Months away from my graduation, feelings of ambition, aspiration, fear and frustration seem to litter the path towards a decent start to my career.
From reading endless articles about graduate (un)employment, the starting pay for graduates (it's £29,000, right? Or £25,000? Maybe £18,000? Err..minimum wage? A salary at all?) and internships being akin to student slave labour, you could forgive any soon-to-be graduate for having a knot in their stomach when thinking about what happens come July. So, in a moment of honest introspection, here are my top five graduate fears, warts 'n all.
The 'value' of my degree will boil down to two numbers: 2:1
Any graduate will tell you that the academic aspect of your degree is hardly the thing you will remember most from your university experience. Having to grow up, deal with difficult people, manage your own finances and maintain your independence have all contributed to you evolving into a different (hopefully more competent) person than the one who started out homesick in halls back in September 2008.
I don't think it's that naive to hope that all these learning experiences deserve merit. But all too often when applying for graduate schemes or signing up to recruitment websites, you are at least three or four steps away from speaking to a real person and perhaps a couple more before you meet someone who actually hires. So when you start you are faced with a series of boxes to tick, only one of which is your degree. How much does this magic box want to know about your degree? Not much. What you got, what you are predicted to get and where you went to get it. That's it. Three years of your life reduced to a nifty one line Q&A.
Although, all the above problems are trivial compared to if the unthinkable happened. Another two numbers. Much less pretty ones ...
I came out with a 2.2
To all intents and purposes the future looks bleak to those who don't attain an upper second degree. It seems this isn't covered much by the graduate schemes.
It is perhaps accurately argued that the benchmark is set at a 2:1 because there are so many graduates achieving this grade, so why should they consider those who attain below this? A tough question to answer, but of the few articles floating around about such a worry, words like 'creativity' and 'charm' could get you out of such a hole. After all, you would hope that at some point an employer is more interested in the person than the degree. The problem is it seems you will seldom get your foot in the door before a faceless review process decides whether you are worthy of person-to-person contact.
A humanities degree won't secure opportunities
Are arts degrees less valued by employers? From my own experience, speaking to employers at various career fairs and one-to-one events at university, it seems that degree area doesn't necessarily count for or against you. However, conversations with my peers led to a different conclusion: "I should have done law, languages or a finance-based degree to get ahead". So, what is the reason for this disparity between what students think and what employers say?
What if I make the wrong career choice?
This is a general concern for every graduate unless they are lucky enough to be dead set on a particular career goal. A myriad of blogs written by 'gradults' talk about either being grateful to get any job at all, or being highly stressed or unhappy with the job they have.
Will making the wrong career choice at the start affect your chances in the future? In the current graduate job market, there is a lot to be said for being accepted onto a graduate scheme at all. What options are there for those who find the ideal at odds with the reality? When having any job can mean security and there are a hundred others willing to take your place, is it a case of stop whingeing and get on with it when grad life ain't so sweet?
What if I don't get a job at all?
At the beginning of my last year, my aspiration was to get a job before I graduate. Now, it is to ensure I get a job before September. But with both ambitions statistically unlikely, should I be preparing myself for six months on the dole - or should I be positive and assume that signing on is just a 'cross that bridge when you come to it' issue?
I am in awe of the number of student profile's I have read who have maintained a persistent and positive attitude regardless of whether they have been out of work for six months or more. Maybe out of this 'lost generation', hidden talents like humility, courage and persistence will bring about a sea change in the characters of young employees in the coming years. For now though, the knot in my stomach will not go away.
Nathan Minnighan is a third year politics and philosophy undergraduate at the University of Liverpool. He is currently applying for graduate scheme positions in the financial services sector
