I've Just Graduated, What Do I Actually Do Now?
Nathaniel is the founder of Hurdle Community, a platform empowering graduates and young professionals to find clarity, confidence, and opportunity. He is now building a platform and ecosystem that redefines how people grow and progress in a rapidly changing world of work.
Somewhere between the graduation photos and the “so, what’s next?” question from every relative, there is a very real moment of: I genuinely do not know. If that is where you are right now, this is for you.
If you have graduated without a clear next step, you are not behind. One in five UK graduates now applies for over 100 jobs before landing one. What actually helps in the first few months is not panic applying everywhere. It is having a realistic plan, a genuine support system, and permission not to have it all figured out yet.
Is it normal to graduate without a plan?
Yes, it is more normal than it has ever been, and the numbers back it up. UK graduate unemployment has risen from 5% to 6% in the latest year, and only 57% of 2023-24 graduates were in full-time work 15 months after finishing university, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), down from 59% the year before.
This is not a personal failure to plan properly. It is a genuinely tighter market than the one your older siblings or parents graduated into. The experience of finishing university without a clear next step is not an exception right now. It is the norm.
Why does the graduate job market feel so much harder right now?
Because it is. Entry-level roles have narrowed, and competition for the ones that exist has intensified sharply.
Around 20% of graduates apply to more than 100 jobs before finding one, a figure that has nearly doubled year on year.
Full-time graduate employment has dropped for two years running.
More than 700,000 UK graduates are currently out of work.
None of this means you are doing it wrong. It means the goalposts have genuinely moved, and comparing your timeline with an older generation’s experience or with the few who now have roles is not a fair comparison.
What should I actually do in the first few weeks after graduating?
The most useful thing you can do in the first few weeks after graduating is resist the urge to either freeze completely or apply to fifty jobs in a panic. A more deliberate first few weeks might look like this:
Give yourself a short, defined reset period. Take a week or two during which you are not required to have a plan yet. You have just finished years of structured deadlines. Some decompression is not laziness. It is necessary. The job search is a long game, and starting it from a place of exhaustion makes it harder, not faster.
Talk to people about what you actually want, not just what sounds impressive. A surprising number of graduates apply for roles they do not want because they do not know what else to say when someone asks. Be honest about what genuinely interests you. There are many people who would be happy to offer advice, including former lecturers, alumni, and people already working in an industry you are targeting. Get your LinkedIn messaging ready!
Start with a short list of realistic next steps. Identify a handful of roles to explore, a couple of industries to research, and one or two people to ask for a conversation.
Track what you send and what you hear back. A stalled job search feels significantly worse when it is invisible. Keeping a simple record of applications, responses, and outcomes means you can see progress and patterns, even when nothing has landed yet.
Look at new opportunities. Yes, I know you have just finished studying, but this is where the realisation sets in that you never stop learning. So, what is hot at the moment in the industry you are entering? Artificial intelligence (AI)? Are there gaps in your knowledge? This is where you set aside time each day to learn something new. It can also genuinely distract you from your job search.
Should I take any job just to have one?
There is no single right answer, but there is a useful distinction worth making. A genuinely difficult market can be a valid reason to take a bridging role while you keep looking for the right fit. That is not settling. It is being practical. Income and structure both matter during a prolonged search. But remember, taking on something as “temporary” can lead to settling. You have to keep the fire burning.
What is worth avoiding is taking the first thing that comes along purely out of panic, without checking whether it actively makes your job search harder. A role that leaves you with no time, no headspace, and no connection to where you want to go can set your search back rather than support it. If a role gives you income and the space to keep looking, it is doing its job. If it does neither, it is worth thinking carefully before accepting.
What if everyone else seems to have a plan and I don’t?
They mostly do not either. You are just seeing the version of their lives they chose to post. That is the best and worst part of social media. Social platforms are particularly unkind during the post-graduation period. A friend’s new job announcement says nothing about the four months of rejections that came before it or the quiet uncertainty almost everyone is experiencing at the same time as you.
This is exactly the kind of comparison that makes an already difficult stretch feel isolating, when the reality is that most of your graduating class is experiencing some version of the same uncertainty right now. The experience of not knowing what comes next and feeling like you should is one of the most universal graduate experiences that almost nobody talks about honestly.
How long does it take to find a job after graduating?
The honest answer is that it varies significantly and takes longer than most graduates expect. Given that the average graduate job search now frequently extends over several months, building a sustainable approach, one you can maintain without burning out, matters as much as the pace at which you start.
What the data does suggest is that the graduates who navigate this period most effectively are not necessarily the ones who apply for the most roles. They are the ones who combine a targeted, well-prepared approach with a genuine support system made up of people who understand what the process actually feels like in real time.
What is the biggest mistake graduates make in their job search?
The most common and costly mistake graduates make in their job search is treating it as a volume exercise. Sending hundreds of generic applications is not the same as conducting a job search. It is a way of feeling busy while avoiding the harder, more effective work of researching roles properly, tailoring applications specifically, and building genuine connections in the industries you want to work in.
The second most common mistake is going through the whole process alone. The job search is often treated as a solo experience. It does not have to be. Graduates who find the right community, with people going through the same thing at the same time, generally navigate it better than those who do not.
Where can I find people who actually get it?
Talking to people who are currently at the same stage tends to help more than receiving another generic list of tips from people five years further along who are offering retrospective advice. That is true whether you are a graduate figuring out your first step or are further into your career and navigating a change. The underlying experience of “I do not know what is next, and I feel like I should” is the same one Hurdle was built around.
Hurdle is a professional network for people who are still figuring it out. It is a space where the real experience of navigating the graduate job market can be discussed honestly and where the people around you actually understand what you are going through.
Figuring out what is next after graduating? You do not have to work it out alone. Join the Hurdle waitlist.
Read more from Nathaniel McAllister
Nathaniel McAllister, Founder of Hurdle Community
After experiencing redundancy firsthand, Nathaniel recognised how isolating the job search can be and set out to change it. Through Hurdle, he’s building a global platform and community where people can rebuild confidence, find support, and move forward together. His mission is simple, no one should face the job search alone.
