Should my recently graduated son expect to work 55 hpw for £17500 pa?

Stop gap jobs are ok, so long as you have enough time to actually job hunt.

In my experience, job hunting was full time. There was often 2, sometimes 3 separate interviews, preparation or interview questions (e.g. writing a program to solve the travelling salesman problem) that needed to be done in advance, and thats on top of the job seraching and cover letters and fielding never ending phone calls from over-friendly recruitment agents etc..

Even assuming you get stuff done outside of the 55 hours a week working, are they really going to let you have lots of days off for interviews?

It sounds like the company is using people for cheap labour. I suspect there’s a high turnover.

trail_rat – Member

pro rata – for 55hours i would have been earning more than 17.5k as a bike mechanic – id have been happier to continue doing that than work for enterprise.

They could do with you back…

@ fionap. What line of work are you in if you don’t mind me asking, just sounds like you have some relevant comments about internship which he is more than happy to do. My email is in profile if you wouldn’t mind dropping me a line. Me and Mrs Lad have been in the same jobs for 20 years so we have a lack of awareness about this subject

If you have qualifications they want experience, if you have experience they want qualifications, and if you have both then you’re overqualified. Can’t bloody win.

This is because of recruitment agencies. I have the same issue, I have a lot of experience, and I’m very good at what I do. I can do the same job as a graduate easily, but would probably expect less pay. So a good investment for any company, and I’ve found companies doing their own recruitment have always given me a chance.

But the recruitment agents say no. No degree, no consideration for the position.

mudshark – Member

Gaps on CVs have to be explained too.

They do but for a fresh graduate, “I was looking for the right job, which this particular job is” should always be nonprejudicial and can be beneficial- you’re showing a particular interest rather than just taking what’s available. Employers that treats a short gap in a CV after uni as a problem, are almost certainly going to be dicks in the longer run too.

There’s a school of thought- I don’t have an informed opinion on this- that as a graduate your first job in a career path is the most important one. Various reasons- you get typecast, potential employers look at what you’re doing now and may assume that’s what you’re fit for. So you might take a starter role but then the next person says “Hmm, I see your experience is as a lab assistant even though you’re a qualified teacher, you’re an underachiever” or something and the next thing you know you get offered more lab assistant roles. Perceived success breeds success. I know it happens, it happened to me- but whether it’s widespread I don’t know.

But personally, if I was a fresh grad right now I’d be looking for a job I really wanted, unless I had no real choice.

I’d take bets on it being Enterprise, American company expecting huge amounts of time for bugger all pay.

Hmm, I see your experience is as a lab assistant qualifieed teacher even though you’re a qualified teacher qualified lab assistant, you’re an underachiever

Sod off, you’ve got it all wrong.

Can’t be arsed reading all that… No, he should expect to go in on £100k p/a with zero experience and ‘just’ his degree as new grads have so much to offer…. AFAIK, accepting an offer is not mandatory so he should keep looking if this one is too demeaning.

Sorry if this sounds a bit harsh but he can always hold out for whatever you/he considers more appropriate or maybe get zero from an internship instead…

I turned down three ‘graduate’ jobs out of Uni (all on more than the OP’s son’s been offered!), didn’t start until February, after graduating in the summer, never been an issue and set me up right. Can’t see a post-Uni CV gap would ever be a problem.

The applicants for this job will be paid considerably less than the guys currently doing it(retiring)by approx £7-10k !!!! The job has not been represented accurately in this advert imo(and colleagues)
The trades apprentices are also being offered contracts which are way below the old trades remuneration. There would seem to be and this is being proven by Gov tax revenue figures to lower the UK wage bill.
To obtain the old rates of pay kids are being made to jump through hoops or maybe good old fashioned “work harder” rather than listening to their parents who tell them they “shouldn’t be working those hours for that kind of money”. I’m afraid those days have gone 💡

I know the hours my kids have and are working, much the same as I did when I was their age, both in good professional(Teaching/engineering)jobs.

…as a graduate your first job in a career path is the most important one. Various reasons- you get typecast, potential employers look at what you’re doing now and may assume that’s what you’re fit for

Well I agree but I have assumed that the OP’s son hasn’t just applied for anything at random and that the job might be relevant to his career – just that the hours/pay ain’t great.

Tell him not to bother with Enterprise, it’s not a real grad scheme, more of a “trainee” scheme. I was offered a place many years ago but within 15 minutes of the start of the assessment centre I knew I didn’t want to work there. Also know a couple of people who did work there and both left within 1-2 years.

Normally I’d be telling someone to take the job, and look for something else whilst doing it. Any job is better than no job… Right?

Well in the case of Enterprise, no… They are a comedy bunch of shysters that, to be honest, I’m surprised are still in business! Forget the hours and the pay situation for one moment… Take a moment to consider that in each of your current job roles, are you an asset or a resource? Anyone who has answered resource hates their job, simple as that. For any job to be worthwhile, no matter the pay or the hours, you need to be working for employers that consider you an asset.

Enterprise is not this company! Have known several friends end up on their “Grad scheme” and fortunately for them, just chalk it up to experience and move on. When I finished uni I joined a temping agency whilst I was looking for a full time role, and one evening I got the call “could you go and work for Enterprise tomorrow instead of the role you’ve been doing all week please, as they need some cover?”. Having been told to turn up in my smartest suit (no, smart trousers and a jumper will not do, you HAVE to be in a full suit!) I turned up the next morning to be told that (surprise surprise) their graduate walked out yesterday hence they needed the cover. My job for the day would be (exactly as his had been) washing cars pretty much relentlessly from 8 til close, and lunch was to be eaten on the go. I was lucky though, one of the drivers called in sick that day so I actually had to make a couple of drop offs and pickups too!

Anyway… Suit almost ruined after one day cleaning cars, I politely told the agency to F off if they ever thought of asking me to work for those jokers again. I don’t mind cleaning cars at all, would happily do it all day if paid, but to be told I had to wear my best suit to do so and the realisation that this was seen as a graduate role (even if I was only doing it for a day) was just too much of a pill to swallow.

Went back to driving delivery vans for the rest of that summer the following week, for better pay, less hours, and I got to wear what I liked! And I was fresh enough when I got home to spend a decent amount of time continuing my search for full time roles too…

The moral is that just about ANYTHING is better than working for Enterprise. Tell your lad to get a PT job stacking shelves in the local supermarket or similar until he finds his chosen career. He’d feel far more valued and part of a team!

Recent grad here: I work doing essentially what I call ‘typing’ in a cushty office for 35 hours a week for that.

There are better jobs, but they will all expect you to work for a pittance unless you get on a grad scheme with a big company.

I’ve gone through a temp agency, with the plan of being kept on, ask him to try that.

He doesn’t have to take it.
maybe he has a few offers to weigh up right now?
I dont know
does he have to get a job to pay his rent food heating etc
or is he living with his parents and have the luxury to pick and choose what career to choose?

My stepson has a masters in business & economics (or something) & he’s was recently on about the same as the OP’s lad working for some company that dealt in company shares.
I say ‘was’ because he went to Crewe on Monday to start his train driver training with Freightliner.
45Kish when he’s ‘trained’
He always had asperations of working for Aston Martin or someone & making £££’s but as has been said, there’s a lot of people with degrees out there.

As soon as I read your post, I clicked onto who the firm is. I believe they will pick you up if needed. They’re mickey takers in my opinion – the wage is a good 2.5-12.5k below the going rate for a graduate scheme, and I suspect it isn’t really a graduate job in the sense that going to one of the big 4 would be. I suspect it’s more a way of them getting in keen young bods who will work their nuts off for a while. Everyone seems to expect north of 40 hours out of graduates, and my experience is that most employers expect you to do more hours than they say, so 55 hours being bandied about at interview stage would worry me.

Anyway, it really depends on where your son is. If he’s at a Russell group uni with good A-Levels, then he’s an ideal candidate for a FTSE 100 grad scheme. If he’s got poorer A-Levels and he’s going to find it a bit more difficult. He is applying about 10-6 months too late in the year for most of the bigger scheme.

If I were him, I’d go for it and decide if I wanted the job after. See it as interview and assessment centre experience. And if he isn’t frightened of hard work, go for Aldi’s grad scheme – when I was looking a few years ago it was famously hard work but £40k starting wage and quick career progression.

Cheers mboy, your post has just about put the last nail in a well and truly shut coffin, he won’t be going to enterprise.
Ryder, one or two people have mentioned the temping approach (particularly a great email sent by fionap, very helpful), and I think he is going to look at that if the current round of grad applications are unsuccessful.
I find it a little sad really. 20 years ago if you got gcse 5a*,4a’s and a b, AAB at A level and a good degree at a Russel group uni then the world was at your feet. Seems not so these days.

Tron, I was typing whilst you posted, he is Russell Group and decent a levels, but I think you are right that he has missed this years boat

I’d suggest he still goes to the interview, just for the practice at assessment centres.

There are quite a few firms that do a second round of intakes for the middle of the year, so there is a chance to get in for a March 15 or so start date.

To be honest, it’s not the end of the world to not get straight into a grad job, and there are plenty of non-grad jobs which can quickly get you up to grad level if you’re half decent.

http://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Reviews/Enterprise-Rent-A-Car-Reviews-E2783.htm

Decathlon seem to recruiting like mad for these sorts of jobs at the moment.

Doesn’t sound great if he has AAB and a decent (2:1) degree. My lot take grads on throughout the year for considerably more money (hours can be harsh tho). I’ll drop you a mail.

I have worked as a chef for 24 years , most weeks i work between 65 and 75 hours ,some days are 8am till after midnight with out a sit down break and eating while working . I love it .i have travelled around the world for 3 years with a formula 1 team ,travelled round Europe 3 times with rock bands and cooked with chefs at the top of the game ,i have eaten in the world best and i have a life that my friends envy . They do not see the 75 hours or the driving home in the dark a broken man after a tough day .
Choose your carreer and work as much as you want ,if you love it attack it and shine , doors will open and your future will map itself out , if you watch the clock and moan about hours ???? well use your time more effectively and ride bikes if your good you might even get paid (but just watch you don’t train and ride more than 40 hours ????? 😛

I would have thought your son would get information on available graduate jobs emailed to him by prospects.ac.uk. I get lots of updates from them and I don’t think it’s something I ever signed up for (whilst at uni).

I’ve only read the first few pages of replies but have to say, it’s not just graduates that should be expecting more.

I’m currently on barely above minimum wage, zero hour contract, and so have no idea of what my hours are. They can give you 8 hours one week, or suddenly ask you to work extra days the next. Only ever when it suits them, of course.

The job market is tough for EVERYONE, not just graduates.

(I’m in the final year of a degree at the moment and have no illusions about walking in to a 40k a year job).

I’ve spoken to a couple of Enterprise Grad-scheme staff (when dropping me off etc). They aren’t happy bunnies. Its sold as a management-scheme etc and it ends up as a glorified dogs-body. Its a con. Imagine trying to find presentable minimum wage people to work for you? Impossible.

Alot of the ‘Grad scheme’ title/roles as bollocks. Law firms (telesales staff positions), ‘Marketing’ roles (again telesales etc).

Grad-scheme retail where you do 1 yr in Store management can be hit and miss but then you do also get a year etc in head office so those are real.

NO ONE should be exploited like alot do now with fake title/promises.

(I’m in the final year of a degree at the moment and have no illusions about walking in to a 40k a year job).

Has anyone said that? There’s a difference between a sub-minimum wage job with no prospects, and a good job which will open doors etc for a sensible salary.

(I’m in the final year of a degree at the moment and have no illusions about walking in to a 40k a year job).

Has anyone said that?

Yes, I did.

(I’m in the final year of a degree at the moment and have no illusions about walking in to a 40k a year job).

My first job was on min wage working at Levis head office. They didn’t take the piss out of me.

My second was at Woolworths head office- same again.

Be wary of anything titled ‘Graduate Schemes’. Someone somewhere is laughing in that company and what they’ve pulled off.

At my old partners company- they used to pay one year work placement Students a salary then someone said to the boss ‘we are always over-subscribed, I bet we can get them to work for free for a year’. Nice one.

This is something of a first, a STW thread that has actually been some use where people have given good advice. Yes, really 😀
He has decided that he isn’t going for the interview and is going to keep looking for other jobs that won’t use and abuse.
Big thanks to fionap and ewan for your emails, if the jobs don’t come round in the next month or two he will look at internship or temping to get a feel for what he likes/is good at.
Life was much simpler when I was a lad, you opened the yellow pages, wrote to some businesses, two weeks later you had a job.

Yes, I did.

Eh? I’m confused! You were inferring the OP’s son is expecting to walk into a £40k job, and that’s unrealistic and he needs to accept a sub-minimum wage role, I’m just saying there’s something in the middle!

Be wary of anything titled ‘Graduate Schemes’. Someone somewhere is laughing in that company and what they’ve pulled off.

Not necessarily, I work for a FTSE 100 and our graduate programme is very structured – you spend 2 years (IIRC) working in each of 4 different areas of the business, then get deployed appropriately after that. People generally progress extremely fast, but a lot of people dislike them as there’s a huge aura of smugness around those on the scheme thinking they know everything, whilst the reality is that after 6 months they get a basic knowledge of lots and a detailed knowledge of nothing.

Great for the candidate though!

Personally I wouldn’t, thats a terrible deal.

I joined the graduate scheme of a FTSE100 company just over 2 years ago. Started on 26k, I work 37 hours a week, get paid for my overtime and now earn £32k+ and know that my salary will continue to rise at a steady rate for the next 5/6 years. Admittedly I did an engineering degree where theres a lot more choice for graduates.

I would advise him to have a look around at other options. He may even be eliable for a place on our commercial / business / supply chain scheme.

EDIT: I would also advise him to go to the interview / assessment centre, it’s all good practice and the feedback is useful for when he finds a scheme that he likes the look of.

As somebody else mentioned, going to the interview might still be a good idea purely for the experience.

As somebody else mentioned, going to the interview might still be a good idea purely for the experience

I agree. That’s what I told my three to do when looking for job.

I have worked as a chef for 24 years , most weeks i work between 65 and 75 hours ,some days are 8am till after midnight with out a sit down break and eating while working . I love it .i have travelled around the world for 3 years with a formula 1 team ,travelled round Europe 3 times with rock bands and cooked with chefs at the top of the game ,i have eaten in the world best and i have a life that my friends envy . They do not see the 75 hours or the driving home in the dark a broken man after a tough day .
Choose your carreer and work as much as you want ,if you love it attack it and shine , doors will open and your future will map itself out , if you watch the clock and moan about hours ???? well use your time more effectively and ride bikes if your good you might even get paid (but just watch you don’t train and ride more than 40 hours ?????

You are a chef so like my brother you are certifiably insane and shouldn’t be giving advice to recent graduates. 😛 😆

Eh? I’m confused!

It would seem so. Joys of the web ‘eh 😕