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Graduate CV
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We've just had a CV in from a girl who has taken a year out after completing her degree and now wants to enter the job market.
Great A Level results - and a 2.1.
But....her A Levels are in Textiles, Art and Sociology and her degee is in Textiles.
We are in Reinsurance.
Why on earth would she think her degree would prepare her for the role we are advertising?
We don't need new curtains!
Great A Level results - and a 2.1.
But....her A Levels are in Textiles, Art and Sociology and her degee is in Textiles.
We are in Reinsurance.
Why on earth would she think her degree would prepare her for the role we are advertising?
We don't need new curtains!
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I don't really understand the point of the thead, flip_flop. Some candidates will always be stonger than others. If she doesn't meet the requirements of the roll then don't shortlist her. But to a large extent I don't think the subject matters. My degree was in Maths but for much of my career I never needed to do anything more complex than GCSE level calculations. Many good lawyers have degrees in Chemistry or History.
If you feel it's so relevant maybe your advert should have specified which subjects would be considered as appropriate.
If you feel it's so relevant maybe your advert should have specified which subjects would be considered as appropriate.
i am actually still wondering what degree you think appropriate to reinsurance? (i'm guessing there is not a degree in reinsurance?) I don't really know what reinsurance is, but i'm sure it's not got much to do with law either, but you'd consider someone with a law degree?
Anyway, to prevent this situation arising again, when you advertise, be specific about what degree you want
Anyway, to prevent this situation arising again, when you advertise, be specific about what degree you want
factor - the point is to sneer at someone who applied for a job they are not really qualified for but has had a go anyway as they believe they have tranferable skills which would enable them to perform the tasks required.
textiles is actually a pretty technical subject...i have a HND in it... it involves rather more than sewing ...
things such as a great many calculations - in order to create repeating patterns and prepare them for the machines, programme the printing machines, caluclate and measure out the quantities of dyes, of many fabric processes, ...then there is actually fabric making - weaving, knitting, lace, batik, felting, plus all trimmings and extras etc including on an industrial level, then there is pattern making, garment construction, and other items such as curtains, upholstery, clothes, etc...then there is all the marketing, the sales, the promotional stuff, the trade fairs we attend, the business side of it... budgeting, ordering, sales, stock management etc
so yes, you are being somewhat ignorant of what a degree is... do you really think they just sit around sewing?
textiles is actually a pretty technical subject...i have a HND in it... it involves rather more than sewing ...
things such as a great many calculations - in order to create repeating patterns and prepare them for the machines, programme the printing machines, caluclate and measure out the quantities of dyes, of many fabric processes, ...then there is actually fabric making - weaving, knitting, lace, batik, felting, plus all trimmings and extras etc including on an industrial level, then there is pattern making, garment construction, and other items such as curtains, upholstery, clothes, etc...then there is all the marketing, the sales, the promotional stuff, the trade fairs we attend, the business side of it... budgeting, ordering, sales, stock management etc
so yes, you are being somewhat ignorant of what a degree is... do you really think they just sit around sewing?
So interview her and make your mind up on more than just what's on paper.
I agree that a textiles degree is not just a bit of sewing! Who knows what made people take the path they did, especially when young. I initially wanted to join the police (too short - then), possibly the RAF (too asthmatic) or be a paramedic or mental health nurse. I ended up with a law degree and qualifying as a solicitor.
It could very much depends on the person - you might consider me as I have a law degree but if it involves numbers (does it involve lots of numbers) I'd not be the person for you (as I would say the last bracketed sentence proves!).
I have a friend with a textiles degree who is great at what she does which is nothing to do with textiles (legal).
Having done some recruitment, I have seen the most unsuitable people apply for all sorts of positions but for a graduate position, ok she might not be right for you, she might be blindly applying for any vacancy she finds, who knows and maybe your selection criteria is tight but unless you specified background, don't knock her for applying for a graduate job as a graduate.
As least she's making an effort to get a job.
I agree that a textiles degree is not just a bit of sewing! Who knows what made people take the path they did, especially when young. I initially wanted to join the police (too short - then), possibly the RAF (too asthmatic) or be a paramedic or mental health nurse. I ended up with a law degree and qualifying as a solicitor.
It could very much depends on the person - you might consider me as I have a law degree but if it involves numbers (does it involve lots of numbers) I'd not be the person for you (as I would say the last bracketed sentence proves!).
I have a friend with a textiles degree who is great at what she does which is nothing to do with textiles (legal).
Having done some recruitment, I have seen the most unsuitable people apply for all sorts of positions but for a graduate position, ok she might not be right for you, she might be blindly applying for any vacancy she finds, who knows and maybe your selection criteria is tight but unless you specified background, don't knock her for applying for a graduate job as a graduate.
As least she's making an effort to get a job.
As for what she thinks she has to offer regarding your job opportunity , may have something to do with the advertisment , did your add suggest ongoing training with potencial for advancement. or did it state you wanted people who were qualified in accounting and such ? in other words already prepaired for the job . "it seems that is what your asking for here at least" .
A friend's son took a degree in Biochemistry with a view to becoming a forensic scientist. Having been offered a post-graduate training position in that field, he deferred in order to join the police force and gain a couple years' ground level experience first. He enjoyed it so much that he never did go back to do his forensics training and has instead become a very successful career copper.
Whilst there's very little - if any - biochemistry involved in his job, he has generic skills acquired at university that have been mega useful in the force - a methodical and thorough approach to the work, for instance, and the ability to explain to his team the current state of affairs on a case. He's confident and able to communicate at many levels, meaning that he can interview suspects and address his superiors with equal ease.
With my own degree in History, I like to think I have similar skills. I have certainly never taught the subject during my time as community tutor, not used it in my current job (local government admin), but I find myself using the techniques I learnt on a daily basis.
Whilst there's very little - if any - biochemistry involved in his job, he has generic skills acquired at university that have been mega useful in the force - a methodical and thorough approach to the work, for instance, and the ability to explain to his team the current state of affairs on a case. He's confident and able to communicate at many levels, meaning that he can interview suspects and address his superiors with equal ease.
With my own degree in History, I like to think I have similar skills. I have certainly never taught the subject during my time as community tutor, not used it in my current job (local government admin), but I find myself using the techniques I learnt on a daily basis.
Don't really understand the relevance factor, but yes, I do.
If it was simply as case of offering an interview it wouldn't be so bad, but because these posts are well sought after and always oversubscribed, each candidate is sent on a two day assessment course run by a specialist recruitment company at a cost, to us, of £2,000 a candidate.
Its all academic now anyway - I've taken the decision that her academic background is not good enough.
If it was simply as case of offering an interview it wouldn't be so bad, but because these posts are well sought after and always oversubscribed, each candidate is sent on a two day assessment course run by a specialist recruitment company at a cost, to us, of £2,000 a candidate.
Its all academic now anyway - I've taken the decision that her academic background is not good enough.
Because of the jurisdictional issues and the contracts involved, a law degree has always proven to be good, as have business administration type degrees, and economics etc...
Textiles may well be a very hard degree involving lots of work (I wouldn't know) but as we have to filter CVs, somebody with a law degree will always get the nod before somebody with, what can be perceived as being, a bit of a Mickey Mouse degree.
I wouldn't expect somebody who has spent three years studying law would be particulary good in an evironment where a textile degree would be useful and equally I wouldn't expect somebody who has spent three years studying cloth would make a good lawyer.
Textiles may well be a very hard degree involving lots of work (I wouldn't know) but as we have to filter CVs, somebody with a law degree will always get the nod before somebody with, what can be perceived as being, a bit of a Mickey Mouse degree.
I wouldn't expect somebody who has spent three years studying law would be particulary good in an evironment where a textile degree would be useful and equally I wouldn't expect somebody who has spent three years studying cloth would make a good lawyer.
You are facing, flip_flop, the problems that many employers are facing these days. With huge numbers of young people now graduating – many of them in somewhat obscure subjects – there are simply not enough “graduate” jobs to go round. Thus there are large numbers of people applying for jobs which genuinely do require a degree who are totally unsuitable for the posts. And I suspect the applicant you are talking about may be among them.
The previous government’s policy to get 50% of young people into university (which this government has not really set out to reverse) is ridiculous. If you look at the jobs in the UK nowhere near 50% of them require a degree level education. So many of the young people who make up the 50% end up disappointed and the government is complicit in causing this disappointment by raising their expectations falsely.
Twenty or thirty years ago employers in the commercial sectors such as reinsurance (and I do know what it is) would probably be perfectly happy to engage new entrants with a couple of decent ‘A’ Levels. These days employers cannot rely on that level of qualification being sufficient for the applicant to be capable of commercial work. And so it is that they receive applications from graduates with degrees in somewhat strange subjects who have gone on to university because they have been told they need to.
It is all very well for people to suggest that employers should interview applicants to see what they have to offer beyond their CV. But as you say, interviewing and assessment costs money and employers need a reliable method to undertake a paper sift.
I’m quite sure, as joko suggests, that a degree in Textiles takes some application on the part of the student and the knowledge gained is probably very useful – in the textile industry. If the post you are advertising really warrants a degree in law or something similar you should say just that in the advert. I would suggest that £30k is a little above entry level graduate salary and it is probable that either a knowledge-based degree or some experience in the business is warranted.
The previous government’s policy to get 50% of young people into university (which this government has not really set out to reverse) is ridiculous. If you look at the jobs in the UK nowhere near 50% of them require a degree level education. So many of the young people who make up the 50% end up disappointed and the government is complicit in causing this disappointment by raising their expectations falsely.
Twenty or thirty years ago employers in the commercial sectors such as reinsurance (and I do know what it is) would probably be perfectly happy to engage new entrants with a couple of decent ‘A’ Levels. These days employers cannot rely on that level of qualification being sufficient for the applicant to be capable of commercial work. And so it is that they receive applications from graduates with degrees in somewhat strange subjects who have gone on to university because they have been told they need to.
It is all very well for people to suggest that employers should interview applicants to see what they have to offer beyond their CV. But as you say, interviewing and assessment costs money and employers need a reliable method to undertake a paper sift.
I’m quite sure, as joko suggests, that a degree in Textiles takes some application on the part of the student and the knowledge gained is probably very useful – in the textile industry. If the post you are advertising really warrants a degree in law or something similar you should say just that in the advert. I would suggest that £30k is a little above entry level graduate salary and it is probable that either a knowledge-based degree or some experience in the business is warranted.
Whenever my husband was recruiting he would bring the CVs and letters home for me to go through. What I selected for him were mainly those who had written a letter by hand and what the content was, not a boring off the net letter but one which was original which showed the person had imagination. One of his best sellers due to his qualifications wouldn't have even got an interview...
i agree the candidate is probably not suitable for your job... my post was more a response to your claim that her degree was 'mickey mouse' and just a bit of sewing... that is an unfair and ignorant assumption to make.
i suppose you cannot blame the girl for trying though - at least shes not sitting on her arce sponging off the state eh?
i suppose you cannot blame the girl for trying though - at least shes not sitting on her arce sponging off the state eh?
I would have thought it would more beneficial for somebody to learn about textiles 'on the job' and gain good work experience along the way as opposed to going to university and gaining a degree in the subject.
You don't see plumbers going to university to get a degree in plumbing!
It is a soft degree.
You don't see plumbers going to university to get a degree in plumbing!
It is a soft degree.
plumbers have other qualifications to gain..this is because there are set rules and a definite way of doing things - not to mention health and safety etc.
there is no scope for free thought or choice or artistic endeavour - it is just generally a set of tasks being performed that need to be mastered...they certainly dont learn only 'on the job'...
for this reason there is no need for 3 years of study of pipes and fittings etc
as i said, you are clearly ignorant of the subject and the intensity of a degree
there is no scope for free thought or choice or artistic endeavour - it is just generally a set of tasks being performed that need to be mastered...they certainly dont learn only 'on the job'...
for this reason there is no need for 3 years of study of pipes and fittings etc
as i said, you are clearly ignorant of the subject and the intensity of a degree
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