Female Forum

I have been updating my CV again and I have always called myself a recent graduate but I left uni two years ago now and not so sure about that statement anymore.

Dose anyone have any advice on how I could present this on a CV as a the moment I am feeling a bit left on the shelf as I am only able to get temp work in admin roles. If I am honest I feel a bit left on the shelf graduate job wise. I really don’t want employers thinking I must be a time waster as I haven’t managed to get a decent job since leaving uni despite all the time i have had.

I was a bit silly really as I was originally studying on a web design course for two years but switched degree to spatial design (interior architecture). Now I have graduated I never have landed a decent job related to by degree and I couldn’t imagine myself feeling happy in a career that wasn’t web design. Fortunately I have had some experience but nothing in a real studio, just home freelance work which gets rather lonely.

I don’t think you need to call yourself a recent graduate at any stage - after all, you have your graduation date on your CV so your employer can see when you finished university.

Maybe you need to really play up your skills more, rather than solely relying on your degree. Are you tailoring your CV for each individual job you apply to? That’s what I do - that way it is 100% relevant to each job you apply to. Look through the job ad and look for the key skills they are looking for, and make sure you have evidence of them on your CV.

Perhaps you could mention how a degree in spatial design is in someway related to web design to give your degree a little more relevance to web design positions? Do you have an online portfolio you can mention on your CV?

I hope this gives you some good ideas, and good luck!

I don’t think I called myself a recent graduate even when I was one!

Kez, I kind of know what you mean about struggling to find work after leaving University. Two years after my graduation (I graduated in 2003), I was still working in a bar! I was really unhappy because I felt like all my friends from Uni had got great jobs using their degrees and there I was serving beer on minimum wage! As you know I also do web stuff (more backend code than front end design), and from what I’ve seen, I would agree with Martin, I think you should definitely get some kind of portfolio together online. I know quite a few web designers and even those that don’t freelance do this. I don’t, because I haven’t done that much that could actually go on the web - most of what I do is for my employer’s intranet, so I don’t need to do it to get work, but I think my case is pretty unusual.

Is it also worth looking for a particular type of web job? I don’t know what your speciality is but I know that if I wanted to look for another job, there are websites, twitter feeds etc just for jobs writing coldfusion, or PHP or whatever.

I definitely wouldn’t be too worried that you haven’t found the perfect job yet - as I say, it took me from 2003 until the start of 2008 until I found the job that I now have. Wow I can’t believe its that long since I graduated!

Oh, one more thought - if working freelance is lonely, is there anyone you know you could team up with to start your own studio? One of my husband’s friends is a graphic designer who is struggling to find work because he finds he needs web skills he doesn’t have (he can just about manage Frontpage, bless!). He’s always trying to get me to leave my job and set up a business with him. I’m too much of a wuss and know I’d be rubbish at trying to get customers but if you’re already working freelance, this might be a way to make it less lonely.

Hope some of that helps!