The System

I've recently been thinking that the education system is a good place to lay blame for every graduate who cannot find a job. Why? well, the education system (in my understanding) works as follows;

Join school aged 3-5 years old (Nursery - Pre School)
Move through the years to aged 16, by which point we collectively have been through a number of tests to determine our intelligence, and lessons which should have hopefully taught us to read, write and do arithmetic (In varying levels of success I should add)

At 16 years of age you take your GCSEs, when you receive your results you make one of your first "grown up" decisions, you either stay in the system or you leave the system.

Those who leave after GCSE level will in many cases will find themselves in either a trade industry (Plumbers, Builders and so on) or in the public services (Armed forces etc...) Admittedly these are both still education systems of sort, as you learn a huge amount and gain invaluable skills to help you on your path.

However, for many (including myself) you stay in the education system and move on to Sixth Form (AKA College) here you begin to specialise, get a slightly higher graded piece of paper and supposedly plan for University.

So, you've done your A-levels (NVQs etc..) and you have two choices, get a job or go to uni where, "Your employment chances will become much greater, as employers love degrees."

You go to university, learn a lot about life and yourself, and get another piece of paper with your name on it. The problem is, for the majority, the system finishes here, graduate courses aren't for you, and you haven't trained to be a Architect, Doctor, Lawyer, or one of the other fine professions that will give you a job by the time you have completed the course.

As a result, you find yourself, having spent the best part of two decades in the education system, lost and feeling all alone thinking, "I've got a degree, why can't I get a chance, I know I can do it, all I need is that one shot."

It's that feeling of helplessness that I know I've had and I'm sure nearly each and every one of you has had at some point or another.

Is there a way to change this? I keep seeing politicians talking about rising unemployment rates and genuinely think that there is nothing beneficial they could do for me (the graduate).

Maybe if I had taken an exam similar to the American SAT exam instead of A levels I would have had a better chance of getting into a first rate university and along with that I may have had a clearer idea of what I wanted to do for a job.

Or maybe the degree that I received from the university I went to has absolutely nothing to do with anything, maybe this feeling of helplessness that the unemployed get is really just another part of the system, there are two questions raised, they are; At what stage will you experience it? and how will you cope?

Talk to your friends and family, they will tell you that they have all been in this situation before.