The Times: I’m a graduate. There are no jobs since Covid for me

I never thought I’d hear myself say those words: I want to receive a rejection email. I want to be told that on this occasion I have been unsuccessful; that after careful consideration we will not be continuing your application. Because at least then I know.

With unemployment rates continuing to rise, it is young people who are being hit hardest by the coronavirus job crisis. Jobs are like gold dust, the applicant/position ratio is ever-growing, and many companies are failing to inform applicants of their unsuccess. This leaves you deflated, tired and obsessively checking your junk mail.

A 23-year-old, class of 2019 graduate, I moved to London in February, excited by the prospect of starting a career and creating a new home. I started off with high hopes, and a cushion of savings to get me through the initial couple of months.

Flora Godfrey Henry, who is now 23, on her graduation day

Six weeks later I moved back to my parents’ house in rural Somerset for lockdown. Ego bruised, savings spent, I already realised this wasn’t going to be quite so plain sailing. I soon got a temporary job at a local supermarket, something that gave me some purpose during the darkest days of lockdown. The London-based recruitment agencies I had been in contact with had frozen all recruitment, and life as we knew it was at a standstill.

As restrictions began to ease in June and July I began spending my days off applying for jobs in London. However, there are a fraction of the graduate opportunities and entry-level roles that were available pre-Covid. By June the graduates of 2020 were also applying for these roles — an extra 400,000 job-seeking grads to contend with.

To continue reading the article: I’m a graduate. There are no jobs since Covid for me