know graduated without knowing what they wanted to do but were fortunate enough to fall into something suitable-but it’s a dangerous gamble, especially now fees are so high. I agree with Christopher though, debt doesn’t seem real to most young people and they are still fed the lie that university is the best way to get a good job-so unless they are interested in a particular vocational role most will still see it as the best idea.