The graduate problem

The Problem
The UK has 133 certifed universities.
Each year group might comprise of approx 2000 students
That's maybe 266 000 graduates being churned out by the UK alone each year.

If each of the FTSE100 companies offers 50 graduate placements each year, that leaves 261 000 graduates not quite hitting the jackpot.

I'm aiming for that jackpot.

The Explanation
Of course, there are plenty of exceptional jobs to be had outside of the FTSE100, but for want of a vaguely tenable statistic, I'll keep this one. It gets the message across. It's a scary time for undergraduates. We want to aim high. We want our degree to push us forward and set us out from the crowd. But in this saturated* market, it won't.

I refuse, however to make any sweeping political judgements based on those statistics. Whilst I would love for the numbers of graduates to decrease, so that my pursuit of a successful career might be eased, I won't claim that they ought to decrease. If universities existed to serve HR departments and make their jobs easier by pre-sorting job applicants, then the numbers ought to decrease. Because it is indeed true that a mere undergraduate degree is no longer a distinguishing mark. But that's not why they exist. Universities exist to provide a space for rigorous research and sharing of cutting edge knowledge. Who am I to deny someone, capable of attending university, from being a part of that, if that is what they choose?
I won't fall into the upper-middle class trap of consigning the lower classes to apprenticeships and immediate work. If they're what suits you, and they're what you choose, then go ahead, and indeed they should be encouraged. But I don't believe that anyone who truly wants to learn should be discouraged from persuing further education. It's great that the barriers which held back many of even my parents' generation from going to university have been lifted. It is no longer merely the destiny of the elite.

But noble as that view might be, it is not really practical. I am still left with the problem that I started with. If I don't want to force down the numbers of graduates, then I am left with my saturated situation. How am I to set myself out from the crowd, if my degree will not do the trick?

This blog will document my search for that elusive graduate career, and hopefully it might give you some tips, or even inspire you to give me some. At the very least I hope you find it an interesting read.






*Disclaimer. I say saturated. I don't really mean saturated. I mean pretty darn full. I'm not a scientist, I'm a philosopher, and I liked the word because when it's written down it looks like it rhymes with graduate. Rhetoric makes me happy.