Any experience with graduate recruitment agencies? Finding a graduate job with a 2:2?

[Ulti]

Hey Hexites,

First of all, I know I should probably post this in a place like TheStudentRoom or somewhere a bit more appropriate but I reckon I am probably more similar to members on here so I thought I'd give it a try as there's no harm in trying.

I'm just a bit stuck in trying to find decent employment and I've been to the careers department but I'm not really having much luck.

Well a bit of background about me - I recently graduated from the LSE (July 2014) but unfortunately I was overconfident in my final year and ended up with a 2:2 (I thought I would easily get a 2:1...) with a BSc in Actuarial Science (think insurance, statistical modelling, reserves and pricing etc). I've got decent GCSEs (9 A-A*s, 3 Bs) and A levels (2 A*s, 1 A, 1 B) across a variety of subjects but it seems employers are only seeing that I got a 2:2 and thus not even giving me the opportunity to apply to the company and for those that do, I'm not even getting through to the phone interview stage as their systems most likely flag up the 2:2 and send me to the rejection pile.

As it's been over half a year now, I'm starting to get desperate in finding a job. I've been in a retail job (PC World) since the beginning of my third year and I am currently still working there just so that there isn't a blank gap in my CV since graduating but retail is definitely not for me. Ideally, I wanted to be an actuary but there are no firms willing to take on a 2:2 for a graduate scheme. I have since decided to broaden my search and look at jobs involving junior/graduate finance/analyst roles but again I haven't had much luck.

I've got my profile and CV posted on sites like LinkedIn, Monster and Totaljobs but when I get phone calls, most of the time they were related to sales jobs and that is not where I want to be. I have since changed my profile a bit and I am getting less phone calls, but at least they have been finance related so far.

I've come across a few graduate recruitment agencies (Pareto Law, FDM are a couple to name) through my time and I've googled some reviews on them and around 90% of the reviews are very negative but I'm not sure if there are any options left.

So my main question to anyone that has recently been in the same spot is what options do I have? Should I sell my soul to the graduate recruitment agencies? Try harder and be patient with the job search? Other?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

[peterb]

I generally deplore internships as slave labour, or at best exploitation, BUT it can be an inroad as an extended job interview.

You could try approaching some of the actuarial firms on a one or three month internship.

Otherwise life assurance companies employ actuaries, so that might be a possibility to get you into that career.

Have you gone back to the universities careers advice organisation? Some will offer careers advice after graduation.

[abaxas]

Boat has sailed off into the distance leaving you with your 'beer degree'.

The irony being that you'll get more offers of work by leaving off the degree

[Repressor]

Did you use any pieces of specialist software during your course? You can generally find 'testimonials' or 'clients' lists of people who use that software on the software developer's site and then look to the clients' vacancies pages for those who use the software in your specific career or interest area. Then mention briefly what you use the software for in your cover letter, maybe two or three lines.

Whilst not exactly in your position, this helped me find at least a good list of companies who were hiring people who had experience with the industrial-grade software.

Also, do you have an institution related to your career area? Some (those which I'm familar with: ICE, IMechE, etc) may not but slightly more specialised ones do i.e. CIWEM have a Jobs Vacancy board. Not sure if this is much help, but it might apply to you.

Then again, this post might not be relevent to you at all, but it might help lurkers/googlers.

[Lanky123]

I don't know what sort of postgrad degrees are offered in Actuarial Science or how they're viewed in recruitment but might it be worth doing a Masters for a year to try and get yourself more chance of a foot in the door?

[nicktids]

Look at getting a temp job at a place you want to work for. I got a 2:2 and got a temp job at a major US investment house which then lead to a back office role in London that lead to a front office role which was great, hiring from within is one of main ways companies are using now.

Start near the bottom and your going to have to work your way up I was in exactly the same position as you starting out it was tough.

Look at the insurance companies and pension companies and work your way in get experience and develop your self there and move up.

The Big companies will not look at you but with a year under your belt of work in the area you want to do then they will look at the experience first and you can go from there.

[Ulti]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Yeah, as my careers advisor has said, this is probably going to be one of the most difficult stages of my life as everyone will look at the 2:2 and then doubt me but he assured me that after this stage, it won't matter one bit as they'll just see I have X work experience and graduated from the LSE.

Guess I'll just try harder in my search!

[peterb]

Good luck, and let us know how it all pans out!

[OilSheikh]

As someone who was in your shoes 8 years ago, let me tell you this - your degree is useless.
Did you take a gap year ? If not, you really shot yourself in the foot! There are a lot of companies who let you work with them as an intern for a year during your gap year and it helps you gain 1 valuable year of experience!

Without any work experience, I am afraid you will not make it at all !

I am assuming you want to get into the Insurance sector. Well, I have always worked in IT in all the top Insurance firms. From my experience, at this stage you need to consider getting a Professional Insurance qualification like a CII. And, then you need to apply for graduate jobs DIRECTLY with the companies. Think SwissRe, AIG, QBE, Novae, Brit, MunichRe, Hiscox, etc. !

[Mblaster]

I was in a similar situation to you and took the route of going through a graduate recruitment company. I have to say I wouldn't recommend it if you are able to get a job direct elsewhere, but after putting up with the initial 2 years it puts you in a good position to really start your career.

The second year was the worst, because you're over the initial learning curve and are doing real work, but you're still (in my case) getting paid less than half of people in the rest of your team, while the recruitment company takes a huge percentage of the money paid by the client. However, once the 2 years were over I left them and went contracting, and tripled my earnings.

In short, it can work out OK if you get placed at a good client and are able to put up with the 2 years of poor money.

[Andeh13]

Just gotta keep plugging away I am afraid, even with a 2:1 in mechanical engineering and an industry that is 'desperate' for engineers it still took me several months to find a decent job. Mixture of beign useful at the psychometric tests & no experience made it a nightmare.

Once you get the foot in the door it all becomes easier, but that first step is a nightmare for everyone! Good luck.

[Ttaskmaster]

I think doing a Masters would definitely help.

Failing that - What does an actuary do*?
Financial risk assessment, right?
Have you looked outside of the obvious finance roles, to see who else might have need of your knowledge and skills?

As just one example:

Here in a water utilities industry we employ graduates, both on graduate training schemes and straight into jobs. In the former, you'd be looking at a couple of years working in various departments, to give you an overview of the business arms, before slotting into a nice managerial role - One of our new Field Operations Managers just did exactly this.
In the latter, you might find work in something like Capital Investment, assessing what would be most beneficial for that particular department to chuck their OFWAT money into fixing/building - You can also choose between clean and waste water specialisations.
On top of that, we employ numerous contractors and consultant companies, so there's work with them as well.

If nothing else, you will have worked in a civil engineering environment, which is still a fairly respected field. Civils at least is still pretty old-school, so having a degree... ANY degree... stands you in good stead over those of us who don't.
In fact, out of the 17 members in my team aged between 18 and 57, I'm the only one who never went to Uni.

Best of luck!!


*Apologies, that was a rhetorical question, as my bro-in-law is an actuary... and stonking rich. I know full well what the jammy git does for a living!!

[mcmiller]

i think a masters degree which involves an element of work experience would help, my friend wanted to work in tv production and this is how she went about it.

[OilSheikh]

Please stop! An undergraduate degree is already a huge waste of money. A Postgrad is completely pointless and wastes even more money!! Absolutely do not do a Postgrad!

[shakerist]

Ulti if you could, would you have done your course with a year in industry/ placement year ? I dont think LSE actually have a course with a placement year, but for arguments sake lets say they did

[dudefellow]

Don't waste your time with agencies. You'll get a much better chance by applying directly to small-medium employers. Do your research and hit them up. Be ruthless. Don't go for rolls Royce or BP, go for a small-medium which is more likely to offer a job.