[Aeschylus]

(Original post by IceWater)
Exactly. Completely support you on that decision you made. Must be quite depressing seeing people you know in jobs they hate. I'm certainly not going to rush into that either, will be very happy to take a gap year if an opportunity which I'm happy with doesn't arrive

It's quite funny really because a bunch of us applied for internships with a major bank (bullied into it by parents). They didn't stick to the deadlines they promised, they interviewed at the wrong times, they took longer than expected to get back to us, they got our names wrong, the final interviews were a joke in how badly organised they were run and they were supposed to get back to us within 48 hours and it took 3 weeks. From that I kind of got an idea of how poorly these corporations were run (having seen similar when I worked for another one) and knew how much I'd hate it. So no banking for me thank you. But friends are STILL going for it because they think they'll be the 1% who make all the cash, when the laws of statistics say otherwise.

As for myself, I've secured a few journalistic placements. Still a (much smaller) corporation but the people at least remember your name and email you back within an hour and a much greater degree of personal freedom seems to be the case from my previous job. It comes down to whether you panic like a lemming and run for the money without realising the consequences of earning that wage is to be locked into a job you will despise

[the bear]

i am set up for life. i am starting an internship at the News of the World next week.

bear

[Rzc]

(Original post by IceWater)
Agree. I think it's more to do with social / peer pressure, people are expected to take on greater hours and greater responsibility for greater pay if they have the ability. I think people fear that they're "wasting their potential", when instead they'd probably waste their lives if they went too far.

So I think it's largely about social pressure. It's easy to say "stop caring what people think" but in reality it's a lot harder.

I agree!

Thing is when you're 80 odd, all this money won't really mean anything, it won't matter what car you drive or where you live, I'd rather not regret anything!

[Anonymous]

(Original post by IceWater)
I constantly fear that I will become like this. I can't help it.

It's as if all our lives we've been cycled from one instituition to another, school to university, and then we end up working for the next 40 years. Oh, but we get a 3 week holiday each year!!

I fear I'll end up as a mindless drone going to work everyday, slaving away to pay my bills and buying stuff to make children happy / maintain a lifestyle. I really start to worry about life after university. My greatest fear is ending up like the guys commuting from City of London, the look on their faces is just dead, as if their soul is crushed.

Anyone else have these worries

P.S It's easy to say "get a job you like"; but it's not as easy as that, and only deluded students would think that. Very few people are lucky enough to get a job they truly enjoy. It isn't like sports / music / acting where you can get a job you do for a hobby!

I don't worry about it because I know that nothing in life is set in stone. If I found myself in that position, where I truly hated my life and my job, I would leave.

You may say this is a 'deluded student' view (24 years old and not currently a student FYI), however I believe we make our own destiny and there is always another way, as long as you have a hellova load of determination.

Of course it's not as easy as waking up one day and thinking "oh, what a fool I am, I should get a job I like! Why didn't I think of that before?" But it is never impossible.

[IceWater]

(Original post by Aijin)
Study something you like and you know you will enjoy working with? I enjoy languages, so I'm studying languages. When I graduate, I'll end up working in a language-related job or working with languages. I know it's not that easy for some people, but you'll only end up a 9-5 drone/slave/lemming/cog in machine if you let it happen. If you don't want to do that, don't. (:

Are you confident you'll get a job relevant to Japan and cultural studies / languages as a job? E.g. a know someone who did law, wanted to go into the legal profession, is now working at Waitrose because that's all he could get. It's not as well defined as people think really.

[silverbolt]

(Original post by IceWater)
It's easy to say that, but I look at my dad as "what is to come" and it seems there really is no escaping longer hours, more responsibility and more stress as you get older, regardless of whether you have children.

But yes I agree that life is about friends and family so hopefully I'll maintain that through life. Maybe I'm just realising that student life doesn't last forever

welcome to the world of work in the UK, low rates of pay, longer SWW than Europe, fewer holidays and crap weather to boot.

Yep your going to be doing it for the next 40 years (amybe more) and thats it. Just part of the cog.

(Original post by Gap)
Ensure that you don't then, it's not set in stone that you'll end up like that. A relative of mine works 21 hours a week, earns £1300 a month and could earn more but he is perfectly happy because he has alot of free time to do whatever he wants.

What does he do? Can anyone do it

Very few people have jobs like that.

Personally OP im leaving the UK - i need to get my TESOL and im gone to Asia somewhere, hopefully Korea

[IceWater]

(Original post by Aeschylus)
It's quite funny really because a bunch of us applied for internships with a major bank (bullied into it by parents). They didn't stick to the deadlines they promised, they interviewed at the wrong times, they took longer than expected to get back to us, they got our names wrong, the final interviews were a joke in how badly organised they were run and they were supposed to get back to us within 48 hours and it took 3 weeks. From that I kind of got an idea of how poorly these corporations were run (having seen similar when I worked for another one) and knew how much I'd hate it. So no banking for me thank you. But friends are STILL going for it because they think they'll be the 1% who make all the cash, when the laws of statistics say otherwise.

As for myself, I've secured a few journalistic placements. Still a (much smaller) corporation but the people at least remember your name and email you back within an hour and a much greater degree of personal freedom seems to be the case from my previous job. It comes down to whether you panic like a lemming and run for the money without realising the consequences of earning that wage is to be locked into a job you will despise

I don't want to reveal too much about my family (paranoia of the internet), but some of them work in a bank and yes, it really doesn't seem like a great lifestyle. Also reflects what I said earlier about "mile-square drones coming from the office", the look on their faces are just depressing.

I don't know but I get the impression that journalism is a lot more "free" and you have far greater autonomy than in banks, also judging by your subject, it seems you'd enjoy it a LOT more. Money definitely wouldn't be as good, but what's the point of money, when 1/2 of your waking life will probably be at the workplace. I definitely reckon you made the right choice.

(Original post by the bear)
i am set up for life. i am starting an internship at the News of the World next week.

bear

Haha bear always delivers

[IceWater]

(Original post by Rzc)
I agree!

Thing is when you're 80 odd, all this money won't really mean anything, it won't matter what car you drive or where you live, I'd rather not regret anything!

Yep. It's strange to think 1/2-1/3 of your working life will be at the workplace, so best to make the most of it! Even if the slightly lower pay packets means you can't get that new materialistic good on hte market . Obviously sometimes you need the money but for the most part, you can make do with less, for a better lifestyle.

I know that from experience with my dad. Which is probably why I'm worrying about it so much,.

[IceWater]

(Original post by silverbolt)
welcome to the world of work in the UK, low rates of pay, longer SWW than Europe, fewer holidays and crap weather to boot.

Yep your going to be doing it for the next 40 years (amybe more) and thats it. Just part of the cog.



What does he do? Can anyone do it

Very few people have jobs like that.

Personally OP im leaving the UK - i need to get my TESOL and im gone to Asia somewhere, hopefully Korea

Haha, thanks for giving it straight . See if you said that in other thread, you'd have a load of students telling you how you have "no ambitions" / "too stupid to make something of your life" / "too pessimistic".

What's TESOL by the way, what are you hoping to do?

[Ineluctable]

(Original post by IceWater)
I constantly fear that I will become like this. I can't help it.

It's as if all our lives we've been cycled from one instituition to another, school to university, and then we end up working for the next 40 years. Oh, but we get a 3 week holiday each year!!

I fear I'll end up as a mindless drone going to work everyday, slaving away to pay my bills and buying stuff to make children happy / maintain a lifestyle. I really start to worry about life after university. My greatest fear is ending up like the guys commuting from City of London, the look on their faces is just dead, as if their soul is crushed.

Anyone else have these worries

P.S It's easy to say "get a job you like"; but it's not as easy as that, and only deluded students would think that. Very few people are lucky enough to get a job they truly enjoy. It isn't like sports / music / acting where you can get a job you do for a hobby!

Unless you have tried to do a job you like, then you can't complain that that option wasn't available to you. There are plenty of people who through sheer determination and hard work have found a job they like.

[belle-a]

OP
i get what you mean. I think it depends on what you want out of life though. Because the reality is, you cant have your cake and eat it at the same time. Whatever you choose to do, there will be downsides to it. You just have to figure out whether or not working those somewhat rigid hours are worth whatever it is you may be working for.

You just need to sort out your priorities i suppose.

[nosnibor]

Yes, this terrifies me. And I'm applying for graduate jobs right now. Oh lord.

[fran.ha]

(Original post by IceWater)
Nice, I admire business people. What sort of businesses do your family own? And yes that's a good plan, I think most people in business generally follow that route, bar the "extreme visionaries". I think I'm more attracted to the idea of having a business more than having good business acumen / ability; I just like the idea that I'm entirely responsible for how much I earn. My original plan was to work in finance but I don't like the idea of making rich people richer, doing grunt work for other people etc.

Though to be honest I don't really know what it takes to run a business successfully. I imagine it's far far more difficult than you first think. Must be a great feeling to see it being successful though.

My Mum is a web designer, my Dad is a.. erm... lawyer but not quite type thing. He studied to be a quantity surveyor and did rather well, but turned out to be pretty good at the legal side of construction, so now he is sort of a construction law consultant, he basically finds loopholes in contracts and gives them to the lawyers.

My Grandad is a gunsmith, my Grandmother has no particular trade, but she ran the village grocery shop while he ran the gunsmiths downstairs, but they basically just buy businesses and have a go. I think they've had a shoe shop, a gardening shop, a tearoom and now they run a gigantic antique centre.

Me, my Mum and my Grandmother also run a very successful jewellery company online.

My aim for a job though is to go into online marketing and eventually launch my own consultancy business, but you need good connections for that!

[Advanced Subsidiary]

(Original post by fran.ha)
Heh its kinda something I've always wanted to do, but felt like I couldn't. However all my family does it, both my parents and my Grandparents own a string of businesses. I kinda thought I didn't want the hard work of it all, but I've had so many people I work for saying they think I could run my own business that its kinda become a real idea. I think my plan at the moment is to dot he daily grind for 10 years or something, and then start my own business after I've learnt all the tricks of the trade and have all the connections I need. Its what both my parents did.

Good idea but that really isn't necessary.

I started my own business on the 4th July 2011 with no previous work experience or business related experience.. and so far things are pretty amazing. This is probably the best time to start a business, especially an online one.

[rolawumi]

this horrible fear is what drives me to do my best and try to set myself apart in the hope that my future will be brighter

now that had better be so!

[Stratos]

I'm going to work freelance if possible so that I'm not stuck to one company or organisation.

[fran.ha]

(Original post by Advanced Subsidiary)
Good idea but that really isn't necessary.

I started my own business on the 4th July 2011 with no previous work experience or business related experience.. and so far things are pretty amazing. This is probably the best time to start a business, especially an online one.

The business I would like to start requires a massive amount of connections, it would not be an online business. I know how to start an online business anyway.

[Advanced Subsidiary]

(Original post by fran.ha)
The business I would like to start requires a massive amount of connections, it would not be an online business. I know how to start an online business anyway.

That's what linkedin is for.

All jokes aside, I know what you mean. It is hard at the beginning when you start a business but working for yourself is alot better than working for someone else.

[No Man]

Even though I won't mind if I do have a 9-5 job, I will be pissed off if I end up working working in an office, in front of a computer for 30+ years of my life, probably to the point of having the urge to commit suicide.

I have/will be doing everything in my power not to let this happen though. I don't I've heard of a scientific job that involves being in an office, in front of a computer, 9-5 anyway. It might be like that for computer scientists though.

[J_Alom]

(Original post by IceWater)
I constantly fear that I will become like this. I can't help it.

It's as if all our lives we've been cycled from one instituition to another, school to university, and then we end up working for the next 40 years. Oh, but we get a 3 week holiday each year!!

I fear I'll end up as a mindless drone going to work everyday, slaving away to pay my bills and buying stuff to make children happy / maintain a lifestyle. I really start to worry about life after university. My greatest fear is ending up like the guys commuting from City of London, the look on their faces is just dead, as if their soul is crushed.

Anyone else have these worries

P.S It's easy to say "get a job you like"; but it's not as easy as that, and only deluded students would think that. Very few people are lucky enough to get a job they truly enjoy. It isn't like sports / music / acting where you can get a job you do for a hobby!

I see this when travelling on the tube/ DLR - everyone looks miserable, regardless of how much their salary is. Its this defeated look, knowing that this is what their life has amounted to. I hate the prospect of having to wake up, shave, and go to work. the routine is too dreary. Hopefully i win the lottery tonight!