About twenty years ago, I graduated into something of a downturn. Whilst my economic circumstance was tricky, it wasn't catastrophic. I got three months work with a local firm of painters, washing walls. When that finished my friend Martin and I tried writing comedy for pin money.
We didn't sell much - we weren't that good - but the university careers magazine gave us £100 quid for a batch of cartoons about how terrible the graduate recruitment landscape was. I remember they printed one in which a man opened the Guardian and a Media Jobs supplement fell out, which was only the size of a postage stamp. Not the best gag in the world, but it did earn us a tenner, which at the time was enough to buy about five pints, each.
Looking at the Sunday Times this weekend, I got the feeling that the situation for grad recruitment is bad right now but not the end of the world. Vacancies seem to be down about 17%, but then median salaries are up to £27K. (Aldi are paying £40K, plus a car.) Things in Japan are similar, if this report from Reuters is anything to go by. (Thanks to John Langford for sending it in.)
Basically, the Japanese colleges are holding rallies and hiring cheerleaders to inspire students on their path toward employment, and the rallies look something like:
Perhaps some employment marketing entrepreneurs with a grasp on grad recruitment over here could find a new revenue stream by turning the tables: asking the educational establishments to pay for creatively-led sessions in which willing grads are taught properly how to apply and interview for those remaining plum jobs?
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