Recession: All Doom & Gloom – or Exaggeration?

The job market is very tight at the moment (and probably getting worse), and if you or those close to you are affected directly, it’s likely to feel pretty miserable.

However, there are a lot of misleading and exaggerated press headlines around the state of the graduate and postgraduate job market. We track the number of adverts coming into the Careers Service, and employers signing up to come to our recruitment fairs, and although both are currently lower than last year (which was our all time high for ads and fairs), they are still much higher than you’d expect if you believed everything you read in the press.

I’ll continue to try and glean inside information from employers, whether by talking to them, monitoring actual vacancies and recruitment fair bookings, or by finding reputable sources of labour market information. If you have concerns about particular types of jobs, employers or other recruitment issues which are bothering you, just drop me  a comment on the FAQ page and I can try and answer it there.

What you can do:

• Be sceptical about rumours, hearsay and news headlines. Dig below the surface of any statistics, particularly percentages, bandied around, and you often find it’s not as bad as it initially seems from the headlines.
• For an insider’s view of the changing state of the job market, keep up with the blog posts I’ve written on the subject, collated here into one category. Also, if you’re an international student or have now graduated, keep an eye on the latest news from our International and Graduate careers blogs.
• If  you want to talk about the realities of the job market and how it might affect you, and the practicalities of finding a job in the recession, talk to someone at the Careers Service – available to all our postgrads, including those who graduated from the University of Manchester within the last three years (though if you’re an MBA, you should go to our specialist MBA careers service).
• Want to talk to other University of Manchester students, graduates and postgraduates? Have your say on our new careers forums.
• If you find yourself worrying about the recession and it’s starting to drag you under, talk to someone about how you’re feeling. Try to find someone who will encourage you to think of practical things you can do to move forward – and if you see others getting weighed down by the prevailing gloom, go out of your way to help them keep their head above water.
  • If you’re currently a student and want to talk to another student confidentially about how recession worries are affecting you, think about calling Nightline (the number’s on the back of your library card). They are open between 8pm and 8am every night of term, and will listen to you without judging, whether you feel you have a small or massive problem.
  • Alternatively, if you’re one of our students and you find that worrying about the job situation or money is affecting your work, your relationships or your life, contact the University Counselling service for access to trained professional counsellors.

Want to know more?

If you want to know what’s behind all this turmoil, the BBC news website has an excellent Audio Slideshow: A Guide To The Credit Crunch, featuring commentary by their Business Editor, Robert “Voice of the Recession” Peston.

For the undergraduate perspective, students on the Manchester Leadership Programme have put together a podcast, with contributions from students, academics, the careers service and PricewaterhouseCoopers – download the .mp3 file here and have a listen to the student view.

What difference is this recession making?
Check out our assessment of the situation plus, crucially, what you can do about it.

• Recession: an overview
  - what this recession means for postgraduates
• All doom and gloom – or exaggeration?
  - find out what’s really happening in the job market
• There are fewer jobs to apply to this year
  - how to seek out the jobs which are still out there
• There are more people looking for work
  - how to make sure you’re the one who gets the job
• Researching the job market has never been easier
  - use contacts and technology to save time and find jobs
• You’re more likely to have financial constraints than previous graduates
  - where to find help and support to keep you afloat
• FAQs and Comments
  - tell us what else you want to know or give us feedback