What we owe our students
Numbers alone hide deep-seated hurt
In July, I used this introduction to talk about my first job out of university and the value of failure and boredom. Two months later, I’m going to talk about my first job out of university again, but this time I’ll be more open with you.
It took me between 18 months and two years to land my first professional job.
As I’ve written about before, during that job search, I worked full-time as a library assistant. What I haven’t written before is that I hated it.
To be clear, I didn’t hate it in its entirety. The people I worked with were great and while I was at university, I was a casual worker. The job paid well enough and was flexible enough for me to study full-time and still earn some money. It suited my needs.
But I studied journalism and after graduation, when I moved into a full-time position, the longer I didn’t work in a field related to my interests, such as communications or PR, the more frustrated I got.
I wasn’t alone, though. Of my graduating class, I can count on one hand the number of people who went on to work in journalism. Maybe a handful more worked in communications, marketing, PR or a related field. For those I can name who worked in journalism or similar, I can name at least two who returned to study something else.
It’s dismaying that not only is my experience still happening, almost two decades later, but things are only getting worse for graduates. A reasonable observation is that part of the reason it took me so long to find my first professional job was because I was waiting for the right opportunity. I eventually took a cut in pay to get that first job — a gamble that thankfully paid off.
Graduates today are not being picky. The opportunities simply don’t exist. As we covered in July, in the UK just 27% of soon-to-be-graduates had secured a job, down from 33% three years earlier. Meanwhile, the Science Survey predicts that we are seeing the “last generation of entry-level positions”.
This is worth reflecting on. We can look at the numbers directly — and they are at times harrowing — but they conceal the reality of lived experiences. How are graduates, who were encouraged to go to university and study hard feeling now?
This month, our cover story speaks directly to students. It is an at times difficult read but I highly recommend it. Written by a recent international graduate who herself is experiencing challenges finding work, it’s a deeply insightful look into where graduates’ minds are at and why we need to help them more than ever.
There is understandable anger, but there is also hope.
Inside, we also carry articles that look at what else universities can be doing to help students prepare for securing work.
Stay insightful.
Anton John Crace is Editor in Chief of QS Insights. He has been writing on the international higher ed sector for over a decade. His recognitions include the Universities Australia Higher Education Journalist of the Year at the National Press Club of Australia, and the International Education Association of Australia award for Excellence in Professional Commentary.