Gradulthood on the Guardian Q&A-The highlights

I thought we should provide a summary of what we said in the Q&A session, even if it is a bit self indulgent on our part. I only managed to make one post in the end because I was busy at work, but Joe managed to make quite a few. So, the question was; are graduates adequately prepared for the world of work? Here's a selection of our contributions, beware, the discussion did manage to go quite off topic at times:

“I think there are opportunities to prepare yourself for work whilst you are at university. I did a geography degree, which unless you are aiming to be involved in town planning, GIS or perhaps teaching the subject, it doesn't actually lead directly to many roles. There were opportunities for internships whilst I was studying but because I wasn't interested in pursuing a career in the fields on offer I didn't get involved. Since gradutaion I have had to do a lot of extra work on top of my regular job to make up for this. 
Whilst at university I don't think students realise how many great opportunities they have to make themselves more employable. I only realised after I'd graduated, if I were to do it all again I would be involved in every extra curricular activity going!” Joe

“The BBC - the dream job for most people looking to get into the media industry in the north west. Apparently over 30,000 people have applied for around 1,000 jobs [at BBC North] (I have no source on that, just hearsay...), but people that have been successful should start hearing within the next couple of months, although the whole recruitment process will take around a year.” Michael

“I think it's easy to lose motivation after filling in endless application forms and not hearing anything back, but there are always opportunities to get your writing out there these days. Instead of applying for schemes I think it is more worthwhile to start sending out speculative emails. Lots of blogs are always looking for free content and many small to medium business are looking to give experience to people starting out because it's beneficial for them too. This way you can get your writing out there and have more to say next time your applying for work. It also galvanises you as it makes you feel like your doing something worthwhile rather than sitting back and waiting for the next rejection email. I emailed numerous copywriters all over the country before I landed some work.” Joe

“To get networking, and have the opportunity for direct contact with people in the industry I can't emphasise enough the power of Twitter, get yourself an account and start following” Michael

“I think graduates can get too caught up with applying for the graduate schemes on sites like Milkround because it's viewed as the 'done thing' - Got your degree - hop onto your graduate scheme. With so much competition nowadays it definitely worth going directly to smaller companies.” Joe

See the full discussion here.