job hunting

I genuinely believe that you are no better off trying to find any job if you have a degree, experience seems to be what any employer wants at the moment, of course there are always going to be roles which absolutely require the relevant qualification.

Does make you feel worthless though, I have to agree. Constant applying then refusal.

[tigersaw]

You need to brush up your spelling and grammar.

MOD is really slow in recruitment. Don't take hearing nothing for months as "we aren't interested". That is unfortunately just their recruitment process.

[Littlepeahead]

I have no degree and I flunked my A levels.

Having a degree means you, like many others, have spent a few years studying a subject that may or may not be useful to a future employer. In a specialist field then yes your degree will be useful/required. But if you are applying for jobs at Wetherspoons then a degree in any subject you care to name will be of very little use to you. What they are looking for is someone with the right personality, customer service skills, a quick learner who won't need a text book to explain everything to them who is prepared to work hard and show commitment.

You say: "If a company is going to reject my application why ask me for a full interview where i have to spend alot of spare time preping for it. I am more then sure there are aware what is in a physics degree and what experience i have is on my CV. But no they have to dragg me in and ask me questions about something i havent studied, although i do alot of back ground research i cant know everything!!! when i have a degree in physics."

This statement is very telling. You have a degree. So do thousands of others. Discount that bit of paper from the university and then ask yourself what else you can offer a potential employer? After all, it's about what you can give them, not the other way round.

You have to spend time prepping for an interview. Welcome to the real world. I spend much of my working day prepping for whatever project I am working on, that's called work and if you aren't happy doing it for an interview will you be happy doing it in your job?

They drag you in? Well why shouldn't they want to meet potential candidates. They want to give you a chance to back up your CV to show what skills and personality traits you have.

At the interview for MCC ten years ago they asked why, despite all my employment experience being in Music and Cricket PR, advertising and print production I had taken a month off and spent it as a live in volunteer at a monkey sanctuary in Cornwall with the blessing of my boss? After I got the job I asked my new manager why that interested him. He said it showed I was happy to try new things, be adaptable, learn new skills but also use my existing skills like marketing and databases, to assist the Sanctuary in their work. Mucking in serving in the cafe and weeding the gardens reassured him I wasn't too stuck up to get my hands dirty. And it showed I could work as a team and was happy to help others. These were the qualities they were looking for, he didn't care whether I had a degree.

Maybe you could consider some voluntary work yourself as it will expand your CV and show what you can do rather than what you can study.

Sorry if that sounds harsh but how many people have obtained a physics degree in the last 3 years? You need to offer more when there are so many people going for every job.

[Biker Biggles]

I think you need to get a job.Any job,even if it is minimum wage shelf stacking or care work.This will give you some employment history and demonstrate that you can hold down a job,something which employers will want to see.Only then will they take you seriously at interview for a "proper" job.Hard talk but thats the way it is.

Everyone is getting turned down for jobs, figure out what you want to do then go make it happen if you want bad enough you will get it.

[MisterTommyH]

I hate to say this, but having the degree is most likely the basic criteria needed to get to interview. All of the other people who graduated with you will be applying as well. The company (rightly) wants the best person for the job... The face that fits... The person who can think on their feet... Who has the right attitude. The only way they can tell these things is by interview, and if they only interviewed one then they couldn't guarantee to get the best employee for the position and wouldn't be doing their job right.

What is it that these people getting the jobs have that you don't (only you can answer that). Is there something extra curricular you could do to make you / your CV more attractive? Voluntary work? We're you in OTC or anything at uni?

It may well be that you are the best person for the job, but that something simple is being missed. Keep trying. Keep doing everything you can to make yourself a more attractive prospect. Do not expect the fact that you have a qualification mean you are right for / deserve a job.

Good Luck!

[andrewsmith]

Originally Posted by Littlepeahead

I have no degree and I flunked my A levels.

Having a degree means you, like many others, have spent a few years studying a subject that may or may not be useful to a future employer. In a specialist field then yes your degree will be useful/required. But if you are applying for jobs at Wetherspoons then a degree in any subject you care to name will be of very little use to you. What they are looking for is someone with the right personality, customer service skills, a quick learner who won't need a text book to explain everything to them who is prepared to work hard and show commitment.

You say: "If a company is going to reject my application why ask me for a full interview where i have to spend alot of spare time preping for it. I am more then sure there are aware what is in a physics degree and what experience i have is on my CV. But no they have to dragg me in and ask me questions about something i havent studied, although i do alot of back ground research i cant know everything!!! when i have a degree in physics."

This statement is very telling. You have a degree. So do thousands of others. Discount that bit of paper from the university and then ask yourself what else you can offer a potential employer? After all, it's about what you can give them, not the other way round.

You have to spend time prepping for an interview. Welcome to the real world. I spend much of my working day prepping for whatever project I am working on, that's called work and if you aren't happy doing it for an interview will you be happy doing it in your job?

They drag you in? Well why shouldn't they want to meet potential candidates. They want to give you a chance to back up your CV to show what skills and personality traits you have.

At the interview for MCC ten years ago they asked why, despite all my employment experience being in Music and Cricket PR, advertising and print production I had taken a month off and spent it as a live in volunteer at a monkey sanctuary in Cornwall with the blessing of my boss? After I got the job I asked my new manager why that interested him. He said it showed I was happy to try new things, be adaptable, learn new skills but also use my existing skills like marketing and databases, to assist the Sanctuary in their work. Mucking in serving in the cafe and weeding the gardens reassured him I wasn't too stuck up to get my hands dirty. And it showed I could work as a team and was happy to help others. These were the qualities they were looking for, he didn't care whether I had a degree.

Maybe you could consider some voluntary work yourself as it will expand your CV and show what you can do rather than what you can study.

Sorry if that sounds harsh but how many people have obtained a physics degree in the last 3 years? You need to offer more when there are so many people going for every job.

I agree with LPH on this (said what I was trying to write up on Lunch yesterday). I have a okay degree and s***e A-levels.

I graduated in 2010 and spent the next year working the bar trade in between the dole office, the reason the job I've got now is still mine (worked for over a year on contract) is I am willing to do any job and get stuck in. My degree is useful to my company as I can look at tender pack drawings and flag anything that I'm not happy with as long as I have good reasons for it, and I'm ring mastering contractors around employees of tenants (My job is a: Building Manager for a Global Property Management company)

When you go for jobs; no job is below you. Read the two bits in bold

[dizzyblonde]

Quit the attitude of 'I have a degree, I deserve a job' that chip on the shoulder comes through for employers.

Here's the very harsh bit. A 2:1 is a great achievement, but in reality there's folk out there with better.

I'm sorry if this sounds extremely harsh, but I spent five years in a relationship with someone chasing the degree will give me instant employment...... It didn't get them instant employment in chosen field, they got s 2:1 too.

I've worked amongst management of an international well known company, with no qualifications, they bloody hated people with degrees, especially wet behind the ears with a new degree.

Sorry

[Bri w]

Virtually every cv I see has a degree on it. Those that are looking for their first (career) job have a history of part time work and volunteer work.

If you've got through the paper sift and are sat in the interview, your degree means very little as a differentiator from any of the people I'll see that day. I'm looking for a personality that will fit in the team, and a passion for the job.

How you present yourself in the first few minutes of an interview is absolutely crucial. I've made up my mind how long much of my time you'll get in the first 10 mins.

Watch out for questions like, "why do you want this job?" If you give the impression that its a lifeboat to escape what you currently do, or a stepping stone onto something else, you won't get the job.