Grappling with Graduation

How do soon-to-be graduates feel about embarking on their job search in the unsteady period that has followed the pandemic?

Graduates are facing a more tumultuous job market than ever before and career uncertainty following the pandemic is evident across many different fields of work.

This is a scary time for the Class of 2020 and soon-to-be graduates have expressed a variety of different anxieties and concerns regarding their future job search.

Massey University Information Sciences student, Tyron, said that he does not feel prepared to enter the job market and that the lack of available jobs is not helping with his anxieties.

“Jobs are always asking employees to have years of experience and I feel like it’s really hard to find anything for graduate level workers – especially given the current situation,” he said. 

“Nobody cares about I.T. workers in the first few years of their career until they have experience.”

Meanwhile, Massey business graduate Benjy, who finished his Master’s Degree at the end of Semester One, said that he had issues both with finding a job and also with sorting out his visa.

“Finding a job at the moment is really hard, especially since so many companies are having to downsize so they don’t really want to take on new employees,” he explained. “It helps to already have connections in the industry. Otherwise, finding a job right now is going to be really hard.”

University of Auckland student, Imogen, shared this sentiment and said that she would be relying more on professional connections than on a degree alone.

She said that despite the current climate, she’s excited to start work because “anything I do will be more consistent than University has been this year – so that is a huge improvement!”

She added that she’s also been watching the job market for quite some time and started her job search well before she knew she’d have to apply.

“I started watching the job market about a month ago – I don’t intend to apply for a few months yet – but watching the job market and seeing how often jobs pop up let me know what to search for on LinkedIn to find jobs. That has helped to ease my anxiety.”

“The biggest thing I’m worried about at the moment is pay – I’m worried that people have already taken an economic blow so they’re going to try to underpay new graduates.”

Many university students have expressed that they’ll be embarking on further study next year or taking more time with their current study. This allows them to put off breaking into the job market at such an unstable time.

“I’m going to continue studying part-time,” Massey University Arts student, Chris, explained. “I currently have a job in hospitality so I’m in no rush to finish my degree and rush into such an uncertain job market.”‍

“I’m just going to try and enjoy the rest of my classes as much as I can, even though most of them are nowhere near as good on Zoom.”

Caitlin, a University of Canterbury Psychology student, is also planning to further her studies with an Honours qualification.

“For my degree, it makes sense to continue studying, especially given the current job climate,” she explained. “I would have to do more study at some point anyway, so I might as well continue now.”

“I’m also lucky that I have the financial ability to do this. That was a considerable factor in making my decision and I know that a lot of people are under immense financial pressure at the moment.”

Natasha, a future pilot in her final semester at Nelson Aviation College, explained that finding jobs as a pilot in the near future will be difficult.

“I’ll be graduating at the end of the year and my chances of a job as a pilot are low,” she said. “The aviation industry will pick up again, but it will take a while.”

“Often Kiwi pilots will go overseas to look for work after graduating which is also pretty hard given the current border restrictions. So I’m probably going to try and find a non-related job for a while.”

This year has been tumultuous, and graduates will have to handle it in various ways, as they have always had to. The job market for new graduates has always been a scary prospect and your early twenties have historically been a time of self-doubt as well as self-exploration – however usually this is without a global pandemic working against you.

If you’re a recent graduate or soon-to-be-graduate who feels confused and bewildered, just know that everyone is in the same boat – it’s just that the boat is a rubber dinghy sinking in a flood of economic depression.