Gair Rhydd

Living in London and loving it? Just don't become a Londonite

London. The city of the Queen, the Prime Minister, the 2012 Olympics and Amy Winehouse. Anyone who is anyone lives in London. All I ever hear from my friends is how they are going to take the long train journey up to city of dreams to start their new lives once University has spat them out in June.

There are two very strong opinions about our great capital. It is crowded, smoggy, obnoxious, rude and extortionate. Even those that live in London (or aspire to) acknowledge this. Yet they are still convinced of its superiority. So why is London the Mecca for ex-students?

Are voluntourists taking too many risks?

Volunteer holidays are the new graduate trend for 2010, but too many travellers are jetting off without making the necessary preparations

Almost every week I get sent loads of articles from different companies trying to sell their products or services; services that they feel are in the students’ best interests.

But I received one this week that may be very helpful, particularly following on from the gap year article that we featured last week.

Gap Years: Friend or Faux?

Gap years are great fun but they don't automatically make your CV look good. Jobs and Money tell you how to make the most of it

It is at this point in our academic lives when the pressure is on to apply for jobs for the following September, if you have not already done so. But there are other options. How about hopping off the factory line and taking a gap year?

A gap year could work for those of you who are unsure of what career path you want to pursue, or those of you who are afraid that you do not yet have the required experience to apply for those jobs. Some graduates simply want to travel, perhaps if they did not have a gap year before university, and some just need a break from it all.

Volunteering pays off

It may be unpaid work, but volunteering is worth it in the long run

Students, of all people, appreciate competition. We have already competed with hundreds of thousands for our university places, many of us have played sports or joined societies that have a competitive edge. Therefore by your second or third year, you are fully aware of how competitive the job market will be, even without the small complication of a global recession.

Each graduate placement involves fierce competition, further increased by graduate jobs being cut and more graduates being churned out, together with those graduates reaching higher grades. Law at Cardiff University, for example, requires three As at A Level. At graduation, you need an excuse for not acheiving a 2:1 or a first, alongside completing all the necessary work experience, such as solicitor’s placements, mini-pupillages and so on.

Get your priorities right

Before anyone can pursue a career and gain the subsequent experience, advice and know-how, they need to get their priorities straight.

It is at this point in our lives that we have to decide the course of our future. We need to make the right decisions. If we are to invest further into our development, apply for postgraduate study or graduate schemes, and convince those interviewing us that we are the right candidates for them, we need to know that we are.

Fifteen things you should know about graduate recruitment and careers

At a time when most of you are worrying about your graduate prospects, Jobs & Money brings you the ultimate guide to finding a job.

1. We are in a recession and graduate vacancies are down by 25% BUT 75% of graduate vacancies are still out there – a wide range of opportunities still exist, so go for them!

Setting up shop

This is the story of Lowri Grove, a Cardiff graduate who opened an independent store in partnership with her mother. Her entrepreneurial skills have proven fruitful as the store is up and running and receiving great feedback from the public in the middle of a recession. Read on and be inspired: proof of how hard work, determination and sometimes taking a chance can really pay off.

“I decided I’d like to open my own shop about a year ago. I had no plans to do it quickly – it was more of a ‘one day in the future’ kind of idea,” says Lowri.

Graduate2Success gives job applicants the know-how

Innovative training centre teaches graduates the vital skills needed to get a job in today's tough labour market...

Over 80% of applicants will fail to get past stage one of the UK’s top graduate recruiters’ selection process.

Most graduates think that getting a job is about the interview process. It’s not. Over 80% of applicants will fail to get past stage one of the UK’s top graduate recruiters selection process. How does the employer feel about it? Well in some ways they would like to get the failure rate up a bit more. You see graduate recruitment processes are designed to reduce the number of people that employers have to see face to face. That’s why they put so many obstacles in your way. Most start with the online application – this has the highest failure rate. They then move on to telephone interviews and psychometric tests. The very final stage is the interview.

You do the maths...

Good with numbers? Looking for a job that will earn you loads of money, and fast? Jobs and Money might just have the answer

Thinking about becoming an accountant? Well, if you are, stop. Be an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) instead. If your thing is maths and stats and abiding by the wonderful stringent laws that govern the use and placement of our hard earned cash, then please consider this route.

As an IFA, you can be self-employed, earn your money on a meritocratic basis (i.e. the harder you work the more you earn), and branch out into something a little more than “legal tax evasion”.

"Ever thought about a career in the Home Office? Nope me neither"

Jobs and Money Editor Katie Greenway never thought she would enjoy a job in the Home Office... until she got there...

Ever thought about a career in the Home Office? Nope me neither.

What I am hoping to do in this column is to provide gair rhydd readers with options, perhaps options they hadn’t thought of before or didn’t know enough about to really consider. I also wish to pay tribute to those that have succeeded and who can provide you guys with invaluable information and advice. So I’m going to tell you about something which I had never considered before.