One thing is for sure—graduates are entering an incredibly competitive job market. Thousands have taken to social media to share their dismay with the obstacles they face in finding a good job. A new wave of recent graduates, Lucy, Louise, Sanjay, and Susie, exposes the adverse effects they have experienced as a result of increasing student debt. They face a competitive job market and the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in hiring.
Lucy, a 24-year-old from north Lincolnshire, graduated in 2022. Since then, she’s taken up part time work in support roles and at Greggs. Despite her impressive degree, she finds herself disillusioned by the competitive job market. Jobs aren’t picky, she said, a sentiment expressed by many of her classmates in return. The leap from university life to full-time employment has been an insurmountable challenge for many graduates.
Louise, 24, graduated from the equally-prestigious University of Oxford with a master’s in microbiology last year. Having applied to over 700 jobs, she landed a much-coveted graduate trainee role after part-time work for John Lewis. Her experience illustrates the lengths graduates are going to in order to gain a foothold in the professional world, even when their qualifications do not align with available opportunities.
Willemien Schurer’s two sons graduated just in time. With so many people now competing for jobs, she fears the obstacles that candidates must overcome today in order to differentiate themselves. “Many jobseekers feel unable to stand out due to identical CVs and cover letters,” she said. Her new adult son exemplifies the rigid, hostile current job market. Having graduated with a maths degree from one of the UK’s top universities, he applied for 200 jobs in five months but didn’t get anywhere.
Susie’s story illustrates the depths of despair that too many of our graduates find themselves in. After receiving her PhD last year, the nine-month-long jobless spell has still left her without a job despite applying, she says, to more than 700 positions. In fact, one rejection email told her that 2,000 other candidates were up for the same role. Offerings she received were far from enticing. One position paid under £30,000, “which isn’t that much more than a PhD stipend after paying tax,” she remarked.
Martyna, 23, who is about to finish her master’s degree in English literature at the University of York this autumn. She’s looking forward to this next step in her academic career! In May, she officially began her search for Emily’s first full-time job. Immediately, she started to notice that about 70% of her applications just didn’t get a response. It’s maddening on the rare occasion to get no feedback at all. These roles were second and third round interview stages that she was fully engaged in.
Sanjay Balle, 26, who graduated from the Open University last summer. After three years he kindly emerged with a third-class degree in PPE. As a waiter on a zero-hours contract, his monthly income now ranges between £700 and £800. All the while, he’s been reeling under a crushing load of £90,000 in student loans. No matter how hard he tries to get a new career with more stable hours, he cannot escape the part-time work cycle.
The experiences of these graduates raise questions about the effectiveness of higher education in preparing students for today’s job market. Willemien Schurer pointed out that “grade inflation at school and university has now followed people into the job market,” complicating the search for suitable candidates amid a flood of similar qualifications.
Add to that the worrying implications of AI on hiring bias, and these concerns become even more fraught. As companies increasingly utilize AI technology to streamline recruitment processes, candidates must adapt to new methodologies that often prioritize keywords over individual merit. “Platforms use AI to search for key words,” Martyna explained. She explained having seen a circle of friends craft job descriptions just to maximize their ability to get selected, which she conceded “feels dystopian.”
Resumes generated by AI are now being screened by AI HR software. As such, success is much more dependent on the strength of one’s professional network than merits and qualifications. One business school professor from Sweden noted that this represents a move toward the fact that personal relationships are key to landing a job.
Tom, CEO of an e-commerce logistics company, made a key point. Many graduates wish to take up roles which are highly misaligned with their skills. “What people want to do and what they’re actually good at are simply often two very different things,” he said. He says that schools can do a better job communicating about what career paths and job outlooks are.
Sanjay expressed the same views about creating vocational opportunities in addition to university options. “I think we need to encourage young people to explore other options apart from university,” he said. He pointed to the possible mental health consequences resulting from graduates being too qualified for their underemployment.
Yet the stories from these most recent graduates tell a chilling story of the current environment for graduates. Numerous university lecturers have spoken out on profound implications that AI will introduce into the university experience and post-graduation outcomes. They claim that students are coming out into the workforce without the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful.