MISMATCHED GRADS: GETTING THE RIGHT JOB

It's not all about getting a good enough job to get by, or even to just start making a dent in those hefty students loans. But that should be fairly obvious, right? No point studying for 3+ extra years, only to fall into a job that's completely the wrong fit.

If it's not for you, chances are you won't like it. And if you don't like it, chances are you won't be able to force yourself to get up and go to it every morning for all that long. 

Despite what might seem like common sense, Universities UK has found that around a third of grads are "mismatched" to the careers they end up in after university. And low job satisfaction isn't the only symptom of a mismatched career – these grads are also suffering from fewer career prospects in the long run, and lower earnings than those who are well-fitted to their jobs.

This makes a lot of sense, really: the grads who do best are those who fall into the careers that use the skills and knowledge they've spent years at uni cultivating. 

Universities UK argues that the issue comes from a lack of decent careers advice, which should be helping to students to identify their strengths and key skills before they head out into the big bad world in search of work.  

Understanding the skills you have, and the different careers these could match, will help you both in the short and long-term. No one wants to get out of bed for a job they hate, and no one wants to feel like their hard-earned degree has gone to waste.