Can someone employ us struggling graduates?

So today is my first blog, wish me luck, I might need it. I graduated in 2017, yes 18 long months ago and since then it has been a struggle, to say the least.

I thought once you had a degree you had a superpower on your CV, a bachelors always sounded so fancy and I thought employers might agree with that. Unfortunately, there is one thing that all employers want.. experience. Now I have had my share of jobs. I’ve been a waitress, a collections handler and a few other things to add to the list but unless you’ve been working since the age of 7 in your chosen career path, obtaining a job suddenly becomes really hard, or so it seems that way at least.

After graduating, I took some time off. Some people go straight into a graduate scheme or get on the job hunt straight away. That is great for a lot of people, but for me third year was one of the hardest years of my life, and I needed a break! I went on holiday, I enjoyed having guilt free Netflix binges, and naps at 2pm, all because I could. However, when it came to September, and I felt it time to start looking for a job, the Netflix binges and the napping started to become frustrating because I was so ready to start in the world of work.

It took me 2 months to find a job, it wasn’t my dream job, not even in the area that I could ever see myself going into but it was a job. I think that’s what people don’t realise, when you are at university it feels like you are working towards the job of your dreams, or at least figuring out what this could be. But for me, 18 months on, I still haven’t figured this out. I’m not ashamed of this. I am only 23, I don’t need to have it all figured out. I want to see what I can excel at, and what I might be best leaving to the professionals!

I have been through the interview process, the researching, the anxiety and the constant refreshing of emails to see if that all important response has come through. On four occasions I have been down to the last two candidates and whilst everyone I’ve spoken to says thats still really good,  the unemployment doesn’t agree with that. It is soul destroying, confidence knocking, painful stuff but at the end of the day its life, it’s a learning curve and it is worth it to get to where you want to be.

So my question is, what do you want from us? I can say I am hardworking and dedicated and I can express my passion for your role, but if you don’t let me prove it then all it becomes is words on a piece of paper. Now don’t get me wrong, I know that many employers still appreciate a degree, or a strong trail in your educational past, but it is becoming harder and harder to justify spiralling into debt for the sake of a scroll at the end of three years.

For me, university changed my life. Yes I know, it sounds cliche and maybe a little cheesy but who doesn’t love a bit of extra mature cheddar. University allowed me to find my home, and it gave me three years to learn more about myself and mature before being ready for the big bad real world. Don’t get me wrong I still have a lot to learn, like how does your credit score work, or how the hell do you get a mortgage, but where university fails to teach in some ways, it makes up for it in so many others.

If someone had told me in my third year of university that I would be running a drama workshop to a group of 10 male prisoners, I think I would have run the other way. Mainly because my confidence was non-existent before university. However, Manchester helped me tackle a challenge like this, it helped me learn about people from all different walks of life.

The one thing I will say is, people don’t exaggerate when they say it is hard for a graduate to find a job. The competition is fierce and you have to keep thinking of new ways to express why you might be more suited to the role than someone else. I don’t know about you, and your experiences, but sometimes you just need that one person to give you a chance, to let you find your voice in the working world. You need them to look past the experience and straight to the person. I am hardworking, and I will get where I want to be, but my superpower isn’t being a graduate, it is being the person I am today.