“Like throwing myself at a wall”: UK graduates struggle in ‘insane’ job market,” reads the title of a Guardian article I encountered as I began preparing for my final year at this university – needless to say my pre-existent grad-life anxieties were not put at ease. However, in an odd way, I found comfort in the knowledge that my developing worries was not a solitary endeavour. Yet still, despite all my positive experiences with the Careers Service throughout my time at the University of Edinburgh, I still felt ill-prepared for entering the graduate job market, and in this, I believe, lies the issue.
If one were to take a step back and focus on the resources provided by the University of Edinburgh Careers Service, then one would see sufficient information and direction. I received an email on Monday about their Careers Essentials programme, outlining their upcoming careers events – all of which will undoubtedly be of benefit to someone. Further yet, we just had the Careers Fair, which, granted, if you’re not interested in entering the world of accountancy is perhaps not the most direct exhibition of careers, but was still productive (LinkedIn headshot anyone?) I have also had a few interactions with my school-specific Careers Advisor, who has always been friendly, helpful, approachable, and nothing but generous with their time.
However, these genuinely useful resources are often overshadowed by negative discourse surrounding the undoubtedly difficult job market for graduates, and whilst this is perhaps unjust on the Careers Service, it is easy to see why such a discourse exists, and how it comes to conflate the two issues. As Bloomberg pointed out in 2023, the number of available positions (that are marked suitable for graduates) was down 40% from 2018. Moreover, many graduates grow tiresome of the overly competitive market and settle for non-graduate jobs in sectors such as hospitality, retail, and call centres to name but a few. Additionally, attempting to balance part-time work, a social life, and completing a degree is a time-consuming feat to say the least, and to place grad scheme application deadlines in the mix only serves to worsen the preoccupied schedule. I believe Edinburgh does provide students with satisfactory careers advice and services, but, unfortunately, no amount of work they do will topple the perplexities, stresses, and headache-inducing world of the graduate job market for us students.
I know I have experienced restless nights worrying about what I will be doing next year, where I will be, and if I will be in a job/sector I enjoy – or even have a job at all. Perhaps it will all be fine in the end, I won’t know until next year, but in the meantime, I won’t stop worrying, and I know I’m not alone.
“Edinburgh University Graduates” by thisisedinburgh is licensed under CC BY 2.0.