Amazing news for new Graduates!

It appears that firms have boosted salaries for young people as a direct result of graduate job competition. According to new findings around the ‘Top 100’ employers, a graduate’s typical pay will now be going up by £833, with the total amount now being £30,500!

Not only has the payroll increased for new graduates but also for other educated individuals. The average pay for those fresh out of school has seen an increase of £1,039, so this is great news all around in terms of pay rises.

Though, this rise is not just a happy accident. The rise in salary is prompted by the competitive nature of graduate jobs recently. Over the past year, there has been a huge 17% increase in applications. The average graduate job now receives a whopping 91 applicants. With some graduate jobs receiving applications in their hundreds, like those in the Health and Pharmaceutical Industry which received an average of 155 applicants per job posting, or even more with 182 applicants per vacancy in Retail and Tourism roles. The number of applications are now at a record high since the records began to be collected in 1999.

As there are so many people actively searching for a new role, companies have had to consequently boost their appeal which is why there is the sudden increase in job salaries. These companies are having to fight for graduate’s attention as it is such a tough market right now.

With this overwhelming surge in applications, the job market appears to still not be recovered from the pandemic as the levels have not reached the height they were at before Covid-19 hit the country. This is similar to the result of the financial crisis of 2008 wherein graduate salaries stagnated for a few years afterwards as the country settled back to the new norm.

However, despite all of this news, experts believe that there will be growth in all sectors which will continue into 2022. They also expect there to be a return to normal next year with graduate jobs and internships exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

Since the majority of research conducted is around these companies that are considered the ‘Top 100’ the findings may not be as realistic in all companies. The typical pay for jobs outside of this elite group is around £21,000 to £25,000 depending on the industry a graduate is looking to go into. This difference in job pay is seen, for example, between Education and Teaching’s typical graduate pay (£19,899) and Military and Defence’s graduate pay (£29,386).

So, there is quite the difference in pay if you are not looking to go into a career with one of the biggest companies or if you are going down a different route. But either way it seems like the country is hoping to return to normal next year and will likely keep the increase in job salaries. This is evidently doubly good news as the job market will return to normalcy but will be rewarding graduates by offering up a bigger salary than what would previously have been offered for these roles.

A lot of people feel like they are stuck in their jobs, with no true purpose but no motivation to look for something new, or maybe they just don’t know where to start with the whole process.

It is usually best to not just quit your job without any prior thought or planning, unless you are in a very good financial situation this will be a very hard challenge.

However, there is now the sudden boom in people leaving their jobs, a term I’m sure you have heard recently called ‘The Great Resignation’ but what does it actually entail?

Well, according to monster.co.uk, 52% of Brits want to quit their jobs though usually (with 72% of these people) it will take up to 2 years to actually follow through on this desire. Based on their research the majority of people are wanting to quit because they believe they deserve a higher salary and so look for jobs that will offer that. The next two reasons are because they need a new challenge or are, quite simply, bored.

As well as this research, Randstad UK found an even bigger percentage of people wanting to leave for a new role! They surveyed 6,000 people and found that 69% of them were confident that they would be in a new role within a few months and 24% were planning to change at some point between three and six months. Randstad stated that they would normally expect around 11% of workers to move jobs every year - so this is quite the sudden increase!

A lot of the reasoning for this sudden sway in people wanting to quit their jobs is down to burnout caused by the pandemic, meaning a lot of people feel overworked for what they are being paid to do. This alongside living through a pandemic would ultimately be exhausting and is enough to push people into leaving their current vocations.

As a result of this companies may be forced into considering handing out pay rises for staff alongside offering up further help that would help prevent this from happening in the future. This is key for the companies as the loss of each employee could result in up to £25,000! So, in order to save the company money it might be best to spend more on those extremely valuable employees.

Although living through the pandemic was awful for the world, there is a glimmer of light for some people who have now managed to see their work life from a few steps back. With the sudden rise in people working from home and trends in topics based around ‘work life balance’ meant that people had an open opportunity to assess their work lives and evaluate how healthy it was for them to stay working the way that they had been prior to the pandemic.

People learned tips from one another on how best to handle their burnout, with overworking often being the root cause of the issue. With a deadly virus going around, people were reminded that life is simply too short to make yourself unhappy with little free time for your job. So, people want to put a stop to it and ensure that they get the best out of their working situation for them.

A lot of people stayed in roles that they were unhappy with during the pandemic, likely due to the inability to get a new job when so many companies were being forced to make their staff members redundant as they were not making as much money as they would have been pre-pandemic. Now that the working world is beginning to heal, the opportunity to find somewhere new is now a huge possibility.

Companies will now need to listen very closely to their workers if they want their staff to stay loyal and stick with their company. People have been feeling trapped and unheard in their workplaces, feeling as though they are undervalued and that the company is not treating them right. Bosses will need to do whatever they can to ensure these workers are being listened to and their needs are being acted on. A company will not be successful and will not last if their employees feel overlooked by them, they will simply seek a better role for them in a company with a better staff reputation.

Every year on 3rd November, the UK has Stress Awareness Day.

A day to reflect on everything in your life and assess whether your life has as little stress as possible, and to look at ways to try to prevent it whenever you can.

In a study by PerkBox, just shy of 80% of people in the UK felt work-related stress last year! This is significantly more than the 59% that were that stressed before the pandemic hit!

There were a lucky 17% who rarely experienced this stress and a 1% that never felt stressed!

With this staggering statistic, it means that work is the biggest stressor for people (with money issues being the second biggest with 60% of people asked stating this too).

A few of the biggest causes for this stress is:

•   Office politics
•   Lack of interdepartmental communications
•  The work performance of others
•  Long working hours

It is clear that there needs to be a change in the way that us Britons handle our day to day lives in order to reduce stress in whatever way possible.

It could be very useful to identify skills for ourselves and then incorporate them into our work lives so that stress can be as minimal as possible in all aspects of our lives!

One key aspect is time management

• If you let all of your tasks get ahead of you it is easy to quickly feel overwhelmed! You will have so much to do and no longer enough time as there has not been an equal division of your time for these tasks.
• Try to organise your time as best as you can, schedule in enough time for each project you are working on in your day in order to have an efficient timetable that will allow you to keep on top of everything in a timely manner!

Be realistic

• It is easy to feel like you cannot say no when people ask you to do a new task, but it is important to assess the reality of your situation.
• You simply may not have enough time to do the task they want you to do!
• It is okay to say no, it will ultimately be best for the company if you are not rushing to do all of your work because you have taken on too much.

Talk to others around you

• Sharing your problems with others can be a huge help!
• This can be friends, family or work colleagues!
• People are likely going to want to help you if it is possible, they could try to be quieter, offer up some help with your workload or just act as somebody you can vent to! It is always good to confide in people who want to be there for you!
• This could also be beneficial for the other person as you can share your tips amongst each other and take any useful information and apply it to your own situation.

Make a comfortable environment

• This can range from your home environment, your work desk, your clothing etc.
• It is important to feel as comfortable as possible in an environment so you can relax into whatever setting you are in without having to worry about everything around you.
• If you are in tight clothes, an uncomfortable chair, feeling cold, you will focus on all of these and prevent you from doing whatever you need to. Fixing these problems will allow you to think of more productive things instead of being in discomfort all day long.

Don’t overwork yourself

• Though it is important to do your work, do not push it past your limits!
• You need time away from your work when the day is over, do not sacrifice all of your free time to it, you will get burnt out.
• The quality of your work will go downhill if you are constantly exhausted from never taking your breaks, so focus on yourself in these situations and your stress levels will decrease as you will have that time to recharge and feel more mentally ready for your day.

It is no secret that there is a divide in the world in so many ways, for example: gender, race, sexuality, age.

It was recently revealed that in London, there are a lot of inequalities represented by statue choice. This news showed that there are almost double the amount of statues of animals as there are of named women in London.

To further compare, around 20% of the statues are named men and then not even 5% of them are named females. Statues have a lot of subconscious influence over people and in this scenario, it is telling people that women are not even worth a quarter of what men are worth and this is not right.

These kinds of inequalities are spread throughout the working world as well as in so many other aspects of our lives, so it is best to try and prevent it wherever possible.

A mere 19% of people in the UK claim to see a type of gender equality in their workplace according to a 2021 survey by Samsung. That means, over 4 fifths of the working UK population believes that there is an inequality in the workplace around gender and it should be focused more heavily on by the world.

One big issue surrounding this gender divide is to do with the hiring process, nearly half of UK workers believe that certain jobs have predetermined genders attached to them - according to these workers, some jobs are exclusively for men and some are exclusively for women.

This kind of bias can also be seen in the application process, quite a big percentage of women (nearly 20%) will not even consider applying for jobs in fear that they will be discriminated against because of their gender.

Furthermore, the aforementioned statue inequality stretches even further than just gender inequality but also to racial inequality. Of all the London statues, there are a mere 1% of named statues of people of colour. 0.9% are male and 0.2% are female, further representing the gender divide here too. This tiny 1% is a quarter of named female statues and, much worse, 5% of the named male statues.

With there being only 56 years since the Race Relations Act brought in to prevent racial discrimination in the workplace, there is still a long way to go to truly ensure that this inequality is stamped out.

There are a lot of ways in which the world can evolve to fit with our current society, especially regarding the workplace.

A few examples of how this can begin to be achieved is through:

To exclude names from CVs - preventing any bias that could come from a feminine sounding name / a name that may seem anything other than ‘white British’.

Check job advertisements for any gendered wording - this will encourage more women to apply for the job as they will not be deterred by thinking that they are not wanted for the role.

Listen to your staff - if they feel like they are being discriminated against it is important to understand why and to fix those issues as soon as they arise.

Educate your staff - one way to fix these issues is to ensure that those in your office, especially those with more power (like bosses and managers), know the way that their actions could affect others. This is particularly key with the hiring department since they may have an unconscious bias when hiring new people, opting for appearance rather than experience.

It is important to address these issues in any part of society as the influence consequently spreads throughout the rest of the world. From statues to workplace to any kind of representation, it is important to make all of this truly mirror our society. There are not four times as many men in the country than there are women so this vast difference in representation is severely unjust - and the same with only 1% of people of colour.

We all know that the world is in desperate need for people to try and fight climate change, but what can companies do to try to help the planet in whatever way they can?

Here are some ways that a company can alter their business to help save the planet, one computer screen at a time.

Turn off electronics when leaving the office

Okay, this one is obvious… Switching off lights, turning off computers and extension leads in general. You do not need all of this on overnight if there is nobody in the office. Reducing your energy consumption will not only lessen your energy bills, but will also lessen your impact on the environment.

Reduce office waste

This can be achieved in a multitude of ways. Single use plastics put a big toll on the environment. Maybe instead of having disposable cups and cutlery, encourage your employees to bring in their own that they can wash up and consistently reuse. This way there will be less stuff thrown away everyday.

If this does not seem possible, bring in a way to efficiently get rid of the waste - check to see if anything can be recycled. Some companies, with harder to recycle products, offer services where they will recycle them for you if you give them your waste.

Opt for environmentally friendlier equipment

When it is time to buy new equipment, do your research. Whether this is just new light bulbs or a new computer, try your best to choose the item which is the most energy efficient and will be sustainable. It is best to have sustainable products, constantly changing out equipment is not good for the environment and it is very costly for the company.

Travel

How your employees get to and from work can have an unnecessarily bad impact on the environment. Try to encourage the whole team to travel to work either on public transport or, if that is not a possibility, to do car shares with other members of the office. This will greatly reduce the company’s carbon footprint (and each individual person in the office’s).

This can also be achieved by offering more work from home opportunities! If your employees are at their houses to do their work they will not need to travel at all, therefore having no negative impact on the environment in regards to their travel on these work from home days.

Opt for greener energy suppliers

Renewable energy - energy from sources that are naturally replenishing and in theory is inexhaustible. Switching to a renewable energy supplier is great for your company as it will significantly reduce your company’s climate footprint. If it is possible, this is a way to greatly help to fight climate change.

Talk with your team

Each business will have different needs and ways of doing things, so it could be best to get solutions that are more personally tailored to your company’s needs. If you discuss with other members from your office they may have unique solutions to reducing your climate footprint that may not be suggested online since outside sources will not know how your company is run.

Not only will this help show how much your employees mean to the company, it will also help you with innovative ways to help the environmental burden which your company is responsible for.

Spread the message

If you take the time to truly educate your staff about ways to fight climate change, it will begin a chain reaction starting from your company of people becoming more aware and lessening their carbon footprint.

If your company also makes a public statement that they are trying to do better for the world, other companies might be inspired to follow suit and therefore more work will be put into the planet.

Finding your dream job… It sounds very daunting, yet exciting.

Some people try their entire lives to find the job that feels like their calling, some people stumble across it by accident in their first ever job. No two people have the same experience with this mission.

A dream job would be one that an individual would find truly fulfilling, making them excited to go to work in the morning and feel like they are making a difference in the world with their work.

Here are some things to think about when trying to decide on what your dream job may be.

Assess your past

- This will prevent you from repeating mistakes you have already made, you will be able to see what has worked well and what hasn’t over the years.

- Doing this you can see what sort of office space works for you: do you want more work flexibility, specific working hours, the ability to work from home?

- You will also know what aspects of your old work life you no longer want in your new career, maybe you want fewer presentations, more writing, bigger opportunities.

Make a list of your strengths

- Evaluate them and double check to make sure you aren’t selling yourself short!

- You could ask those who are close to you if they would add something that you may not have thought of.

- From here you can look into careers where you would excel with these skills and go from there. You can see if any spark your interest or if any seem to call your name.

- Don’t be scared if one does that you have never considered before, this could be an exciting next step for you in your career.

Self evaluate

- Think of any jobs over the years that have sparked your interest.

- You can also discuss with other people what they think may work for you as they will have a different view of you than yourself so may have spotted a job they think you would excel in. Doing this will give you more options and pathways you have never thought of before.

Try career aptitude tests

- There are so many tests online that tell you what you would be perfect at based on your values, skill set and own goals.

- These can be great but they can also be generic. This is fine, though, as every result you get that you do not think is right for you is another step closer to finding out exactly what is!

- If you are not excited by the career that is recommended for you, you can easily cross it off your list but it could be worth thinking why the test may have chosen it. You can then look for jobs with similar skills that would suit your needs better.

Persevere

- It can take a lot of hard work to pursue a dream job. It is not always an easy feat.

- It can take a while to get into your dream industry if you never have before, you will need to persevere through this and not lose hope.

- To help with this perseverance you can always sign up to an agency for help, here at The Graduate Project we offer a tailored experience specifically for you. They can help you in your search, finding you the job you want.

It is never too late

- There is no checklist in life that claims you have to have found your dream career when you are young.

- It can take years to know what you like and what your dream career is.

- Pursue your goals whenever you can and take every opportunity possible to further advance your dream career, age does not need to be a factor.

Money

- Money is not everything but it needs to be taken into consideration if you are going to pursue a new career.

- If your dream job offers a liveable wage, why not go for it!

- If it does not, then why not work on it alongside another job until it becomes a reasonable way of living.

- You may not earn as much as you would in another industry. However, the reward of enjoying your work would hopefully be enough for you!

We would all like to make a difference in the world, especially when it comes to saving it in any way possible. Preventing global warming is a very daunting task and there are a lot of ways to help with this mission. Whether you now recycle more, buy more secondhand, or try to prevent unnecessary waste, you are trying to help save the planet one step at a time. These steps are crucial but they are not the only way.

More and more jobs are arising that set out to save our world from all of the pollution that humans create. From Biotechnology to Media Studies, the roles in a career surrounding the prevention of Climate Change can vary a lot, meaning there is an opportunity for almost anyone who would like to find a job in this field.

Global warming has obviously had a huge impact on the world in too many ways to count. However, it is beginning to be focused on by the working world - this means that there are more and more jobs being created in the world in order to cater to this growing passion to save our planet!

Global Warming: the increase in the overall temperature of the Earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide and other pollutants, it is a huge source of anxiety for millions of people worldwide. From top scientists to concerned young people trying to save the planet they will be living in for the rest of their lives, this is a term we would preferably like to see less and less of as a result of healing the planet.

In efforts to try to reverse some of the effects of global warming, the government is planning on creating more Green Jobs (jobs that contribute to trying to the prevention of climate change).

Back in November 2020, the UK government launched a Green Jobs Taskforce in order to create 2 million skilled jobs in an attempt to develop the country in a new, green way with a plan to reach net zero emissions by the year 2050.

This Green Jobs Taskforce will set out to create new long-term, good quality, green jobs by the year 2030, they will also advise what support will be needed for anyone who is in a transitioning industry. It will be the push on these green jobs that will drive the industry forward in the attempt to attain a high-skill, low carbon economy.

This is particularly good to see as around 60% of young people claimed to be very worried about the effects of climate change on the world. As young people are so concerned, it is good

that there are goals set in place that will directly help their future and allow them to go into a career wherein they can have a meaningful effect on the world’s stability.

With all of these new measures put in place to provide a greener future for the planet, the environmentally friendly career route is becoming more and more achievable for millions of people. So if you are particularly passionate about helping to save the planet, this could be the perfect time for you to steer your career towards a greener future.

Currently there are around 410,000 Green Jobs, but with the Government’s push for 2 million new jobs by 2030, there are a lot of emerging roles perfect for an array of people.

Some of the best jobs for you if you want to help fight climate change:

Climatologist- £20k-£23k starting salary (A climatologist studies weather patterns over a period of time. Their work is similar to that of meteorologists but focuses on a much longer timescale, studying trends over months, years or even centuries.)

Geoscientist- £28k-£35k starting salary (Geoscience is a broad discipline and the term geoscientist refers to anyone whose work focuses on the earth's systems. Geoscientists are often involved in the discovery and development of commercially viable and exploitable reserves of natural resources, such as oil, gas, minerals and water.)

Environmental Engineer- £18k-£28k starting salary (Environmental engineers are involved in managing and reducing waste and minimising pollution in order to protect, restore and preserve the planet.)

What can you expect to experience at university with the world in the current post lockdown, mid pandemic mess that is the country at the moment?

This is hard to truly predict how you will feel personally, but there are a few definites you can rely on knowing in advance.

Will you need to be vaccinated? In short, no.

You will not be denied access to university if you have not been jabbed.

However, the government strongly recommends for uni students to get their vaccinations, preferably both if possible, before going back to university this month.

They have even placed on-site vaccination centres across many universities over the country.

In person classes? Yes and No.

This depends mostly on the university itself. Make sure to check your university’s updates to ensure you have the most reliable news for your course.

Generally though, across the country there will be a lot more face to face learning which would not have been available the last year and a half.

Seminars and lectures with smaller groups of students are most likely to be taught in person to keep too many people from being in the same room for the length of the class.

You may also have to wear a face mask in these situations and probably libraries depending on university policies.

Quality classes?

From somebody who was in her final year of university, dissertation looming over me, when the first lockdown had hit - lecturers are passionate about their work and whether your class is online or in person, the quality of your lesson will not be any worse.

I know my only issue with the lockdown affecting my learning was due to the libraries having to close and I did not have access to all of the books I needed easily. This is no longer the case as the libraries are now allowed to be open so you have the same access to books and resources as you would have done pre-pandemic.

Freshers Week…

This is a topic which might sound unimportant in the grand scheme of things but I know that socialising is one of the key aspects of university life that people look forward to. Some time away from the stress of moving out of your home and beginning a degree.

Freshers Week is being reintroduced to universities in an in-person capacity, which was unable to be done last year in the midst of lockdowns and the pandemic generally.

Experts do warn us that holding Freshers Week in this way again may risk it becoming a ‘super spreader’ event, this is particularly more likely when alcohol is involved.

If your university is holding in-person freshers, maybe just try to be conscious of your proximity to other people if possible… Also maybe no sharing drinks, take this advice from someone who caught freshers flu a few times too many!

Mental Health Concerns?

According to Student Minds 74% of students stated that Covid-19 had a negative effect on their mental health and wellbeing.

They also found that two thirds of students said they have ‘often felt isolated or lonely since March 2020’.

This is obviously not a great statistic for new students, it does not inspire much faith. However, companies like Student Minds and also The National Union of Students are trying to get the government to provide financial support for students (especially those from lower income families) and to prioritise support for mental health.

Placement years can be tough to decide on; there are a lot of smaller decisions involved when deciding if you should take this opportunity whilst at university.

First things first… What exactly is a placement year?

A placement is an option that students are usually given for what would be their third year of university. During this year their learning gets displaced for a year and in the meantime the student would be working full time in a job that most likely is related to their degree or in another field the student desires.

Pros for a Placement Year:

Experience - You will gain so much experience in a relevant work field. These placements will also be looking specifically for people like you, students who are only looking for a year long contract with the desire to be taught the ropes. This experience will make you look more desirable to companies when you leave university and are looking to start a serious career.

Money - Not only is the experience greatly desired, you will also be earning a full time wage the entire time. Any money saved will be extremely beneficial for your final year of studying. Students rarely get the opportunity to work so much alongside studying so this is the perfect solution for any money issues.

Fulfillment - Doing this will bring you a big sense of fulfillment in your experience at university. You will be able to have plenty of achievements academically and in a career setting if you take on a Placement Job.

Cons for a Placement Year:

Graduation Date - Taking a placement year would mean delaying your studying by a year. This may not be a big deal to some people but it may to others. You may have had your heart set on being a graduate by a certain date and this would seriously alter that.

Friends - You may not graduate at the same time as the friends you have made on the course. Not everyone will take a year off to work and so it may mean that you do not get to celebrate the big day with those you have worked beside and have made friends with.

Stress - It is stressful enough to get through university… So taking on a year of work as well as finishing the uni workload a year later may not sound very appealing to you.

A Placement Year is not for everyone but make sure you think about what is best for you as an individual!

Here are some key tips for you if you do want to apply for a placement job:

Research - Make sure to thoroughly research the kind of jobs you would be interested in doing for a year of your studies. See if your dream company is offering any placement jobs and go from there. Choosing the best kind of company for you is very important, you want to be as happy and comfortable as possible whilst taking this year to work! Make a list of all the companies you come across that will best suit your needs. Apply to as many as you desire so you have more options.

Be timely - Make sure not to put off the search if you have decided to take on a placement year. If you have your heart set on somewhere that offers placements, if you leave it too late, that specific company may have given out all of their available placements and you will have missed out. I had friends at university that took too long to arrange a placement and they had a very slim choice of companies they could work with, which is not preferable since they had to spend a year at one of these places.

Don’t be disheartened - Applying for a placement job is just the same as applying for a regular job… Rejection is definitely a possibility. Try not to be put off by this, try to stay resilient and just apply to more! It can be hard but getting to do that placement year will be worth it.

Be prepared - Applying for multiple jobs means there is a big chance you will be called into companies for interviews. Make sure to research the company again before the interview, this will show you are truly interested in the job/company. Also wear something suited for the company, usually a smart suit would be appropriate for the typical interview but if you are unsure you could always reach out to a member of the company and ask them for their opinion. You could also look up interview questions and prepare a few topics to discuss in case the interviewer asks the same question or a similar one.

Take every opportunity - This is your chance to trial career possibilities, say yes to any offer that sounds advantageous to you during your time in your new role. This may be a mentor, a work trip, new responsibilities, etc. Doing a range of these opportunities will allow you to figure out exactly what you do and do not want to do with your career once you leave university. Not only this but it will make your CV look even better as it will show you have an array of skills and are not afraid to take on anything new!