Caset study: ‘I’m well qualified, I’m not lazy but I can’t get a job’

GEORGINA Wardrop, 24, has a first class honours degree in Spanish from the University of Glasgow, and hopes to become a lecturer. Since graduating in 2009, she has been unable to find full-time work, instead taking on part-time casual contract jobs.

Ms Wardrop, from Dumbarton, said: “I don’t appear on any government statistics for long-term unemployment because I have managed to find short-term employment, insecure and part-time. I’m well qualified, I’m not lazy and I’ve tried, and tried again, to secure full-time employment. It is time that government takes meaningful action to avoid another lost generation.”

Ms Wardrop, a member of the STUC youth committee, has applied for more than 40 jobs, securing just three interviews.

She added: “The Modern Apprenticeships should be welcomed, but they need to offer equality of opportunities – the majority of females are doing beauty or hairdressing work, jobs which are lower paid.”