Towards the end of my final year at university, I was extremely excited about the prospect of finishing and not having an academic schedule to stick to. I felt liberated at the idea that if I wanted to go on holiday in January, I could because I didn’t have to wait until the Easter or summer holidays with inflated prices. Most importantly, I was ecstatic at the idea that my life would be mine again, to do what I wanted whenever I wanted (sort of). Fast-forward to graduation, a truly amazing day and one, which celebrated everyone’s achievements due to hard work and tenacity over the years. Little did I know that the excitement that I initially felt would quickly turn to everything but that. I started the grueling process of applying for jobs, only to be faced with rejections and no responses, and if I was lucky an interview.
It’s a well-known fact that when you leave university, it can take a while to find a job in the career you want to embark on. So as deflating as the rejections and lack of responses are, I don’t take it personally. At the end of the day, I’ll keep applying, and I will eventually bag myself a job that is the perfect fit for me and my future employer. However, it’s been 5 months since I left university and still no proper job – I do still work, but its far from what I’m interested in, but it funds my shoe habit. Like I said, I wasn’t surprised that it would most likely take a while to get a job because when leaving university, that’s all that people seem to talk about and yes it’s frustrating, but oddly enough, that’s not been the hardest thing for me.
| I’M IN LIMBO.
That’s the only way I can describe my life over the past 5 months and this is what really gets me. Imagine working a job that you are far from passionate about and you just want a change! I’ve been in my current job for two and a half years and I’m fed up and bored – I’m very vocal about how I feel, so this won’t come as a surprise to anyone I work with. I currently have 2 skeletal CV’s on the go, one for a job in retail and one for journalism/PR/social media/degree stuff. I even feel like I don’t want to do anything major, like purchasing a new car, or even a new laptop (even though my current MacBook is on its last legs) because I’m just waiting to get a job that I genuinely enjoy, in the industry I love and not being on a 0 hour contract.
| UNPAID INTERNSHIPS.
Having searched various employment websites, I’ve come across way too many unpaid internships. This in itself is an issue and again, one that understandably many people have spoken about. Yes, it’s unreasonable to expect someone to work for free, because food, rent and bills all require that thing that we all work for…money. Again, whilst I understand the main issue with unpaid internships, my personal issue is what happens next? As I said, I do work, so I have the option to save up money beforehand so that I can afford to undertake an unpaid role. However, my issue is, if I leave my paid job, for a 3-month unpaid internship, what happens next? What happens if there isn’t a paid position at the end of that period? What am I going to do then? I understand that whilst some internships may be unpaid, the experience is invaluable. However, realistically it doesn’t always seem feasible.
So yep, I feel completely lost and in limbo at the moment and in all honesty, such a vital part of my life is having a huge impact on me. Working a job that I’m unhappy in, getting rejected left right and centre and not really knowing what’s going on with my life, I honestly feel like I’m merely existing. Going from having so much structure academically for 17 years, to be thrown into the big wide world with very little support is extremely daunting and confusing and just making me feel lost – someone please hand me a map!
Have you recently finished mainstream education? How are you finding everything?
