The Student Room Group

Cambridge Graduate - Failing at Life! =/

Hey,

I graduated from University of Cambridge in 2010 with a MA in Natural Sciences (Geology). I really disliked the elements of the course and the intensive workload so to distract myself I just partied, girls, etc. My tutors hated me because of my lack of effort and further because I just didn't take it seriously. Hence the partying and fun.

I ended up with 51%, I just scrapped a 2:2, during that time I tried to apply for graduate schemes and general vacancies that I saw appropriate. I had no luck at all due to my 2:2., even though my degree was from Cambridge..and my tutors didn't particularly give me a good reference.

After graduation I ended up working in a shoddy call centre with people that had like 2GCSEs. At this moment I felt really low and how I failed at life! All my effort from attending school (Manchester Grammar School), was for nothing when I reached university.

October 2011 - I managed to secure a job in IB Operations for a small regional firm in Manchester...though the pay is really shoddy: about £19k + £3k bonus. Though I have to work like 50hours a week. It's just a little better in terms of salary in relative to my call centre job, if not the same! I see progression opportunities here I suppose, but still I am depressed.

I feel such that I didn't use a rare opportunity given to me in a wise manner. Hence you can see the cause and effect of my decisions. I feel sad, depressed, and like such a loser.

My parents worked hard to pay the fees for Manchester Grammar School and then I ****ed my degree up at Cambridge. Ended up working with chavs, uneducated pricks, and wastemans in a call centre, and now here.

I just don't know what to do with my life and this depression.


I would appreciate advice and thoughts very much, and please don't **** your life up like me!

Thanks

R

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
You haven't said what job you'd actually like to be doing.
Reply 2
I got a 2:2 from Warwick and I still got onto a grad scheme. What you need to do is decide the field you want to go into and then get some work experience in that field to build up your CV. Unfortunately, you may have to take an unpaid internship to get that work experience but it is worth it if you get onto a grad scheme afterwards. Try Graduate Talent Pool, Inspiring Interns or Internwise for these kind of internships. Good luck!
Original post by Anonymous
Hey,

I graduated from University of Cambridge in 2010 with a MA in Natural Sciences (Geology). I really disliked the elements of the course and the intensive workload so to distract myself I just partied, girls, etc. My tutors hated me because of my lack of effort and further because I just didn't take it seriously. Hence the partying and fun.

I ended up with 51%, I just scrapped a 2:2, during that time I tried to apply for graduate schemes and general vacancies that I saw appropriate. I had no luck at all due to my 2:2., even though my degree was from Cambridge..and my tutors didn't particularly give me a good reference.

After graduation I ended up working in a shoddy call centre with people that had like 2GCSEs. At this moment I felt really low and how I failed at life! All my effort from attending school (Manchester Grammar School), was for nothing when I reached university.

October 2011 - I managed to secure a job in IB Operations for a small regional firm in Manchester...though the pay is really shoddy: about £19k + £3k bonus. Though I have to work like 50hours a week. It's just a little better in terms of salary in relative to my call centre job, if not the same! I see progression opportunities here I suppose, but still I am depressed.

I feel such that I didn't use a rare opportunity given to me in a wise manner. Hence you can see the cause and effect of my decisions. I feel sad, depressed, and like such a loser.

My parents worked hard to pay the fees for Manchester Grammar School and then I ****ed my degree up at Cambridge. Ended up working with chavs, uneducated pricks, and wastemans in a call centre, and now here.

I just don't know what to do with my life and this depression.


I would appreciate advice and thoughts very much, and please don't **** your life up like me!

Thanks

R


:rolleyes:
Looking down on people won't make you feel happier.
Your life isn't f***d up there are a lot more people out there in worse off situation then you are, who didn't have a chance to get a degree etc.

I'm not really one for excuses, 'well my degree was this so I started to go out,' bla bla bla, at the end of the day, you had a chance to correct that and do something about it, but you chose not to.

19k is a good salary and you should be grateful that you even have a job.
Take this as a reality check in moving forward.
Maybe you should lower your expectations instead of thinking you're a failure because you didn't achieve what you could have. This is life.
Start appreciating the good things rather than focusing on the negatives & looking at people's lives like they are 'underneath' you.
You're no different to anyone else in this world.

Stick at what your doing, something good will come.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by Anonymous

I ended up with 51%, I just scrapped a 2:2, during that time I tried to apply for graduate schemes and general vacancies that I saw appropriate. I had no luck at all due to my 2:2., even though my degree was from Cambridge..and my tutors didn't particularly give me a good reference.


It's almost like it's based on merit.
Reply 5
Original post by Anonymous
Hey,

I graduated from University of Cambridge in 2010 with a MA in Natural Sciences (Geology). I really disliked the elements of the course and the intensive workload so to distract myself I just partied, girls, etc. My tutors hated me because of my lack of effort and further because I just didn't take it seriously. Hence the partying and fun.

I ended up with 51%, I just scrapped a 2:2, during that time I tried to apply for graduate schemes and general vacancies that I saw appropriate. I had no luck at all due to my 2:2., even though my degree was from Cambridge..and my tutors didn't particularly give me a good reference.

After graduation I ended up working in a shoddy call centre with people that had like 2GCSEs. At this moment I felt really low and how I failed at life! All my effort from attending school (Manchester Grammar School), was for nothing when I reached university.

October 2011 - I managed to secure a job in IB Operations for a small regional firm in Manchester...though the pay is really shoddy: about £19k + £3k bonus. Though I have to work like 50hours a week. It's just a little better in terms of salary in relative to my call centre job, if not the same! I see progression opportunities here I suppose, but still I am depressed.

I feel such that I didn't use a rare opportunity given to me in a wise manner. Hence you can see the cause and effect of my decisions. I feel sad, depressed, and like such a loser.

My parents worked hard to pay the fees for Manchester Grammar School and then I ****ed my degree up at Cambridge. Ended up working with chavs, uneducated pricks, and wastemans in a call centre, and now here.

I just don't know what to do with my life and this depression.


I would appreciate advice and thoughts very much, and please don't **** your life up like me!

Thanks

R


It is not your fault that you felt the need to distract yourself - you couldn't cope with the intensive workload. Maybe the course was too difficult for you? (without sounding too patronising). What kind of job would you like? Did you enjoy your geology course? If you really did and you really wanted a job in it, you would try your best to make it in the field and you would not fail. Don't get me wrong, it would be incredibly hard work but if it was your dream, then you'd make it work. Seems like you don't know exactly what you want to do. Don't be so hard on yourself. You had less control in your behaviour at university than you think, learn to forgive yourself. People learn through "failure". Watch this video, I think it explains a lot of depression and anxiety in society today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1bqMY82xzWo

best of luck with your journey, I'm going through exactly the same as you.
Reply 6
Look at your positives, even if it's difficult considering you had much higher hopes than your current situation. You should be happy you at least have a half decent job. You have an income and a way to support yourself - many graduates do not have this luxury yet.

Also, who knows what connections, prospects and opportunities will arise in the near future in your current line of work. You can still apply for graduate positions while you work! Even though you sound like your mad busy with work, you can still find a few hours a week to apply to various jobs/graduate roles separate from your current job.

It's nearly xmas so you just have to try and look on the brighter side of life. Go out with your friends at weekends and keep yourself busy - try not to stay inside and be all grim!
Woah! I don't know where to start because I've got a lot to say to you OP.

You went to Cambridge. You have a well paid job. Nice one :smile:

You had a good time at uni. Nowt wrong with that. I got a 2.2 from Manchester and then an MA after this. I don't think my life would be any different now if I had got a 1st and a Phd. The employment market is what it is and on paper, it sounds like you're doing well (with the exception of working a 50 hour week which does sound excessive and like it would take it's toll on anyone if they did it every week to be fair).

I don't think you've done anything that makes you a failure. You have a good education behind you and a well paying job.

Maybe you're feeling run down or that there's something missing? Maybe you need to take a look at the whole picture: what do you want to do in the long run? Where would you like to be in 1/2/3/4/5/10 years time? perhaps if you knew the answer to these sort of things there would be a sense of focus for you, something that I always find helpful for myself.

On paper it sounds like you're doing very well from where I stand but what you feel is what you feel so fair play to you I guess.

Take some time out to think about what it is that's bothering you. Break it down into key points and figure out what you want to change and how you are looking at things.

Chin up, hope this helps :smile:
Reply 8
improve your cv, maybe try and get an internship.
Reply 9
Theres quite a few companies that allow you onto the grad scheme with a 2.2
so the fact that urs is a Cambridge 2.2, compared to a 2.2 from any other uni should put you in a good position.
So I think your weakness isn't the degree but other areas.
I know loads of people who have achieved a 2.2 but gone onto really good jobs at companies like Jaguar Landrover, DESG etc
Original post by Anonymous
Hey,

I graduated from University of Cambridge in 2010 with a MA in Natural Sciences (Geology). I really disliked the elements of the course and the intensive workload so to distract myself I just partied, girls, etc. My tutors hated me because of my lack of effort and further because I just didn't take it seriously. Hence the partying and fun.

I ended up with 51%, I just scrapped a 2:2, during that time I tried to apply for graduate schemes and general vacancies that I saw appropriate. I had no luck at all due to my 2:2., even though my degree was from Cambridge..and my tutors didn't particularly give me a good reference.

After graduation I ended up working in a shoddy call centre with people that had like 2GCSEs. At this moment I felt really low and how I failed at life! All my effort from attending school (Manchester Grammar School), was for nothing when I reached university.

October 2011 - I managed to secure a job in IB Operations for a small regional firm in Manchester...though the pay is really shoddy: about £19k + £3k bonus. Though I have to work like 50hours a week. It's just a little better in terms of salary in relative to my call centre job, if not the same! I see progression opportunities here I suppose, but still I am depressed.

I feel such that I didn't use a rare opportunity given to me in a wise manner. Hence you can see the cause and effect of my decisions. I feel sad, depressed, and like such a loser.

My parents worked hard to pay the fees for Manchester Grammar School and then I ****ed my degree up at Cambridge. Ended up working with chavs, uneducated pricks, and wastemans in a call centre, and now here.

I just don't know what to do with my life and this depression.


I would appreciate advice and thoughts very much, and please don't **** your life up like me!

Thanks

R


Whilst I can see where your frustrations lie, there's little point in thinking what you could have done differently during your time at Cambridge: it's in the past now. You can't do much about your low 2.2 but you can still focus on building up your CV through internships and voluntary work. These kind of things could help you get to where you want to be and to bulk up your CV and experiences. That way you could also gain new referees so that you don't have to rely on your Cambridge DoS' in the future :yes:

It would probably help to be a bit more humble and lose the attitude as well. Calling those you work with such names isn't very nice at all :no: And yes, you went to Cambridge, but that doesn't mean that that should count for anything much when you're applying to competitive graduate schemes with a low 2.2 :nah:
Alot of people with 2.1/1sts in IB Ops!

Use it as a leverage into something better.

Take professional qualifications or go back to school(highly advise against a Masters because they are a waste of £££££). I know it must be hard to come from Cambridge and not ending up being a Goldman Sachs M&A banker earning £250k a year, but just don't settle and work on other qualifications to show to future employers you have made a concious effort to improve.

You don't HAVE to get onto a grad scheme, and alot of grad schemes in Finance end in tears these days anyway. I could sit here all day and reel off examples of friends in the City who have lost their job. Many top Oxbridge grads included.

It's tough as **** out there, but boohoohooing about it ain't gonna change anything. You need to man up and form a strategy going forward of how you can steamroll over that 2.2.

It annoys me when people talk about Grad Schemes. 95% of grad schemes are with garbage firms doing really ****ty jobs. Would you rather Intern your way into Risk Management at Barclays Capital through a non-graduate scheme or work in the Belfast branch of ASDA on a grad scheme? Seriously.... enough with this ****!
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 12
Original post by Jamil1987
Theres quite a few companies that allow you onto the grad scheme with a 2.2
so the fact that urs is a Cambridge 2.2, compared to a 2.2 from any other uni should put you in a good position.
So I think your weakness isn't the degree but other areas.
I know loads of people who have achieved a 2.2 but gone onto really good jobs at companies like Jaguar Landrover, DESG etc


No it doesn't. A 2:2 is a 2:2 regardless of which uni he graduate from. The only time when uni reputation is taken into consideration is when there's two 1st class graduates whose likeness and applications are similar strength in all areas.

His degree won't help him get into good companies. He'll have to rely on getting further qualifications and most of all, work experience.
Reply 13
Original post by Anonymous
Hey,

I graduated from University of Cambridge in 2010 with a MA in Natural Sciences (Geology). I really disliked the elements of the course and the intensive workload so to distract myself I just partied, girls, etc. My tutors hated me because of my lack of effort and further because I just didn't take it seriously. Hence the partying and fun.

I ended up with 51%, I just scrapped a 2:2, during that time I tried to apply for graduate schemes and general vacancies that I saw appropriate. I had no luck at all due to my 2:2., even though my degree was from Cambridge..and my tutors didn't particularly give me a good reference.

After graduation I ended up working in a shoddy call centre with people that had like 2GCSEs. At this moment I felt really low and how I failed at life! All my effort from attending school (Manchester Grammar School), was for nothing when I reached university.

October 2011 - I managed to secure a job in IB Operations for a small regional firm in Manchester...though the pay is really shoddy: about £19k + £3k bonus. Though I have to work like 50hours a week. It's just a little better in terms of salary in relative to my call centre job, if not the same! I see progression opportunities here I suppose, but still I am depressed.

I feel such that I didn't use a rare opportunity given to me in a wise manner. Hence you can see the cause and effect of my decisions. I feel sad, depressed, and like such a loser.

My parents worked hard to pay the fees for Manchester Grammar School and then I ****ed my degree up at Cambridge. Ended up working with chavs, uneducated pricks, and wastemans in a call centre, and now here.

I just don't know what to do with my life and this depression.


I would appreciate advice and thoughts very much, and please don't **** your life up like me!

Thanks

R


Tbh, stop worrying. Yes it sucks to end up going from Cambridge to a call centre, but with a 2.2 and no experience it's going to be difficult to walk into a great job. But most people start in something non-great and work their way up. That's nothing to be ashamed of. The only thing to worry about is that somehow you think you've messed up your life because at 22/23 your job isn't amazing.

Do well at your job, work hard, and you'll probably rise up pretty quickly. You're clearly pretty bright if you got into Cambridge and got a 2.2 with little work, and with your current job you're getting some good experience. This is a good base to build on. The lack of experience is probably a bigger issue than the 2.2, so in a few years it shouldn't matter much.
Well at least you didnt do the GDL!
Reply 15
It's okay. There is still London Met
Reply 16
Original post by Zhy
It's okay. There is still London Met


Plenty of graduate schemes accepting graduates with a 2:1 from London Met. Just because Cambridge has a better reputation doesn't mean a 2:2 is treated better than a 2:1 from a ex-poly uni. Whether it's a 2:2 from London Met or Cambridge it's still failure to meet the minimum 2:1 requirement for most graduate schemes and that's a auto rejection. Employers won't even bother with you the minute they see a 2:2.
Original post by Anonymous
My parents worked hard to pay the fees for Manchester Grammar School and then I ****ed my degree up at Cambridge. Ended up working with chavs, uneducated pricks, and wastemans in a call centre, and now here.


You sound like an absolute cretin that deserved to fail. Furthermore, 19K is an excellent starting salary, what on earth were you expecting fresh out of university in a global recession?
Reply 18
Original post by Anonymous
Hey,

I graduated from University of Cambridge in 2010 with a MA in Natural Sciences (Geology). I really disliked the elements of the course and the intensive workload so to distract myself I just partied, girls, etc. My tutors hated me because of my lack of effort and further because I just didn't take it seriously. Hence the partying and fun.

I ended up with 51%, I just scrapped a 2:2, during that time I tried to apply for graduate schemes and general vacancies that I saw appropriate. I had no luck at all due to my 2:2., even though my degree was from Cambridge..and my tutors didn't particularly give me a good reference.

After graduation I ended up working in a shoddy call centre with people that had like 2GCSEs. At this moment I felt really low and how I failed at life! All my effort from attending school (Manchester Grammar School), was for nothing when I reached university.

October 2011 - I managed to secure a job in IB Operations for a small regional firm in Manchester...though the pay is really shoddy: about £19k + £3k bonus. Though I have to work like 50hours a week. It's just a little better in terms of salary in relative to my call centre job, if not the same! I see progression opportunities here I suppose, but still I am depressed.

I feel such that I didn't use a rare opportunity given to me in a wise manner. Hence you can see the cause and effect of my decisions. I feel sad, depressed, and like such a loser.

My parents worked hard to pay the fees for Manchester Grammar School and then I ****ed my degree up at Cambridge. Ended up working with chavs, uneducated pricks, and wastemans in a call centre, and now here.

I just don't know what to do with my life and this depression.


I would appreciate advice and thoughts very much, and please don't **** your life up like me!

Thanks

R


:rofl: Arrogance at its finest. This whole post reflects an attitude problem and a sense of self entitlement just because you went to Cambridge; as much as it may hurt you to hear this, the "Oxbridge and set for life" ship sailed ages ago and has now been torpedoed, unless you are loaded and well connected in which case your degree doesn't even matter because you are usually guaranteed work through nepotism. Get used to it, and that goes for all of you Oxbridge quacks out there.

There are plenty of unemployed people with absolutely nothing who would kill to be in your position. £19k + £3k bonus isn't half bad considering how duff the job sounds, so I'd stick with it as a job's a job and at least you're getting paid - can you imagine being paralysed in academia again, being broke and chained down for the sake of qualifications with zilch guarantee of work at the end? Sounds awful, doesn't it?

Bottom line: you didn't put the effort in, and didn't do well. Nobody is responsible for this bar yourself, so take this on the chin and try to look ahead.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 19
What is IB operations?

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