Abstract
This study was conducted to examine the work-seeking experiences of recent social science graduates residing in Soweto. There is a dominant reason that appears for individuals to pursue a university education, which is to acquire skills and find employment related to their qualifications. However, many graduates struggle to find employment, particularly those who have pursued a social science qualification.
For this reason, the study sought to answer the question: how do recent social science graduates residing in Soweto experience seeking employment? The aim is to understand the in-depth lived subjective experiences of social science graduates in seeking employment so that relevant stakeholders can better support them in finding employment. The objectives of this study include exploring the experiences of recent social science graduates during periods of unemployment; to understand what strategies recent social science graduates have engaged in to find work; to explore their perspectives on the success of these strategies; and to understand what support recent social science graduates feel they need to be better equipped to secure work opportunities.
In this study, the interpretative paradigm was employed as the philosophy of the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from social science graduates.
The findings in this paper show that graduates used different job search strategies to seek employment. Social networks, online applications, and relocating to Johannesburg to seek employment are some of the strategies used. Through using these strategies, some applicants were successful and invited to interviews, while other graduates frequently applied with no luck, and those who were desperate for employment were scammed into applying online. Frequent job seeking resulted in undue costs, which were a burden to unemployed job seekers. Moreover, the consequences of job seeking on mental health is one of the key findings because job search is an intense activity which involves rejections, emotions, and expectations.
This study finds a new finding that unemployed graduates who were desperate to earn an income resorted to different means of living to survive. They engaged in different activities such as braiding people’s hair and recycling bottles to receive an income, demonstrating that many graduates were not able to leverage their qualifications in their work after studying. By understanding the experiences of social science graduates seeking employment, it is important to acknowledge that not all qualifications bear employment opportunities, and graduate unemployment should not be generalised.
Lastly, unemployed graduates face structural unemployment that is beyond their control and that constrains their ability to find employment.