1.97 and growing

Unemployment figures were released last night amid the usual smoke and mirrors that accompany these announcements... Apparently these figures fail to take into account the Woolworths redundancies and most of the banking lay offs of late. Some industry commentators have suggested that the figure may be something in the region of 2.3-2.5 million, that coupled with the BBC saying that it will be at least 3 million by the end of the year does not paint the most optimistic picture of Britain in the grip of recession.

I have to confess to being slightly enraged by the Evening Standard's piece about the "plight" of grads. The grad gravy train has obviously set expectation a bit too high with the AGR saying that the average grad salary in London being £28,375 last year. Crazy when you consider the average UK wage is currently £24,908, it shows that companies were not just forking out massive amounts of money to people at the top end but throughout the business.. Yes, grads have a value (if they have a relevant degree) but is it enough to justify some of the starting wages offered in certain industries?

The grad used by the standard was expecting a high flying job and was "shock" shot down in flames.. She applied to be a secretary through a high street agency with no secretarial skills and was told they weren't interested, she applied to be the PA to a director for £36K and again had no relevant skills or experience and was told it was a no (carping about her powerpoint skills from degree presentations not being enough does her no favours in my book), she went to be a PR assistant (along with every other under 25 in London) and moaned that she had travel writing and journalistic experience that should have been "invaluable for a job in PR" when many of the other grads who went for the job had done PR internships. Perhaps cutting her cloth would be more appropriate or just asking the standard to actually pay her rather than using her for work experience and the handy feature they were doing... oh hang on, did they do that already or am I just a cynic?

In the current climate the grads who will do well are those who have really thought out their career paths, being a History of Art grad (per the standard's example) means nothing in the current market. Someone with a relevant degree and an internship under their belt will do really well right now and those who recognise that the UK employment market is really tough and are willing to start at the very bottom will rise through the ranks pretty damn quickly.

Any grads out there should look at Ratemyplacement, think about what it is they want to do and try and get working at a company that will be relevant to their future. For those just going to university perhaps the media studies, Outdoor Adventure and Philosophy (google it, it's real), Beach management etc may not be the best option right now.