So after three years of my life, a sum of money that I will begrudge paying back, the question most posed to me today is ‘what do I have lined up next?’ The answer? Well, nothing.
So after three years of my life, a sum of money that I will begrudge paying back, the question most posed to me today is ‘what do I have lined up next?’ The answer? Well, nothing. I find myself with a degree in English and Journalism, not job, no money and much to the dismay of any future employers, no experience. At this point I can barely secure a part-time shelf stacking-in-the-early-hours job. Not that there is anything wrong with that, as a credible source of income I applaud it; however, I have a degree now.
The last three years have been the best years of my life, and I have changed and grown up so much that yes personally I have developed from it. Professionally though? Well no, not currently. Many will argue that it has only been a matter of weeks and that I can’t expect a job overnight, which realistically I understand. Maybe I am just bitter that I have been turned down for a position for being over qualified.
It has to be asked what overqualified really means though. When hindsight is introduced the joint honours degree falls out of favour; it is not NTCJ accredited, it does not enable the student to develop skills in all journalism platforms and quite frankly it has left all joint students feeling slightly out of sorts about what skills they can use in the real world.
And then there is the job search itself; endless hours of setting up accounts on various job sites, every time losing faith in your own CV credentials and abilities with every key stroke. Just the other day I found myself applying for a cleaning position, oh, and that job as a train conductor.
I spoke to my younger brother, who at the school leavers’ age of 16 feels the same way as myself, although considering an apprenticeship rather than the more financially and academically challenging he has noticed that the job market isn’t great and worries that no matter what training he chooses for whatever career he will still fail in securing a job later in life. This saddens me more than anything; that a teenager who should be in the prime of his life, enjoying his youth is caught up in worries of the future, at 16!
It is enough to make a person wish to be back in the 60s, with the free love and the chilled feeling.
If I could carry on living the dream of a student lifestyle without the academia I would. The freedom, the friends, the spontaneous good times and the hilarious memories are the things I will remember forever. Is this however the burden I have to bear? Did the decision to better myself and gain a better education actually cripple my chances within the job market instead of improving them? Well I guess that I will have to wait and find out.
