Graduates: Life After University. Dreams vs Realities.
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Original post by wanderlust.xx
Your posts come out rather cynical, which makes me want to ask if you tried to appy for mechanical engineering jobs or if you just lost interest towards the end of your year? Did you get a 2:1? It seems like you did but I guess I'm just frantically looking for reasons why a bright engineering graduate seems so cynical about the system.
hmmm I'm not cynical. I've been applying for mechanical engineering jobs since I finished uni last year and I've finally landed a job as a mechanical design engineer for a good company and yes i got a 2.1 as well.
what in my post made you think i come across cynical ?
1 What you wanted to do or be after university and why?
I did a year of a computing degree before switching to English so any career goals I had changed quite quickly. In this sense, the only thing I was sure of mid-way through my English degree was that I wanted to study more. After completing a masters degree, I am sure that I want to do doctoral research. Studying has changed my approach to 'having goals' in the first place. I am more pragmatic about what pleases me, and what I want to get out of life.
2 What you do now and why you do it?
I work in a prison education department. It is an interesting job, I have a lot of responsibility, and the conditions are good.
When I switched to English, I knew that teaching was one of the standard careers for graduates so I got a lot of experience in secondary schools and further-education colleges. I realised I did not like it but the experience was useful. When I did my masters I instinctively looked for more experience of the same, and I got paid work invigilating undergraduate exams, and helped out on a part-time undergraduate degree. This experience working with adults got me the job above.
When my contract ends, the experience in prison will give me a very good reference and make me stand out.
3 What advice you have for freshers, that may awaken them (if they hitherto have not been) to the realities of life after university? Any myths to dispel?
Craghyrax hit the nail on the head with regards to money. You should not really be leaving university with a full overdraft (I did). You should try as far as possible to actually save some of the money you receive, because it will give you options once you have graduated, whether it is for travelling, to subsidise unpaid work experience, or to lower the amount you need to borrow for further studying and training etc., etc..
Most of the other users have covered most of the points I would have mentioned. One point has not been mentioned. I would cultivate a decent relationship with as many of the lecturers as humanely possible. Given the employment situation at the moment, a lot of students will not have part-time jobs whilst at university, which means one of the only referees they can fall back on is a lecturer. If you have been anonymous for three years then do not expect a good reference. But a good relationship with a lecturer lasts. I had lecturers writing references and giving research advice years after I left; one of which was no longer at the same university.
I did a year of a computing degree before switching to English so any career goals I had changed quite quickly. In this sense, the only thing I was sure of mid-way through my English degree was that I wanted to study more. After completing a masters degree, I am sure that I want to do doctoral research. Studying has changed my approach to 'having goals' in the first place. I am more pragmatic about what pleases me, and what I want to get out of life.
2 What you do now and why you do it?
I work in a prison education department. It is an interesting job, I have a lot of responsibility, and the conditions are good.
When I switched to English, I knew that teaching was one of the standard careers for graduates so I got a lot of experience in secondary schools and further-education colleges. I realised I did not like it but the experience was useful. When I did my masters I instinctively looked for more experience of the same, and I got paid work invigilating undergraduate exams, and helped out on a part-time undergraduate degree. This experience working with adults got me the job above.
When my contract ends, the experience in prison will give me a very good reference and make me stand out.
3 What advice you have for freshers, that may awaken them (if they hitherto have not been) to the realities of life after university? Any myths to dispel?
Craghyrax hit the nail on the head with regards to money. You should not really be leaving university with a full overdraft (I did). You should try as far as possible to actually save some of the money you receive, because it will give you options once you have graduated, whether it is for travelling, to subsidise unpaid work experience, or to lower the amount you need to borrow for further studying and training etc., etc..
Most of the other users have covered most of the points I would have mentioned. One point has not been mentioned. I would cultivate a decent relationship with as many of the lecturers as humanely possible. Given the employment situation at the moment, a lot of students will not have part-time jobs whilst at university, which means one of the only referees they can fall back on is a lecturer. If you have been anonymous for three years then do not expect a good reference. But a good relationship with a lecturer lasts. I had lecturers writing references and giving research advice years after I left; one of which was no longer at the same university.
Thank you all.
Original post by Craghyrax
1: I knew I wanted to be involved in doing something that made the world a better place, but I wasn't sure what. I knew I needed a lot of independence in my job someday, so I worked out I needed to specialise and become an expert in something. As a result I was already considering that I might want to do a PhD when I began undergrad, and that affected how I saw things and what I did throughout my degree. During the course of my degree my studies confirmed that I either wanted to become an academic researcher or to do research/consultancy work for an NGO or think tank.
2: I'm now on a PhD in the Social Sciences.
3: It helps to think ahead. Ignore people who say that 'first year doesn't count'. For some things like postgraduate studies, people look at your full academic transcript, and to get funding for postgraduate studies you usually need a first.
Also don't put off investigating job prospects until your final year. So many other students were having kittens in their final year because they had no idea what they wanted to do with their life. Make use of your University careers service, attend careers fairs, look into doing internships in a field you're interested in over your summer holidays (this is another example where it would be good if you didn't have crap grades in your first year) Also get involved in one or two activities or societies that might help your CV. It needn't be dry or boring stuff. Initiating or running your own society or activity is always great for your CV.
Finally, you have a lot more free time and money on an undergraduate degree than you will have again for a long time (I appreciate this isn't true for everyone, but a lot of people have access to very generous bursaries and loans), be sensible with your money and save some in case you need to do an unpaid internship after your degree to get a foot into your chosen career.
Finally a tip for motivation: you might never have worked in a horrible job before, but whenever you struggle to motivate yourself with your studies its always good to think "this is my job, if I wasn't doing this I'd have some other horrible full time job each day to make a living... isn't this so much better?" And that usually puts things into perspective.
1: I knew I wanted to be involved in doing something that made the world a better place, but I wasn't sure what. I knew I needed a lot of independence in my job someday, so I worked out I needed to specialise and become an expert in something. As a result I was already considering that I might want to do a PhD when I began undergrad, and that affected how I saw things and what I did throughout my degree. During the course of my degree my studies confirmed that I either wanted to become an academic researcher or to do research/consultancy work for an NGO or think tank.
2: I'm now on a PhD in the Social Sciences.
3: It helps to think ahead. Ignore people who say that 'first year doesn't count'. For some things like postgraduate studies, people look at your full academic transcript, and to get funding for postgraduate studies you usually need a first.
Also don't put off investigating job prospects until your final year. So many other students were having kittens in their final year because they had no idea what they wanted to do with their life. Make use of your University careers service, attend careers fairs, look into doing internships in a field you're interested in over your summer holidays (this is another example where it would be good if you didn't have crap grades in your first year) Also get involved in one or two activities or societies that might help your CV. It needn't be dry or boring stuff. Initiating or running your own society or activity is always great for your CV.
Finally, you have a lot more free time and money on an undergraduate degree than you will have again for a long time (I appreciate this isn't true for everyone, but a lot of people have access to very generous bursaries and loans), be sensible with your money and save some in case you need to do an unpaid internship after your degree to get a foot into your chosen career.
Finally a tip for motivation: you might never have worked in a horrible job before, but whenever you struggle to motivate yourself with your studies its always good to think "this is my job, if I wasn't doing this I'd have some other horrible full time job each day to make a living... isn't this so much better?" And that usually puts things into perspective.
This helped a lot.
I can relate completely as in my first year I have worked a lot and been derided as 'first year doesn't count', and after a while I gave up trying to tell people I need funding for post-graduate as I come from a very poor family. Whilst I don't think I'll get a first (I have consistent firsts in 3/4 modules, averaging at about 73, but my 4th is dragging me down to 68 ish) I don't regret it at all. I have learned so much more in preparation for the next two years, and instead of jumping through hoops I have read extra on nearly every topic.
This is primarily because I know I want to do at least a masters, maybe a PhD, and go into either research or teaching, so I have to work hard.
I also agree that you need to save. So many are graduating with 'student debt' and 'real debt' and a huge overdraft and no job. I have saved considerably and tried to balance working 2 jobs and study for a first. It's been hard graft but I know it'll pay off.
Original post by Mambo No. 5
to know from graduates:
1) What you wanted to do or be after university and why?
2) What you do now and why you do it?
.....and most importantly.
3) What advice you have for freshers, that may awaken them (if they hitherto
have not been) to the realities of life after university? Any myths to dispel?
1) What you wanted to do or be after university and why?
2) What you do now and why you do it?
.....and most importantly.
3) What advice you have for freshers, that may awaken them (if they hitherto
have not been) to the realities of life after university? Any myths to dispel?
1) I didn't know and I still don't really know (apart from in very general terms, ie become accomplished at something, be autonomous, do something useful/meaningful).
2) I sort of stumbled into Milkround-esque corporate job that I think will be a great experience for a few years, though in some ways I fear it's just more procrastination.
3) -Extra-curricular-wise, getting very involved in one or two things is infinitely preferable to dabbling in everything, both in terms of what you will get out of it and in terms of having something to talk about at job interviews.
-If you don't have a career in mind be open-minded about work experience and internships. Apply for things that sound interesting rather than just things that you think will fast-track you to graduate jobs. I did a fairly quirky internship at the Engineering department at my uni in first year which offered some great talking points for internship applications in 2nd year.
-Don't feel too constrained by the 2nd-year-internship 3rd-year-job conveyor belt. This is a very British idiosyncrasy (a result of hiring practices in investment banks perhaps?), don't feel forced to buy into it. That said, doing something is always better than doing nothing. Don't go home in your first summer and play xBox for 3 months. Travel, volunteer, work, whatever.
(edited 11 years ago)
I'm graduating in about 2 months and I really really want to find a job. I'll do almost anything really. I just want to earn £10,000 or so in a year and then do Masters in the US or Canada. If I don't find a job, I'll be kind of screwed. I don't want to go home because if I do, I'll end up stuck there forever.
My advice is, get some work experience while at uni. Anything, even a restaurant job, or volunteering. It will definitely increase your chances to find a job after you graduate.
My advice is, get some work experience while at uni. Anything, even a restaurant job, or volunteering. It will definitely increase your chances to find a job after you graduate.
Advice to freshers about life after uni:
You will stay young minded and continue to have a social life longer than you may think at uni. Some uni students treat uni as a mad rush to get all their socialising/partying/travelling done at uni because they think if they don't do it now, they will have missed out and will never have the chance again. But don't do this at the expense of working on your degree because the quality of your social life after uni will be in proportion to the quality of job you get. If you get a good job where you will be working with other successful people and being paid a decent salary then there will be lots of opportunities for going out with people in nice bars, restaurants, upmarket clubs, doing short breaks away in interesting parts of the world. My facebook feed from work colleagues now is far more interesting than it was at uni when everyone just went to the same clubs every week and got smashed. However if you don't have a good job then socially things deteriorate after uni, you just end up sat around with other people like yourself complaining about how crap life is, with no money to do anything other than sit in the pub.
One other point on the social side, don't underestimate the importance of working hard to maintain friendships and trying to meet new people. Up till uni, having friends is easy - you're at school/college/uni with loads of other people around you. When you leave uni and either stay in the same place and your friends move away, or relocate to a new city for work yourself, then its different. If you don't make the effort it is easy to become isolated without really knowing it. Your workplace then becomes hugely important in being able to get to know new people.
You will stay young minded and continue to have a social life longer than you may think at uni. Some uni students treat uni as a mad rush to get all their socialising/partying/travelling done at uni because they think if they don't do it now, they will have missed out and will never have the chance again. But don't do this at the expense of working on your degree because the quality of your social life after uni will be in proportion to the quality of job you get. If you get a good job where you will be working with other successful people and being paid a decent salary then there will be lots of opportunities for going out with people in nice bars, restaurants, upmarket clubs, doing short breaks away in interesting parts of the world. My facebook feed from work colleagues now is far more interesting than it was at uni when everyone just went to the same clubs every week and got smashed. However if you don't have a good job then socially things deteriorate after uni, you just end up sat around with other people like yourself complaining about how crap life is, with no money to do anything other than sit in the pub.
One other point on the social side, don't underestimate the importance of working hard to maintain friendships and trying to meet new people. Up till uni, having friends is easy - you're at school/college/uni with loads of other people around you. When you leave uni and either stay in the same place and your friends move away, or relocate to a new city for work yourself, then its different. If you don't make the effort it is easy to become isolated without really knowing it. Your workplace then becomes hugely important in being able to get to know new people.
Original post by MagicNMedicine
Advice to freshers about life after uni:
You will stay young minded and continue to have a social life longer than you may think at uni. Some uni students treat uni as a mad rush to get all their socialising/partying/travelling done at uni because they think if they don't do it now, they will have missed out and will never have the chance again. But don't do this at the expense of working on your degree because the quality of your social life after uni will be in proportion to the quality of job you get. If you get a good job where you will be working with other successful people and being paid a decent salary then there will be lots of opportunities for going out with people in nice bars, restaurants, upmarket clubs, doing short breaks away in interesting parts of the world. My facebook feed from work colleagues now is far more interesting than it was at uni when everyone just went to the same clubs every week and got smashed. However if you don't have a good job then socially things deteriorate after uni, you just end up sat around with other people like yourself complaining about how crap life is, with no money to do anything other than sit in the pub.
One other point on the social side, don't underestimate the importance of working hard to maintain friendships and trying to meet new people. Up till uni, having friends is easy - you're at school/college/uni with loads of other people around you. When you leave uni and either stay in the same place and your friends move away, or relocate to a new city for work yourself, then its different. If you don't make the effort it is easy to become isolated without really knowing it. Your workplace then becomes hugely important in being able to get to know new people.
You will stay young minded and continue to have a social life longer than you may think at uni. Some uni students treat uni as a mad rush to get all their socialising/partying/travelling done at uni because they think if they don't do it now, they will have missed out and will never have the chance again. But don't do this at the expense of working on your degree because the quality of your social life after uni will be in proportion to the quality of job you get. If you get a good job where you will be working with other successful people and being paid a decent salary then there will be lots of opportunities for going out with people in nice bars, restaurants, upmarket clubs, doing short breaks away in interesting parts of the world. My facebook feed from work colleagues now is far more interesting than it was at uni when everyone just went to the same clubs every week and got smashed. However if you don't have a good job then socially things deteriorate after uni, you just end up sat around with other people like yourself complaining about how crap life is, with no money to do anything other than sit in the pub.
One other point on the social side, don't underestimate the importance of working hard to maintain friendships and trying to meet new people. Up till uni, having friends is easy - you're at school/college/uni with loads of other people around you. When you leave uni and either stay in the same place and your friends move away, or relocate to a new city for work yourself, then its different. If you don't make the effort it is easy to become isolated without really knowing it. Your workplace then becomes hugely important in being able to get to know new people.
For what it's worth, I definitely agree with the emboldened text.
Thank you.
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by RabbitCFH
I'm graduating in about 2 months and I really really want to find a job. I'll do almost anything really. I just want to earn £10,000 or so in a year and then do Masters in the US or Canada. If I don't find a job, I'll be kind of screwed. I don't want to go home because if I do, I'll end up stuck there forever.
My advice is, get some work experience while at uni. Anything, even a restaurant job, or volunteering. It will definitely increase your chances to find a job after you graduate.
My advice is, get some work experience while at uni. Anything, even a restaurant job, or volunteering. It will definitely increase your chances to find a job after you graduate.
You'll have to do the GMAT/GRE, won't you? Good luck.
Which types of clubs and societies would you join if you started again (from a general perspective)?
1. I wasn't sure, so I took a degree that meant I didn't really specialise in anything. Halfway through I thought I'd like to do something to do with mentoring or working with young people.
2. I've just finished, have a lovely flat with my boyfriend and am currently just starting part time at Tesco. Before I got the tesco job I was rejected from an awful lot of jobs, both like that and graduate. I think the fact that I have achieved a degree through personal problems, I've met my hopefully future husband and we have our first place together outweighs any rubbish job I might have to do for a bit to make ends meet if I didn't think like that I'd feel a bit let down I spose.
3. I would say start saving money if you know it's going to be a struggle at the end of your course with supporting yourself-also try and do something to get skills you know people will want. Umm...mostly you should enjoy it because the time goes super fast. Finally, think hard about who you move in with if you're sharing a house!
2. I've just finished, have a lovely flat with my boyfriend and am currently just starting part time at Tesco. Before I got the tesco job I was rejected from an awful lot of jobs, both like that and graduate. I think the fact that I have achieved a degree through personal problems, I've met my hopefully future husband and we have our first place together outweighs any rubbish job I might have to do for a bit to make ends meet
if I didn't think like that I'd feel a bit let down I spose.3. I would say start saving money if you know it's going to be a struggle at the end of your course with supporting yourself-also try and do something to get skills you know people will want. Umm...mostly you should enjoy it because the time goes super fast. Finally, think hard about who you move in with if you're sharing a house!
Original post by ziggy320
1. I wasn't sure, so I took a degree that meant I didn't really specialise in anything. Halfway through I thought I'd like to do something to do with mentoring or working with young people.
2. I've just finished, have a lovely flat with my boyfriend and am currently just starting part time at Tesco. Before I got the tesco job I was rejected from an awful lot of jobs, both like that and graduate. I think the fact that I have achieved a degree through personal problems, I've met my hopefully future husband and we have our first place together outweighs any rubbish job I might have to do for a bit to make ends meet if I didn't think like that I'd feel a bit let down I spose.
3. I would say start saving money if you know it's going to be a struggle at the end of your course with supporting yourself-also try and do something to get skills you know people will want. Umm...mostly you should enjoy it because the time goes super fast. Finally, think hard about who you move in with if you're sharing a house!
2. I've just finished, have a lovely flat with my boyfriend and am currently just starting part time at Tesco. Before I got the tesco job I was rejected from an awful lot of jobs, both like that and graduate. I think the fact that I have achieved a degree through personal problems, I've met my hopefully future husband and we have our first place together outweighs any rubbish job I might have to do for a bit to make ends meet
if I didn't think like that I'd feel a bit let down I spose.3. I would say start saving money if you know it's going to be a struggle at the end of your course with supporting yourself-also try and do something to get skills you know people will want. Umm...mostly you should enjoy it because the time goes super fast. Finally, think hard about who you move in with if you're sharing a house!
That's awfully suggestive. Is the house still standing?
Original post by Mambo No. 5
That's awfully suggestive. Is the house still standing?
Just about
Original post by Mambo No. 5
You'll have to do the GMAT/GRE, won't you? Good luck.
Which types of clubs and societies would you join if you started again (from a general perspective)?
Which types of clubs and societies would you join if you started again (from a general perspective)?
American universities require GREs but Canadian don't.
And personally, I don't think i would've joined any societies. I wasn't really interested in any of them.
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