Should I specifically look for graduate jobs?

[CrookedSheep]

Having finished university and looking for a job in IT, is it worth applying for "regular" jobs, i.e. ones that dont specify graduates or previous experience?

Regular ones seem to pay a bit better compared to (as far as I can tell) identical "gradute" jobs. I suspect the latter expect the employee to have a bit of a learning curve.

[warp9]

Apply for all suitable jobs - don't restrict yourself!! In this economic climate a job is a job and graduates have got a particularly tough time of it at the moment. As an employer I'd prefer to take someone on that has got off their arse and worked in a 'lesser' role than they might have originally aimed for, then look to move onwards, rather than someone thats just sat there waiting for the 'right' role to come along. Also once you are in a job, often other doors then open for you.

Another option is to work unpaid for experience. It looks good on your CV and helps you build contacts.

Good luck!

[mgmrw2003]

Would agree with above. I left Uni in 2008 with a 2:1 BSc in comms and management field, then 2009 gained a MSc in International Marketing....... Found some graduate work in the form of a 4month temp job, but even that involved a 170mile a day round trip to work for a less than sensible salary.

Since then I've done various temp jobs including:

Un-packing shipping containers of nappies for a multinational company...... Packaging Lime powder for a local quarry (inolving 60-72hour working weeks of manual labour) followed by a spot of driving the colossal Volvo A25D dumpers........ And now currently reside in a planning office on a steelworks doing a mixture of data entry and planning.

Motto of the story? Don't restrict yourself, take anything you can as experience and knowledge of other companies all adds up and becomes useful.

[rog007]

Match your competencies and behaviours to the role to get the best outcomes. Good luck!

[BMWBen]

CrookedSheep said:

Having finished university and looking for a job in IT, is it worth applying for "regular" jobs, i.e. ones that dont specify graduates or previous experience?

Regular ones seem to pay a bit better compared to (as far as I can tell) identical "gradute" jobs. I suspect the latter expect the employee to have a bit of a learning curve.

Where's your degree from and what did you get? Join a grad scheme for a major company if you can.

I did 5 years ago and I'm making a "PH" wage (financial services IT).

[NotConfused]

BMWBen said:

Where's your degree from and what did you get? Join a grad scheme for a major company if you can.

I did 5 years ago and I'm making a "PH" wage (financial services IT).

Don't know about the OP, but I've checked for some grad schemes and most are taken already

[BMWBen]

NotConfused said:

Don't know about the OP, but I've checked for some grad schemes and most are taken already

Yup they tend to recruit for starts in the summer immediately after graduation. So my interviews were all around christmas time. Just get something short term and apply the following year if you've missed it.

If you're after a "career" it's a pretty unbeatable leg up.

[Engineer1]

Some "graduate" roles are in the 1st/2nd role category, a good graduate or someone changing jobs for the first time might get the job.

[Mr Pockets]

BMWBen said:

Yup they tend to recruit for starts in the summer immediately after graduation. So my interviews were all around christmas time. Just get something short term and apply the following year if you've missed it.

If you're after a "career" it's a pretty unbeatable leg up.

Being a scheme isn't the be all and end all though; okay, with other fixed jobs maybe its not always all that varied depending on what the job is and things like support won't be organised into projects, but outside of going up the ladder in that particular large multinational that the job is with, where's the benefit?

I work for a medium-sized financial IT company that recruits a load of grads in the summer, then tops them up around this time of year, all in regular jobs rather than "Grad Scheme" type things - can't say I've noticed it being a hinderance to anyone.

[98elise]

Apply for everything you are even remotely able to do. It costs you very little, and some adverts are badly written so the job looks quite different to the actual role.

[BMWBen]

Mr Pockets said:

Being a scheme isn't the be all and end all though; okay, with other fixed jobs maybe its not always all that varied depending on what the job is and things like support won't be organised into projects, but outside of going up the ladder in that particular large multinational that the job is with, where's the benefit?

I work for a medium-sized financial IT company that recruits a load of grads in the summer, then tops them up around this time of year, all in regular jobs rather than "Grad Scheme" type things - can't say I've noticed it being a hinderance to anyone.

The benefit comes from being parachuted into jobs that you wouldn't pass the CV filter for. Then once you have your foot in the door, you can move onto anything else inside that company. A couple of years later, your CV is heavyweight enough to move around and compete against people who have been in the same profession for 10+ years.

That's exactly what your company is doing even if it doesn't label it as a "grad scheme". I'm guessing that the people who are being hired wouldn't stand a chance if the roles were open to the general jobs market and the experienced candidates who are out there?