Fiona Duff: Graduation is great, but what happens next?

You have to worry about one's kids as they head off into the big bad world. The lucky ones have a few years of respite after school if they manage to get a place at college or university. But then after all that studying and debt that has been built up, what next?

Graduates face a struggle to find a good job

One friend’s son received a first class degree and two years on is still working in a cinema; a couple of my daughter’s friends are working in call centres with good degrees on their CV whilst others are still relying on parents as they are “interns”. Which in any other words is slave labour – working full time for a company who may or may not cover their travelling costs and a sandwich at lunchtime.

But then there are other companies who do give a little bit back. They send staff to help students to see what might be expected of them in the workplace. Apparently January is Mentoring Month, and this sort of giving back can only be encouraged. Of course by going into colleges the companies can try and keep an eye on anyone with real potential. Teviot, a design and marketing company which has been based in Edinburgh for over 30 years, works closely with Edinburgh College. One of its staff did the Visual Communication course there and now returns on a regular basis to work with the current students. To back this up the firm has now launched an internship scheme for one graduate who will be paid a salary to spend a year working with the finest in the business.

It’s going to be a couple of years before my youngest as to fill in her UCAS form and think about what might be the best course for her. I only wish that she hadn’t dropped art as a subject as it would be good to know that there was the possibility of a fabulous job at the end of her student stretch.

Then again she could do a plumbing course – there’s always someone with a blocked drain.