With the amount of people choosing to attend university growing each year the competition for jobs in every industry is growing too. Talking to one student who graduated from Canterbury Christ Church University last year I found out just how tough the competition is getting.
Samantha Cowley, 21, has a degree in Marketing and Retail Management, which she received in June 2009. She has since been looking for a job as a retail buyer. Asking how hard she has found it to get a job she said 'it has been extremely difficult', going on to explain that employers are looking for more than just a degree, they want experience too. This is a problem for Samantha as her course did not offer any practical experience, such as a 'sandwich' year, which she says are more commonly found in the business and marketing side rather than retail management.
The retail industry is very competitive, especially since the recession, as there have been lots of job cuts so a degree is not enough anymore. They are looking for other attributes as well. In most job descriptions it is stated that you need at least a 2:1 to get hired at an entry level position. I asked Samantha what she is doing to overcome this problem and she said she is still applying to graduate schemes, as well as trying to work her way up through a company, gaining experience that way. She also said that while doing her degree she worked with two major fashion retailers. Samantha is also doing an excel course as many companies are looking for people who have these skills and she says she is 'making sure I put myself ahead of the competition'.
The last question I asked was whether Samantha thought the issue would continue to grow, to which she said 'yes'. She gave a number of reasons for this, the biggest being the amount of people receiving degrees every year and the fact that it means it is not just this years graduates looking for jobs but last years too.
Alex Cowley
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