Welcome to our first newsletter of 2020! 

We hope that you had a lovely Christmas and wish you a very happy new year!

• Why it is so difficult for graduates to get a good job nowadays.

• How we help graduates to get the right graduate job.

• What parents can do to support their son or daughter.
   

Best, 

Chris 

Nowadays, a 2:1 or a 1st class degree is not enough to land a graduate-level job. Why is this?

Up until 1990, the number of graduates equalled the number of graduate job vacancies. However, nowadays there are 2.3 million graduates searching for a job at any give time and competition is fierce, with at least 80 applicants per job vacancy. 

Here is a typical response that one of our graduates recently received from a large bank: “We regret to inform you that this programme has now been filled. As advertised, we recruit on a rolling basis and had received an extremely high volume of applications for this programme from the day we opened”.

We subsequently learnt that this bank had over 65 000 applications for 120 graduate vacancies!

With huge numbers of academically qualified applicants, employers are placing greater emphasis on making offers to the most ‘workplace-ready’ candidates who have a range of employability skills and experiences. As well as possessing these attributes, graduates need to be able to present themselves effectively in job interviews.  

2019 saw a real change in employer expectations and the number of graduates seeking good jobs is only going to increase in 2020.  

This infographic illustrates the scale of the problem:

The majority of the graduates we help are either unemployed, underemployed or in the wrong job. Our flagship 6-stage 1-2-1 coaching programme:
 

• Guarantees the right graduate job. Not just any job.

• Equips graduates with lifelong skills and a network of contacts.

• Offers continued mentoring after graduates land their graduate job. 
   

The graduate job application process is rigorous. It is the most difficult application process they will ever have to undergo in their career as:
 

• 90% of graduates study non-vocational degrees and therefore are unsure of their career path and what job titles are right for them.
   
• They do not yet have years of experience under their belt, so they must convince employers of their skills and competencies to perform well in the job. 
   
• They face a multi-stage application process and must perform highly and impress employers at every stage in order to be successful. 

Without expert careers advice and guidance, many graduates (and their parents) get depressed, despite sending out hundreds of applications, only to receive rejection after rejection. 

Investing in our comprehensive 1-2-1 coaching programme will help your son or daughter to build up their confidence and gain a competitive advantage in the graduate job market. 

On average, our alumni earn £45,000 just 3 years after receiving our help. Those that do move to new roles also find it infinitely easier to land a new job as they have abundant work experience. After their initial success, they find it much easier to progress up the career ladder and land new roles. 

To find out more about our 1-2-1 coaching programme and how to enrol your son or daughter, visit our website. 

For grads who do not require the full coaching programme, we can create a bespoke programme, tailored to your son or daughter's needs. We also offer an interview coaching service, designed to help graduates become the best they can be at interviews. 

Sometimes parents can find that their son or daughter does not see why they should get an external coach because they assume that if they needed such support they would have received it at university. 

However, in reality, universities say that they do not have the resources to provide comprehensive careers coaching to each student! They only focus on academic achievement. 

We have found that a good argument for using us is pointing out that throughout their lives your sons and daughters have been receiving coaching in the form of academic tutors, sports coaches, music teachers etc. Coaching someone to get them on the career ladder is no different. And most parents are career coached or mentored nowadays. 

Here are some other tips:

• Consider your network, who could help them in these areas?

• Encourage your son or daughter to activate and build their own network: speaking to former teachers and lecturers, and re-contacting old acquaintances could help.

• Encourage them to be proactive, for example, by contacting companies with a carefully prepared cover letter which highlights the skills they will bring to the company.

• Encourage them to start early. Government research shows that graduates who focus exclusively on graduate-level jobs and make most applications while still studying stand a better chance of landing one.

• Encourage your child to be open-minded: they should not rule out any type of work experience that will help them build-up to the job they eventually want to get.

• Know when to offer advice and when to back off. Young people grow quicker when they make and learn from their own mistakes.

• Two books that can help are The Student Book, which shows students how to prepare to find a graduate-level job after leaving university; and The Graduate Book, which shows them how to excel once they get there. Both books are written by Chris Davies, founder of Graduate Coach. 

We will leave you with this: “Everyone needs a coach. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a singer, a tennis player, a dancer or a graduate”- Bill Gates  

If it is good enough for him, it is good enough for your son or daughter! 

All the best!