Economic Currents Continue to Shift - Adapt & Paddle!

University degrees are what secondary school or high school degrees were a generation ago: starting blocks, which most people seem to have and need.  However, in difficult economic times (of which many find themselves again) it is the graduates who find university degrees to be rather useless ammunition, when competing with experienced professionals.

Education and work life prior to 2008 seems a world away now, but the patterns repeat themselves every 10-15 years. 

Indeed, in 2007, a degree from a top-tier liberal arts college or university was the key to white-collar employment or a spot in a top graduate school program.  There were, of course, plenty of students who were not admitted to the universities of their choice and education was still a very expensive proposition.  However, graduates had confidence in the power of their degrees to take them into the upper echelons of the professional workplace.  They planned to get experience within white-collar environments. However, then and now that is not guaranteed.

When I founded Turning Globe Tuition in London, England in 2011 (which has been renamed and rebranded in 2025 as One Ambition, founded in Freiburg, Germany), nations and markets were still recovering from recessions and deficits from the 2008 global financial crisis. The job market was particularly sour and overcrowded as continuous streams of university graduates butted heads and hearts against career professionals angling for whatever jobs still existed.  With so few jobs, more was being asked of all applicants.  Starting positions were often insisting on 5-7 years of professional experience, while offering salaries more appropriate for teenagers than adults with university qualifications. 

So what did people do then and how can we learn from that now?  Reassess the current situation and rework your trajectory.  Never lose sight of your aspirations, though; ‘managing expectations’ does not mean throwing away your dreams.  A university degree is no longer the solution, it is a critical part of the solution—a firm base on which to build.  If you do not have five years of professional experience, think about what you are bringing to the table, and make sure that the selection committee takes notice. Also do not just go for a name go for a university that is dialled in with a real and substantial network in your field of choice. That is where the value lies in 2025.

Then for your part consider that first and foremost, you need to have gumption.  Retail outlets and eatery chains across the world are packed with recent and not-so-recent graduates vying for the white-collar jobs they were told to expect, while slugging away for minimum wage just to get by.  The lesson to be learned is that what it takes to go white collar all the way is practically a marketing campaign of what you have done and can do. 

Employers and Graduate Schools have become increasingly risk averse. While a Waterstones in London may be a place you prefer to shop rather than work, every day you spend working there is professional experience earned, and fantastic material for personal statements or cover letters. Not for the grandness of the work, but for the clarity of what you are willing to do to achieve your one great ambition.

Sadly, not every talented student will get a place at university and not every hard worker will get to keep his or her job or get a top job upon graduation.  Your life is not over.  You need to be flexible—think global.  Where else can you go for a top degree or top job?  It is easy to become cynical, but do not let it take hold; because once it does, it’s hard to shake off. 

Employers respect tenacity, so make them see that you not only have grit in the worst of times, but also you know how to transfer the skills you learned in Waterstones, such as: teamwork, numeracy, organization, customer service, and sales to their company. Those in a position to offer you employment, offer you a raise, or just simply keep you on the team after making others redundant, must see that you are exceptional.  They have to want to fight for you because you add value in a time where salaries are killing profits. Throughout 2024 IT and Silicon Valley giants let thousands of workers go for no other reason than margin call budget issues. Imagine the volume of talent looking for work then – and most were more than qualified to keep their position. But that is behind us, let us look ahead.

Who are you?  Where do you want to go?  How are you going to get there?