For the last few days, riot police and firemen have worked tirelessly to impede the ferocious fires that spread rapidly throughout our capital, unfortunately rendering the popular children's musical round "London's burning" true once again. Multiple-generation shops, small businesses and domestic buildings across the country now
stand charred, as ruins of a former time and the face of British youths has become dwarfed by an ominous hooded and masked form. Amid circulating speculative rumours which attempt to pinpoint why exactly the youths of Britain have turned on their own cities, eager for destruction and chaos, is the suggestion that many of those involved are disgruntled graduates alarmed and dismayed by the current graduate job market which seems to render their three or four-year long degree as worthless.
Lara Oyedele, Chief Executive of Odu-Dua Housing Association based in Tottenham, the infamous area of London which first witnessed the severity of these rioters and predicted the destruction to come. Lara Oyedele who, as part of her job, regularly speaks to young people within the local community said: "Our society is breeding a whole generation of young people who do not expect to achieve anything productive in their lives. Graduate students are applying for jobs that, previously, would have gone to somebody with A-levels... [They] are wondering why they bothered going to university". This is a sad statement to hear. Yes, there have been education cuts and yes the rumoured and unwanted rise in tuition fees is soon to come into action, however does this really call for partaking in rioting, looting and the destruction of parts of our country that survived the two world wars, but have failed to survive 3 nightmarish nights in August 2011?
Yesterday, my fellow GRB journalist Kate urged graduates about to join forces with rioters to rethink their decision and today I reiterate her call. In recent times the graduate job market has seen unprecedented lows; however it is slowly but surely improving. Every day we are informed of new graduate opportunities which help to steadily improve the possibility of graduates attaining their desired careers. While I wish graduates to have faith in the steady improvements in the graduate job market, I must add that I believe, now more than ever, it is imperative that graduates reflect on their time at university and ask themselves the difficult question:
Could I have done anymore? Could those few hours a day spent watching television or 'chillaxing' have been spent more productively by say, doing some volunteering or meeting the university's career advisers? If the answer is yes then I suggest focusing positive energy on productively improving your CV, your Covering Letter or online application to ensure that the next time the one person out of 200 gets the job, it is you.
This week, Head of Marketing at GRB, Dan Hawes, reiterates to graduates everywhere the importance of an exceptional covering letter. It really is the most important first impression you could make. While, as I have said, the graduate job market is pleasingly 'on the up' it is always important after every rejected application to review said application; read it as an employee, would you hire you? Grasping the attention of the employee is crucial. Dan Hawes writes: "Customisation is key, never use generic text and aim to hit a minimum of 200 and a maximum of 400 words". It is extremely important that while struggling to secure a graduate job, graduates use this time productively to review applications, request feedback from companies and try to think of new examples to demonstrate skills. It is advisable for graduates to channel their frustration into securing a job; be self-critical and creative. Good Luck to all.
Elise, GRB Journalist
