The first rejection letter was the hardest.
It read like this: “Compliment blah blah blah we’re not hiring a graduate for this position blah blah blah.”
The second rejection letter wasn’t too different. Same nice and polite opening, leaving me hanging like a reality television contestant about to be booted off the island, and then sorry, graduate, no experience, bye-bye.
Luckily for me, the post-university graduation period of panic (and seemingly endless rejection letters) didn’t last too long. I was thankfully employed here, after I flatly refused to leave the Mamamia office following my internship.
But some most of my friends have not been so lucky.
The job market is tough right now for someone who is new to the game. Unemployment is rising, more and more full-time jobs are being taken up by multiple part-time workers and nobody seems interested in hiring a university graduate with no ‘real world’ experience.
No matter how good our grades. No matter how hard we worked. No matter how many hours we put in at the university library… Employers just want someone who has done it before. A safe pair of hands who they can be confident already knows how to do a job.
And it seems that my experience – and that of my friends – is not unique.
The Conversation recently reported that “50,000 young people have been unemployed for more than a year, with the average length of unemployment almost doubling – from 16 to 29 weeks – over the last six years”. Youth unemployment actually exceeds 12 per cent, which is more than double that of the rest of the working (or wish they were working) population.
The study released by the Brotherhood of St Laurence also states that youth unemployment isn’t a short-term issue. Apparently, if my friends don’t find a job in the near future they “are more likely to be unemployed, have poor health and have lower educational attainment” than, well, me I guess. And believe me, I am in no way more deserving than my friends.
Being unemployed at the start of your career hits you harder and can hold you back for longer than at other stages. I’ve seen it first-hand with my friends. It dents confidence, makes you retreat inside yourself, makes you question your own abilities.
Researcher Francisco Azipitarte says this is due to the “loss of employability skills and the negative effect that unemployment (especially long-term) has on employer’s assessments of job candidates”. Essentially, the research is saying that there aren’t enough jobs out there for my friends (and many, many other people) and that this will negatively impact them way down the track too. Quite possibly for the rest of their lives.
For obvious reasons, I have not been sharing these findings on my Facebook just yet.
Thankfully, there is one positive to be taken out of this and that is, this report may get people talking.
And if people are talking, more people will know about the damage that this will do to not only my friends and other youths but to the future economic prosperity of our country.
They will know about the financial and emotional impacts unemployment is having. Especially on young people and as the song goes, we’re the future – right?
And hopefully when more people talk about it… my friends will know they aren’t alone in this. That the slightly scary new working world they so desperately wish to enter is aware of what they’re going through.
And maybe, just maybe, a few more employers will take a chance on a grad.
Top Comments
It is such a difficult challenge facing the industry as a whole. I like the article but not the "take away".
From the employers perspective, I can see why the pendulum has swung in their favour. Students are competing with their peers that have good grades and quality extra curriculars. The author also needs to keep in mind that by "tak(ing) a chance on a grad", employers may be passing over someone who is equally or more qualified with more experience. Just because someone comes from an age group that is overrepresented in unemployment statistics doesn't mean that I should be obliged to employ them instead of someone else. Sure young people are the future but we need to allow the older skilled workers the dignity of opportunity too. Old people are discriminated against in the workforce enough already.
At the same time, students for some reason are not preparing themselves for the workforce as much as they need to. It is clear once graduated it is incredibly competitive, but the urgency doesn't translate during undergraduate years. I have nothing to back this up except recent experience (in 24) but I do feel that a large chunk of students are not preparing for the workforce in university, while a select few are with volunteering, part-time work and networking. Some think this is too hard for low income students, but during my undergrad, and postgrad, on my own back (living away from home) I worked part or full time, throughout, volunteered and was active in industry based student clubs. The urgency needs to be impressed upon the rest that you will be competing with the high performers in the workforce; so lift your game. Again, nothing to back this up but I feel that as university is more common now, a slice of the student population see it as natural progression from school; whereas in past generations university was a special thing and a privilege, and so students made sure they made the most of it.
At the end of the day, however you end up unemployed, you cannot change your past study habits. It is certainly difficult being unemployed. Good luck in the job search all and I hope you can get some good experience helping out in the community until you eventually get a job; which I am sure you will!
I have been unemployed for just under 11 months now and have just recently got a job. What I found especially hard was how uncompassionate people could be.
Yes I struggled at uni in my journo degree and my marks weren't amazing. Yes I made choices during my degree that prevented me from having as many internships as I perhaps should have had. But I accepted these and I knew I'd have a fair bit of unemployment time. However a huge amount of people assumed I was lazy or just not terribly good at writing and they would tell me that and those words were why I struggled with mild depression during a large portion of my unemployment time.
Why are basic codes of etiquette like giving people the benefit of the doubt and just generally being careful of what you say ignored just because I'm an unemployed generation Y? Who knows but a little bit of understanding goes a long way.