News University spending cuts

[cHodAX]

Yes, that's the result of a more competitive job market, although I've never seen a perception that anything less than a 2:1 is good.

Agreed, my brother passed his Bio-Medical sciences with a 2:1, he was close to a first but sadly moving goalposts conspired against him. He went on to study for a Phd though, worked his nuts off on numerous papers at a number of top cancer research institutes and at the age of 32 has secured a fantastic career in the private sector developing cancer diagnostic kits. The 2:1 did not hold him back and to be honest he would never have let it anyway, it is as much about hunger as it is about exam and coursework scores. You need both to do well but the hunger for success will always take you further.

 

[Lamp]

I started off in banking with zero experience. OK I had two degrees under my belt, but they didn't get me into banking. I had to work my way up from scratch, sticking share certificates in envolopes was my first job - not exactly postgraduate degree material. I'm now a Director at a major investment bank. Were my degrees useful? Maybe, to some extent in some of my junior roles, but what got me where I am today was experience, and I only got that by going to the agencies & starting from scratch. I don't think today's all that different, because I would still hire someome with personality, intelligence, hunger, professionalism & the right attitude, then someone better qualified academically but with zero interpersonal skills. I am required to take people off the Graduate Scheme, and yes, a lot of them are very good, but just having a degree doesn't automatically make you employable.

 

[Talivar]

Times change tho, now a degree is becoming compulsary almost for many jobs, like a few years back A levels and gcse were ect. These new goverment changes ofc might change things.

 

[cHodAX]

I started off in banking with zero experience. OK I had two degrees under my belt, but they didn't get me into banking. I had to work my way up from scratch, sticking share certificates in envolopes was my first job - not exactly postgraduate degree material. I'm now a Director at a major investment bank. Were my degrees useful? Maybe, to some extent in some of my junior roles, but what got me where I am today was experience, and I only got that by going to the agencies & starting from scratch. I don't think today's all that different, because I would still hire someome with personality, intelligence, hunger, professionalism & the right attitude, then someone better qualified academically but with zero interpersonal skills. I am required to take people off the Graduate Scheme, and yes, a lot of them are very good, but just having a degree doesn't automatically make you employable.

Oi Lamp, giz a job will ya?

Worked my nuts of since 18 and still can't find permanent work in the I.T. sector, especially since the banks cut so many of their computer support staff in the last 2 years. With the government civil service cuts coming and so many of those job losses being on the I.T. side my future job prospects are looking very bleak.

Can't retrain, can't afford it and definately can't afford going into debt for it. University is no longer an option, at 36 (next year ) taking on a potential £40,000 or higher debt is unthinkable because a mortgage has to be on the agenda for me very soon or else never at all. Honestly I couldn't do both with house prices still as high as they are.

Would leave the country if I could but that is not currently an option either, sadly a great many more folk are in the same boat as me. At the moment I am contracting, temp I.T. support work but it is very hit and miss, when the market becomes flooded with new recruits (civil servantsfully qualified at the tax payers expense) next year the situation will be that much worse. In many ways I would have been better off not going back to work after my second spinal surgery when the doctors confirmed permament nerve damage, that sounds fucked up I know and it pisses me off to say that but if I run out of work now I would have to live on £70 a week.

Fuck me, at this rate I will be asking Laddey for a job.

 

[cHodAX]

Only a hand-job of course, he has forearms like Rafa Nadal!

 

[Lamp]

Whats your programming like? Any good at C#.NET?

 

[cHodAX]

Whats your programming like? Any good at C#.NET?

Nah I am a hardware support engineer bud, programming isn't really my thing beyond a bit of C. Started out in desktop/laptop support before moving up to servers and comms. Was very unfortunate when my back went for the second time as I had just managed after 5 years of nagging the company I was working into agreeing to fund my CCNA training. With that I would have cracked it and reached my career goal, now I am in the bloody wilderness again and having to look at self funding just to retake all my MCP/MSCE gubbins and bring it up to date.

Really wishing I had taken the second option my careers officer had given me now and become a Baby Seal Clubber.

 

[Ch3tan]

I can make good tea lamp, hire me!

 

[cHodAX]

I can make good tea lamp, hire me!

Don't do it lamp, he drinks herbal!

 

[Ch3tan]

I'll drink any tea going.

 

[cHodAX]

I'll drink any tea going.

Man-tea freshly brewed?

 

[Ch3tan]

That's not real tea, it's fake. Like a Chocamocha is fake milkshake.

 

[Lamp]

Shame. I got a good mate of mine who's looking for exceptionally talented C#.NET programmers, ideally with experience of front-office pricing systems. He recently hired someone on 4 figures a day. I know the guy he hired. But its only for 6 months.

 

[cHodAX]

Shame. I got a good mate of mine who's looking for exceptionally talented C#.NET programmers, ideally with experience of front-office pricing systems. He recently hired someone on 4 figures a day. I know the guy he hired. But its only for 6 months.

Crikey that is a nice crust to earn, I started out doing programming at college but it bored me rigid learning Pascal and other crappy languages. Then the night course I did progamming C in a linux enviroment just killed me, vast scripts written with the vi text editor is enough to drive a Buddist to commit genocide on every living thing.

In hindsight I should have probably stuck at it as it would have been much smarter move career-wise, always loved hardware and fault diagnosis though but sadly the golden years for this sector ended when the millenium bug myth was exploded.

 

[Lamp]

I think most of us would love to go back to a certain time and change something

Someone invent a time machine pls

 

[cHodAX]

I think most of us would love to go back to a certain time and change something

Someone invent a time machine pls

Oh man if only. Susan Carter would be a definate yes! Now that is a big regret.

 

[Everz]

Yeeeey. Going to uni is pointless anyways, just go for the social aspect, having a degree won't help you for shit, when you leave you'll end up in maccies or any retail store anyways.

 

[tierk]

Yeeeey. Going to uni is pointless anyways, just go for the social aspect, having a degree won't help you for shit, when you leave you'll end up in maccies or any retail store anyways.

Yea tends to happen if you go a shitty university and study a course that has as much use as a spanner in library.

 

[Everz]

Ba dum pssh.