• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

The I Feel Happy Topic!

Matt N said:
I’m really happy to have a bit of a weight off my shoulders today, as I’ve secured and accepted a post-graduate employment offer! It actually all happened very, very quickly… I was rung by a recruiter on Tuesday who spotted my CV on LinkedIn or Indeed and thought I’d be a good fit, had an interview yesterday and accepted the offer today! I start in September, after I’ve finished my MSc dissertation.

It is a temporary post until the end of March 2026 to begin with, but I was told there was a good chance of it going permanent after that by both the recruiter and the person who interviewed me. It’s with a civil service body, so it’s with a big employer I can trust, it’s allied with what I’ve studied at undergrad and postgrad, and it sounded like a really nice team!

I was initially unsure on it due to it being temporary, but I figured after a bit of thinking that I can only benefit from the experience. If it goes well, I could potentially be on track to become a permanent civil servant in a role allied with my studied specialism, with all the benefits that come with that (the recruiter was very keen to big up the civil service pension scheme; I don’t know the ins and outs, but for those more au fait with pensions, I gather it’s supposed to be very good?). But even if it doesn’t work out, I will still gain a period of industry work experience for my CV that I don’t have now and be a little bit richer! From where I’m standing, I have nothing to lose by going for it and everything to potentially gain, so I thought; why not?

Before anyone asks, I also know it’s not a scam; I made sure to look for the people who interviewed me online, and they are legitimate.

But in general, I’m really happy to have secured something for at least a few months following the end of my degree! I had been getting a bit down about job seeking after a series of rejections, so it is nice to be vindicated, if nothing else!
Click to expand...
Congrats Matt! 😊
 
Well done @Matt N . Can confirm civil service are a pretty good employer, the pension is not as good as it used to be but still one of the better ones.

Converting a temp job to permanent is not unheard of, depending on role might be the norm, and once you're in properly it's ****** difficult to get fired. I've been in for years and they've not got rid of me yet ☺️

Edit: blimey I didn't realise our swear filter was that flippin' strict now
 
JAperson said:
Good stuff Matt!. I know how tricky it is as I myself am currently looking for a graduate role, so I understand the pain you've probably had to go through and the hoops you've probably had to jump.
Click to expand...
It has certainly been hard at points, and until me and my dad revamped my CV a week or two ago, I’d received wall-to-wall rejections and silence right from when I started applying back at the end of June. This role and one other permanent role have been the only interviews I’ve been offered.

It wasn’t even so much the rejections that were difficult for me; it was not hearing anything. When I received a rejection, I was somewhat gratified that the company at least had the courtesy to reply to my application. With some of the ones on LinkedIn and Indeed, you really do seemingly just chuck an application into the ether and never hear about it again.

Hang in there @JAperson; I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for eventually. To be honest, I’m still going to keep half an eye on the permanent job market myself, seeing as this is only a temporary post. It will be nice to stop having to apply to anything that seems vaguely aligned on LinkedIn and Indeed, though, and it will be nice to ease my foot off the gas with job searching for at least a period!
 
Last edited:
Matt N said:
It has certainly been hard at points, and until me and my dad revamped my CV a week or two ago, I’d received wall-to-wall rejections and silence right from when I started applying back at the end of June. This role and one other permanent role have been the only interviews I’ve been offered.

It wasn’t even so much the rejections that were difficult for me; it was not hearing anything. When I received a rejection, I was somewhat gratified that the company at least had the courtesy to reply to my application. With some of the ones on LinkedIn and Indeed, you really do seemingly just chuck an application into the ether and never hear about it again.

Hang in there @JAperson; I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for eventually. To be honest, I’m still going to keep half an eye on the permanent job market myself, seeing as this is only a temporary post. It will be nice to stop having to apply to anything that seems vaguely aligned on LinkedIn and Indeed, though, and it will be nice to ease my foot off the gas with job searching for at least a period!
Click to expand...
Yeah it's hard, I know I'm doing something right as I'm getting at least some interviews (I'd say I get maybe 1 interview for every 20 jobs I apply for or so, but it varies). I actually think a temporary post is a good thing for your first job because it allows you to get some experience and see where you might want to go next.
I actually think companies should be required to acknowledge an application and tell you if you haven't got it. It's radicicolous that you could have to do a huge application with masses of information and they don't even have to send you a single email telling you that you haven't done anything.
 
JAperson said:
Yeah it's hard, I know I'm doing something right as I'm getting at least some interviews (I'd say I get maybe 1 interview for every 20 jobs I apply for or so, but it varies). I actually think a temporary post is a good thing for your first job because it allows you to get some experience and see where you might want to go next.
I actually think companies should be required to acknowledge an application and tell you if you haven't got it. It's radicicolous that you could have to do a huge application with masses of information and they don't even have to send you a single email telling you that you haven't done anything.
Click to expand...
1 interview for every 20 jobs is quite similar to my hit rate. I think I applied to 20ish jobs before I got my first interview with the one permanent role.

I see the temporary thing in a very similar light. I figure it can only be positive regardless of how it goes, and given I live with my parents and have no major financial drains (e.g. mortgage, a family to feed), I figure I’m in a comfortable position where I can take a slight risk on temporary employment.
 
Matt N said:
I see the temporary thing in a very similar light. I figure it can only be positive regardless of how it goes, and given I live with my parents and have no major financial drains (e.g. mortgage, a family to feed), I figure I’m in a comfortable position where I can take a slight risk on temporary employment.
Click to expand...
I'm the same, why I have no massive expenses I can risk taking a temporary or lower paid job with the hope of gaining more experiences.
I've had 5 interviews now, although one of the roles I really didn't want once I'd been in there a few minutes, so I don't really count that as one I was actually trying to get. The other 4 have all given me really good feedback but they've apparently just found people with slightly more experience in certain areas.
I'm hoping that my recent wave of applications will result in an actual job because I'm not sure how long I can do this before I go insane. I think I've answered the question 'do you have the right to work in the UK' 100's of times.
 
JAperson said:
I'm the same, why I have no massive expenses I can risk taking a temporary or lower paid job with the hope of gaining more experiences.
I've had 5 interviews now, although one of the roles I really didn't want once I'd been in there a few minutes, so I don't really count that as one I was actually trying to get. The other 4 have all given me really good feedback but they've apparently just found people with slightly more experience in certain areas.
I'm hoping that my recent wave of applications will result in an actual job because I'm not sure how long I can do this before I go insane. I think I've answered the question 'do you have the right to work in the UK' 100's of times.
Click to expand...
The “right to work in Britain” thing gets no better when you get offered a job! This afternoon, I had to send the recruiter a picture of my passport, as well as my driving license and a bank statement, and then go onto a Teams call to show them the image of me holding these documents so they could take a screenshot!

5 interviews is awesome, and I would definitely take the good feedback as a confidence booster! Out of curiosity, what field are you trying to break into, if you don’t mind me asking?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top