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BABY BOOMERS GRABBED THE GOODIES – LEAVING THEIR KIDS FACING A BLEAK FUTURE

An article in this weekend’s Observer magazine claims the so-called ‘lost generation’ of graduates have been royally shafted – by your own parents.

In the six-page feature, 27-year-old journalist Andrew Hankinson claims ‘intergenerational unfairness’ will blight the entire lives of people his age and younger.

“Our parents had free education, fat pensions, early retirement and second homes,” he says.

“We’ve been left with student debt and a property ladder with rotten rungs.

“And the only choice is crap job – or no job. Thanks very much.”

As typically follow articles on this subject, the responses to Andrew’s feature fall into two categories. Fellow graduates who agree with him – and older correspondents sneering at him for having unrealistic expectations about the lifestyle his qualification would (or should) ‘buy’ him.

Dude is in neither camp. Yes, Andrew’s expectations are unrealistic -but who put them there? Shouldn’t his school accept some blame for failing to point out the truth before he signed up for his degree? (He was, after all, only 17 – not old enough to vote – when he made the decision to go to university – and in turn, take on enormous debt).

And shouldn’t the universities take responsibility too, for leading students to believe their education is guaranteed to give them a significant ‘leg-up’ on the career ladder – when in many industries that simply isn’t true? When students are paying for their time in Higher Education, they deserve to understand what their completed degree is likely to ‘get’ them – and what it won’t.

Unfortunately, Andrew persistently undermines his (otherwise strong) case by coming across as snooty and entitled – and his lack of respect for hard-working non-graduates borders on offensive.

Happily, although the emails I receive from Dude readers share Andrew’s frustration, they do not share his ‘victim’ mentality.

Yes, you’re disappointed, frustrated and yes, angry.

But you’ve twigged that that locking yourself into this defeatest mindset won’t help you get a job. In fact, it will stop you getting a job.

Instead, you tell me you’re done with wallowing – instead, you’d prefer to crack on and find out how to boost your chances of getting your career started. You understand that the first step is taking responsibility for your own future – not blaming others for how hard everything seems.

Which is why my money is on you getting a job long before Andrew does.

Perhaps I should send him a copy.

Do you agree with Andrew? Read the full story here

UNDERDOGS VICTORIOUS AS DUDE TELLS NEWSPAPER: “OLD CAREER ADVICE FAILS GRADUATE JOB-SEEKERS”

Could a fresh batch of hate mail from crusty careers advisers be winging its way to Dude HQ?

It looks likely – but I’m happy to take one for the team*, because it looks like we’re finally getting somewhere with the battle for decent graduate career advice.

Last week, following ‘that’ comment I made in Stella about careers advisers being ‘out of touch‘ (something you lot tell me, again and again!), I had a call from hawk-eyed Scotsman journalist asking me to expand on my controversial (!) viewpoint on this issue.

So I said, “Simple – I’m only repeating what my readers are telling me.”

And that’s pretty much what she published!

Read the full, fabulous story here

(*and publish it on this blog)

“Backlog” from Class of 2009 to pinch a quarter of 2010’s graduate vacancies, warns expert

Sharpen your elbows – new figures say the stage is set for an almighty bun fight over graduate jobs this summer.

Students applying for graduate jobs in September 2010 will find that a quarter of vacancies have been filled by 2009’s graduates, according to a survey of employers.

“There is a big backlog to catch up,” warned bad-news-bear Martin Birchall, boss of High Flyers, which carried out the research.

The 310,000 students who finish their degrees this summer will be hit by a triple whammy, he explained. The combined effects of 1) cuts in recruitment in the last two years, 2) a significant increase in applications and 3) the fact that 25% of positions have already been taken by the previous year’s graduates look set to result in an deeply uncomfortable summer for many.

“We are not out of the woods yet,” Martin went on to admit. “It’s going to take another two years before things return to the level of 2006-7.”

“Competition for the remaining vacancies is therefore likely to be extremely tough and there is widespread concern on campus. For those who have yet to begin job hunting, the chances of landing a place on a graduate programme in 2010 are looking increasingly slim.”

While this news isn’t great, Dude would like to remind readers that graduate schemes are far from being your only option.

And although I report these numbers in blog posts like this – because I think you should know about them – I’d also advise against obsessing over them too much.

Why?

Because freaking out won’t increase your chances of getting a job.

Clarifying your goals, staying motivated and running a super-smart job-search will.

So my advice is to keep calm and carry on.

1) Take charge of your job hunt – remember, finding work is your responsibility and yours alone. No one is going to do it for you. If you feel your confidence seeping away, have a word with yourself. Do you really want to be living at home with your parents for the rest of your life? Thought not – so get cracking!

2) Out-fox your rivals by seeking unadvertised vacancies and creating opportunities for yourself by bagging experience and building your network of contacts. I can’t stress enough how worthwhile this is. Find ‘hidden’ vacancies this way and the competition thins out.

3) Monitor the effectiveness of the job hunt strategies you’re using. If one isn’t working, stop doing it and try something else. Do more of what works. Don’t be afraid to ditch strategies that aren’t working – most likely, your time and energy would be better spent using a different tactic.

4) Remember that your chosen industry is not static – it’s constantly changing. This is particularly necessary for graduates seeking careers in a creative industry – like TV, journalism, music or book publishing – or any other industry that’s seriously struggling right now, whether that’s thanks to the recession, the impact of digital technology or the threat of a change of government (remember, public sector jobs are not ’safe’ anymore). Spend time researching the reality of working in they industry you’ve set your heart on, before insisting it’s your ‘dream’ and heading off with unrealistic expectations about being able to sustain a 40-year career in these industries. These industries are undergoing seismic changes right now. So become a trendspotter. Looking for where the opportunities are going to be in the future can be a better plan than chasing the opportunities there once were in these industries.

5) Keep an eye on your motivation and productivity. Develop a job-hunting routine that works for you by learning to be self-aware about your habits. Find it hard to get going in the mornings? Try going for a run before you switch on your computer.

6) If you’re tempted to ‘dodge’ the recession by doing an MA, FOR GOD’S SAKE MAKE SURE IT’S A GOOD INVESTMENT. Remember, further study won’t necessarily boost your chances of finding work, or getting a higher paid job – whatever the person selling the course tells you. Don’t be suckered by a fancy prospectus – check it out with employers before you sign up. Do employers really value the qualification you’re about to get even deeper into debt for? If you’re tempted to go travelling for similar reasons, by all means go if you can afford it – just remember that there are no guarantees that the job market will be any more buoyant when you get back.

7) Whatever you do, do something – even if it’s just voluntary work. If you’re job hunting at home, having a reason to leave the house is a good thing – and being able to put something on your CV for this period looks better than having a big gap.

Read more about the latest figures on the graduate jobs bunfight here.

I STIR UP A HORNET’S NEST- BY STATING THE BLEEDING OBVIOUS

It seems that Dude is doing something right – my comments in last weekend’s Stella magazine (Sunday Telegraph) have ruffled a few feathers in the sleepy world of careers advice.

This morning, this (no-so) charming email – from an unidentified correspondent, who I assume is a careers professional – arrived in my inbox…

“Thought your comments on careers advisers being out of touch [were] interesting and wonder how much you really know about what a careers adviser actually does.”

It continues…

“Any good careers adviser worth their salt will spend time visiting employers, training providers, higher education institutions and using the internet to keep up to date with trends and entry requirements.  The availablity [sic] of excellent careers databases means that information is readily available and there is no excuse for any adviser to be “out of touch”.

“Perhaps you should check your facts before making such sweeping misinformed generalisations.”

Okay… It seems not everyone is a fan of my work.

; )

So, does my poison-pen pal have a point? Were my comments wide of the mark?

Decide for yourself.

For those who didn’t see the article, my first tip (of eight) was:

“Know yourself. Choosing a career is daunting at any age. Don’t seek advice from careers advisers – they are often out of touch.

“Go and do voluntary work and placements, soak it up and see what works for you. This builds your confidence and social skills.

“You should have and idea about your personality, what you’re good at and what you’re passionate about. Start with yourself and work outwards from there; don’t try to pin yourself to a career on a list.”

What do you think – good advice? Bad advice?

Okay, so I could have been a bit more polite. After all, careers advisers are generally well-meaning bods who are trying to help.

And there are pockets of them who are doing a good job.

(As Dude’s readers will know, when writing the book I worked with the fabulous team at  The Careers Group – part of the University of London – who were super-helpful and switched-on).

But, by and large, do I think careers advisers could be doing a better job?

Absolutely.

And I stand by that.

Why? Because this is what YOU tell me.

Since writing Dude, I have received hundreds of emails from readers saying how helpful you’ve found my book – and how unhelpful you’ve found the advice you were given by your university careers advisers.

Your top four complaints are these:

1. You say that careers advisers can’t help you unless you go to them already having chosen your career (and no, those computer quizzes don’t help, you say). So instead, many of you spend months at home scratching your heads hoping it will “come to you” – or you go travelling, hoping to be “inspired”. Or – worse still – you get yourself even deeper into debt by doing an expensive MA, assuming it will boost your chances of whatever career you decide on eventually. (Often, sadly, it won’t).

2. You say that a very narrow selection of employers are presented to you – seriously skewing your ideas of what options are out there for you. You tell me that these must be the only employers hiring, because they’re the only ones on your radar. (You’re mistaken, but I can see why you’ve been given this impression).

3. You say that in general, the way careers advice is presented fails to engage or inspire you – or prompt you to take charge of your future. This triggers ‘ostrich syndrome’, where you leave it until after graduation to give your future any serious thought.

4. You say that you leave university completely unprepared for the reality of how tough job-hunting is going to be. You say that at no point are you warned that you might have to work unpaid or how much competition there will be when applying for graduate jobs during a recession.

As far as I’m concerned, all the complaints you raise are entirely legitimate.

If my careers adviser correspondent is surprised by them, s/he certainly shouldn’t be.

Hundreds of thousands of you feel this way.

Don’t these people do customer feedback?

As any businessperson will tell you, any service provider’s key concern should be understanding their customers’ needs.

Which is why my mystery correspondent listing the typical matters that keep a careers adviser busy during their day is not relevant.

The only thing that’s relevant is how useful YOU lot feel the end result is.

If you say the current model isn’t helpful to you, then that’s enough to seriously worry me. And it should worry careers advisers too.

If the people the service is supposed to be for say that it isn’t working – then it isn’t working.

In my opinion, the first thing the careers world needs to do is admit that they could be doing a better job.

Instead, their response to this mere suggestion – as demonstrated by this morning’s email – is always one of outrage, that I have dared to suggest they need to get their act together and innovate, sharpish.

With 300,000 students set to graduate in July 2010 – and tens of thousands of you still struggling to find decent jobs after graduating in 2009 and 2008 – I think the role of careers advisers has never been more important.

They need to be getting this right – but they aren’t getting it right.

Pretending there isn’t a problem is complete madness.

Careers advice is a crucial piece of the graduate unemployment puzzle – and I’m amazed at how it’s been completely ignored as headlines have continued to bring us weekly updates of the dire situation in which today’s job-seeking graduates find themselves.

Which is why I’m going to continue to speak up on this topic.

Most university careers advisers are out of touch.

(There, I said it again!)

But let’s look forward, shall we?

When the careers world finally accepts this is true (manage your expectations, people – from that email it looks unlikely to happen any time soon) – what should they do next?

Here are a few ideas I think would be a good start:

1. Re-package the whole idea of ‘careers’ and present it in a way that appeals to the age group and mindset that the bulk of their audience is in. Yes, there are mature students – and yes, some people know exactly what they want to do. But the bulk of their customers – and the people who need advice the most – are 19-22 years olds, who don’t yet know what career path you want to take. (Er, that’s why you’ve come – for advice, see?).

2. Stop pushing students / graduates to ‘choose your career’ if you don’t yet know what sort of path might be right for you. The message that many successful people never make this decision – instead of planning their career, they navigate their path as they go along – is not reaching you, and it needs to. Besides, jobs for life are over – and the world is spinning ever faster (more on this in a minute). So why are careers advisers so obsessed with coaxing you to make a decision, right now, to tie up the next 40 years of your life? Who says the career you choose now will even be there in 40 years’ time?

3. Involve a wide range of companies in careers events – not just the big accountancy, banking and management consultancy firms who have the cash to pay for expensive stands at recruitment fairs and cheap booze at employer presentations. Where are the SMEs (small to medium sized businesses)? Where are the inspirational entrepreneurs who are passionate about their work? (They do exist, I promise). Get them in!

And last – and I think this one is crucial –

4. Include discussion about the way that the world of work is constantly changing – and will continue to do this at a rapid rate – and how this will affect people’s chances of finding work in their chosen industry. I’ve lost count of the number of emails I’ve had from graduates saying “I’m finding it impossible to get into journalism / music / book publishing / TV – what am I doing wrong?” Of course, they aren’t doing anything ‘wrong’, it’s just that they’ve chosen an industry that is right in the middle of undergoing the greatest challenges it’s ever known – in the form of the digital revolution (and the recession hasn’t helped). If we have a new government later this year, public spending will be cut, which won’t just affect careers in the public sector, but also private companies that work with the public sector. My point is, graduates need to see their job hunt in the context of the wider world, to be trained to spot where the brightest futures are (and aren’t).

Is there any good news?

Yes, actually. I honestly believe that there’s a new breed of young, switched-on careers advisers out there who agree with me – and know that their industry needs to change.

At present, they are constrained by their old-fashioned bosses, who insist on continuing with the old model, “Because this is the way we’ve always done it.”

Within several institutions, I have personally witnessed this culture of fear. It’s a fear of challenging the old ways (that don’t work) and innovating to find new ones (that just might work).

To conclude (sorry, you know what I’m like when I get going)…

If we agree that the world of work has changed, then the advice we give to those entering it needs to change too.

Careers advisers have a crucial role to play in helping graduates at this notoriously tricky stage in their lives. Throw in the typical levels of graduate debt and the fact that leaving education to join the world of work requires a seismic shift in mindset and careers advisers have a big challenge ahead.

So perhaps, rather than sending me ranty emails, they would be better off spending their time asking themselves some tough questions about how they’re going to tackle this new challenge they’re facing?

CULT CAREERS BOOK FEATURES IN ‘STELLA’ MAGAZINE

Well, Dude is having a thoroughly lovely Sunday - enjoying a cup of coffee and a croissant and basking in the glory of starring in today’s Stella magazine (the style section of the Sunday Telegraph).

What am I doing in a fashion magazine? You might well ask.

(I like to think I know how to dress - but most of my tops are by TopShop, not Chloe).

Answer: I was invited to give an interview as part of their Special Teen Issue (10 January 2010).

I kid ye not. Flick to p49 of the magazine’s glossy pages, where my wisdom (!) appears under the heading ‘How to get a foot on the career ladder.’

I’m thrilled with the piece (not least because they mention this fabulous blog) and would like to thank the lovely ladies at Stella for having the nous to pick me over some of the more yawnsome / crusty careers authors out there. God knows, they had plenty to choose from.

; )

Whispers also reach Dude that one of Stella’s hawk-eyed editors has already snaffled their publicity copy of the book - to give to her daughter, currently struggling with her career choices. We hope she gets as much from it as Dude’s other thousands of readers have.

Welcome to Dude’s Army!

Thousands of bosses don’t know the difference, shock new survey reveals

Astounding but true – new figures show that almost a third of the UK’s small to medium sized businesses (SMEs*) don’t know the difference between basic qualifications attained through the country’s education system.

Graduates seeking work will be dismayed to learn that the latest Centre for Enterprise survey revealed that:

29% of company bosses thought A-levels were graduate level qualifications

and

18% thought GCSEs were equivalent to a degree.

No joke.

In fairness, Dude understands that the people running small businesses have a couple of other things to worry about right now (like keeping their business afloat during these tough times – which is fair enough).

But really people, surely this is pretty basic stuff, no?

And the news that the qualifications bright young things spend years (not to mention thousands of pounds) toiling for are not even understood by such a big slice of recruiters is certainly dispiriting.

Unfortunately, the Bad News Fairy – sorry, Centre for Enterprise – had some even more dismal statistics to dish out.

Of the 502 cash-strapped SMEs quizzed, 9 in 10 (88%) admitted they were not planning to hire graduates during the recession, 32% said nothing would make them hire a graduate in the next year, 48% had no vacancies at any level, 39% said they did not need graduate level skills in their business… (“STOP STOP, WE CAN’T TAKE IT ANY MORE!” you cry…)

Okay, I’m stopping with the bad news.

So was there any good news?

Actually yes – in this pile of reeking manure there was one twinkly gem…

Almost half (48%) said they would consider hiring a graduate if the government offered them a subsidy to do so.

Ooh.

Interesting.

Yes, it seems that when it comes to struggling small firms and their worried bosses, money talks.

Now, Dude is no economics whizz.

But might some sort of scheme along these lines be a better plan than the string of lame – sorry, disappointing - government initiatives that graduates that have so far been treated to by their out-of-touch government? (Yes, we’re talking to you, Graduate Talent Pool and Parent Motivators Guide. Tsk – Dude sometimes wonders what you people were on…)

Okay, yes, offering financial sweeteners for hiring graduates would be pricey in the short-term – but surely that would be preferable to dishing out the dole to a whole generation of super-bright, qualified graduates who are eager to get stuck into the world of work?

*SMEs are defined as having between 2 and 249 employees. They may be small, but together they pack a punch, accounting for 99% of all companies in the UK and three-fifths of private sector employment.

Read the full story in the Guardian here

WHAT is Peter Mandelson doing lecturing your parents on how to cope with having an unemployed graduate back living at home?

He is the Business Secretary.

He is NOT a parenting coach, agony aunt or careers adviser.

In the latest crushing disappointment for Dude? – and Dude’s Army of readers – our Business Secretary has proved yet again that he has no idea what you lot are going through – or what he can do to help.

In its latest kneejerk response to the graduate unemployment crisis, the Department of Business Innovation and Skills has just unveiled…

Wait for it…

A guide to help your parents with the stress of you being unemployed.

Forget the ‘nanny state’ – it seems our government has decided that Mary Poppins is so noughties.

Now – as we enter the ‘teenies’ - the politicians are suddenly all about the tough love, suggesting that parents who do their child’s laundry while they seek work could be damaging their offspring’s chances of success on the job market.

(Er, WHAT?!)

But you know what really kills me?

That every minute – and pound – that was spent putting together the new Parent Motivators Guide was NOT spent on thinking up ways to incentivise businesses to create more job opportunities for you, the graduates who working hard to find employment.

Okay, so being the parent of an unemployed graduate isn’t much fun.

But it’s even less fun for you – and it’s you who are going to have to build a plan to get yourselves into employment.

Which is why it’s so screamingly obvious that Mandy’s resources should be focussed on helping you to find work.

NOT on your helping your parents to deal with you being out of work.

In fairness, some of the guide’s advice isn’t bad. (If you ignore its unhelpful – and false - underlying assumption that finding you a job is in some way your parents’ responsibility. It’s not - it’s yours and yours alone.)

More of my thoughts on the guide to come in a later post…

But for now the big question is surely -

WHAT is the government THINKING?

Is someone giving Mandy some really bad advice at the moment?

Or does he just Not Get It At All?

First up, we had the much-slated Graduate Talent Pool (“Wow, a load of unpaid internships – that’ll help pay off my £15k of debt…”).

Next came a muddled proposal of university reforms (complete with gaping hole where Mandy’s attack on the dire state of university careers advice services should have been).

In fact, over the last six months, Mandy and his Department of Business, Innovation and Skills’ response to the graduate unemployment crisis has been neither businesslike, innovative nor skilled.

Frankly, it’s been a complete shambles.

All they’ve done is perfect the art of spewing out one costly, kneejerk and pretty much useless initiative after another.

Of which this Parent Motivators Guide is just the latest.

WHEN are we going to see this government produce a cohesive action plan to tackle this graduate unemployment crisis properly? A plan that treats the causes of this problem, not its symptoms?

We wait in hope.

In the meantime, there is some good news.

At least Mandy’s Conservative opponent David (‘Two Brains’) Willetts is showing encouraging signs of grasping this really-not-rocket-science issue.

Is this because our man Willetts has his own personal fears about the current system that so spectacularly fails to help young people move from university into the world of work?

(Of his two grown-up kids, Dude hears one has just started uni while the other is doing a media postgrad).

Is it possible that he realises how scandalously badly you lot are currently being served?

Or is it just that  Willetts ‘gets’ this issue in a way Mandy clearly doesn’t?

Whatever, his response to the Parent Motivators Guide was on the money:

“Young people are driven back home after university out of financial necessity,” Willetts explained to his slow-on-the-uptake Labour rival. “They are finding it hard to get jobs in this recession.”

(Would Mandy like him to write that last bit down, perhaps? Dude would be only too happy to make it into a poster to Blu-Tack to his office wall).

“Peter Mandelson would be much better [off] focussing on improving the performance of the economy than setting himself up as the nation’s agony aunt.”

Too right.

Graduates don’t need tough love from their parents.

They need support from their government.

– Read more about the Parent Motivators Guide here

Did you come back to live with your folks after graduating?

You’re not alone. The number of ‘boomerang children’ – who go off to uni and then return when they graduate – is on the rise in the UK, say experts.

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out why. Rising student debt and a shortage of graduate jobs mean fewer graduates can afford to move out of home right now.

This phenomenon may be on the rise – but Dude knows this is actually nothing new. I lived at home with my folks for nearly two years after I graduated from Durham, waaay back in 2000.

Was I living the dream? No. Where was the swanky central London penthouse flat I’d imagined? Nowhere. What about the wild parties I’d be throwing all the time? They never happened. Instead, I was sleeping in same the little single bed I’d had when I was at school.

But you know what? It wasn’t so bad. My parents were supportive, there was always food in the fridge and the cushions on the sofa were always plumped.

When I finally did move out, it was to an absolute armpit of a flat in South London. It had damp, a mouse (!) and our landlord was a cheap-arse who refused to fix the heating when it broke in December (brrr).

And even now, nine years on, when I’m renting (a much nicer place) with friends, I still have my moments of wishing I was back at home with the folks.

Particularly on the nights when I come home late, remember there’s nothing in the fridge, the bin needs taking out and it’s freeeezing cold (because our landlord won’t put in new windows).

So if you’re languishing at home wailing: “CURSE the recession – this isn’t how it’s supposed to be!!!” take heart.

Very few graduates have ever swanned straight out of university into ‘the dream’.

For most of us, the dream was always just a fantasy.

Unemployed?

Broke?

Desperate?

Despairing?

While I can’t fix the recession or create jobs, I can offer you this advice…

1) Get selfish. Remember, you don’t need to find jobs for everybody in your year. Focus – your task is to find one job, just for yourself. One little corner of the job market with your name on it.

2) Believe your task is possible. You can’t succeed at something you don’t think is possible. It might not be easy peasy to find a job but it is possible.

3) Remind yourself that the job market is moving – not static. When you’re job-hunting, it can feel like there is no movement at all. Everyone has their jobs and they’re not budging. But it’s not so. Remember, life doesn’t stop in a recession. People continue to be promoted, get pregnant, move abroad… When they move, that creates gaps. If the person below them gets promoted into their role, that leaves a gap for you…

4) Keep reviewing your job-hunt tactics. Different strategies work for different industries. If something isn’t working for you, don’t keep doing it. For example, if you’re trying to get a job in media, don’t keep applying to jobs in the Guardian Media section, if you aren’t seeing any results. Instead, try going to media events and working the room (go on, you can do it!). Ask your parents, cousins and friends if they know anybody who could use your help. Then reassess – what’s working and what isn’t? Do more of what’s working and ditch whatever isn’t – it’s wasting your time.

5) Consider contract work. I know you want a permanent job (and never to have to job-hunt ever again!) But remember that many companies (particularly small companies) are reluctant to commit to taking on permanent, full-time staff right now – so asking for a permanent job is a giant turn-off for them. When you contact them, mention that you’d be open to temporary or contract work (eg. a three month stint – on a project, or while someone is away). This is usually far more appealing. If they give you a short contract, you’re in a good position if they decide to make the role permanent. If it doesn’t turn into a permanent thing, you’ve got three months’ good experience you didn’t have before.

6) Start sleuthing. If you’re getting nowhere applying to advertised vacancies, try putting put your applications on ‘pause’ and instead spend that time researching ‘hidden’ jobs. It’s a myth that all jobs are advertised – some people reckon the real figure is closer to 20% (20%!!). So sit down and ask yourself “How can I find out about the jobs that aren’t advertised?” You’re a smart person – do some detective work. What companies are doing well right now? Who has just won a big new client? Who is opening new branches? Contact them directly, tailoring your letter to them, including what’s led you to think they might be looking for extra help. Remember that for small companies, advertising vacancies is expensive. Interviewing is expensive too – as it uses up the time of paid employees. There are all sorts of reasons why companies would prefer fantastic candidates to contact them directly. You’re not begging – you’re offering to make their lives better. I’ve heard of lots of people who run smaller companies who say they’re really struggling to find good quality young graduates. Which makes me wonder… Are you all applying to same jobs, at the same big companies? If so, why?! Broaden your search and you’ll find the competition really thins out.

7) Think like a recruiter. Recruiters aren’t the devil – they’re just being squeezed by their boss, who is being squeezed by their boss. They may have less money than they did a couple of years ago, but there’s still lots of work to be done. How can you make their lives better? Remember, they aren’t going to give you a job because you need experience. They’ll give you a job if you can prove to them that you can help them. What value do you bring?

If you’re not working, for God’s sake do something with your time – even if it’s just part-time voluntary work. Recruiters says a gap on your CV is the biggest no-no of all. Remember, recruiters are human – they know things are tough out there for graduates like you right now, so they’ll forgive you if you haven’t been doing a hot-shot job all this time, or earning a fabulous salary. But sitting on your bum just looks bad. In contrast, doing something constructive is always a good look – it shows you can motivate yourself and that you haven’t just been festering on your  mum and dad’s sofa since you graduated. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking it’ll take time away from your job hunt. It’ll make you far more motivated and efficient with the time you do spend job-hunting, plus you’ll be picking up skills and experience as you go – which all sounds good in interviews.

9) Don’t be scared of the competition. Recruiters say they’re being inundated with applications – but that very few are of a very high standard. Grads often ask how they can make their application ’stand out’? To which I always say, “Er, make it good?”

10) Keep going! Remember there will be good days and bad days. Be aware that your motivation will go up and down. My book has loads more info on this – but try different ways of working (eg at the library, rather than just from home). Get into a routine (going for coffee and a newspaper before you sit down to job-hunt). Meet other job-hunters and share tactics. Do some exercise to clear your head. With every application you do, you learn something new. Even if it’s just learning not to do it that way again!

* Is this advice helpful to you? If so, forward the link to your friends – and please comment below. If enough people like this kind of thing, I’ll keep providing more…

Grim news reaches Dude – the number of unemployed graduates is expected to break the 100,000 barrier this week.

Which means that if you all filed into Wembley Stadium, you would more than fill the place.

In fact, 10,000 of you would still be waiting outside.

Figures show that 8% of those aged under 25 with a degree are now without a job.

Receiving emails from you lot every day, I know how tough it is out there.

Unfortunately, I’m not an economist, a politician or a recruiter.

I can’t fix the recession or create jobs.

But if the economists, politicians and recruiters can commit to boosting the number of opportunities for you lot, I can offer you the advice and support you need to maximise your chances of bagging yourself a job.

In fact, even while we wait for the suits to get their act together (hey Mandy – any time soon would be good, yeah?), I’ve put together some tailor-made advice that will help refresh, reboot and take control of your job-search if you’re currently stuck in rut.

Watch this space – more in a minute… x