I'm 24, a bit of a geek, spend a bit too much time online, and in front of the Xbox. But mostly I look for work, like an ever-increasing proportion of everyone I knew from school, college and university.
Like most graduates, I'm in vast amounts of debt. I owe £18,000 (and rising) to the Student Loans Company, £3,000 to Halifax and £750 to HSBC. Despite this, I don't regret my degree course for a second (I have a BSc in genetics from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth). No, my demons reside at the jobcentre. Forced to move back in with my retired father (whose state pension is barely enough for him, let alone both of us) I rely on jobseeker's allowance to get by, to stay out of poverty.
The Jobcentre has done nothing but hinder me in my search. When I was asked what qualifications I had, and I told them about my degree, Btecs, A-levels, AS-levels and GCSEs, they responded with "Are you sure? Have you got certificates to prove that?" To be patronised and looked down on didn't faze me, but what did was the suggestion by a personal adviser that I take my degree off my CV, saying it might be scaring employers. I steadfastly refused, and later asked another staff member who said there was no way any adviser would suggest a customer remove a qualification.
Full article HERE
My, doesn't this sound familiar?
I have to be perfectly honest here, I gave up on going to the physical JobCentre after my first stint of being unemployed (my gap year before University), I found it far easier and far quicker to find work on my own, looking on their website or walking around looking for adverts in shop windows.
The issue of being an unemployed graduate is a real problem for me, like I've said many times before I'm either over-qualified or under-qualified for a position.
The kicker is, if I take my degree off of my CV, then there's a 3 year gap in my employment history where people (potential employers) must wonder where the heck I've been, and what the heck I've been doing. It just doesn't help at all.
The most annoying thing is that potential employers assume that if they offer me a job, I'll get bored and leave after a while because I've got a degree.
I. Need. Work.
I. Need. Money.
If I got offered a job that was far under my qualifications, and it was all I could take at the moment, then I will work it, and I will put up with it, because I need the money to survive.
Is there a chance I'll leave? Yes, but there's also just as much chance as the other people leaving, whether they're over-qualified or not. It's pretty much unfair treatment simply because I spent my time getting a degree instead of working up the corporate structure.
So, yeah, the JobeCentre does not help much (it is another of those things that badly needs to be reworked and reformed, especially the staff), and the view that potential employers take is ridiculous.
I am not lazy or workshy. I send at least 20 job applications every week. No replies. No recognition of your existence. And of course, no jobs.
At university, I was part of a project researching how to make heat-resistant potatoes that could grow anywhere a cactus could grow, even in the desert. We were going to solve world hunger by feeding Africa chips. Now they say I'm only good enough to stack shelves. For no wage. It's a very bitter pill to swallow. I suspect, for my generation, there is no future. We were supposed to be the next set of great thinkers. What do you think we think about now? How to stay out of poverty. How to avoid being made a slave.
Have a good day.
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