[Hermione_moo]

You haven't all, just given up, temporarily anyway.

As an employer my advice to you is go do some volunteering and get some experience that way. We LOVE seeing this on a C.V even if you have no paid experience, employers are not blind, we know how tough it is out there to get a job, but showing initiative is priceless. Let the people who you volunteer for, you are doing it for work experience, they don't mind as they are getting something from you for free, a kind of 'you scratch my back, I will scratch yours' but this way they tend to offer you a wider range of experiences.

As for your degree, congrats, even if it isn't what you love, you showed intelligence and commitment, something that I want from my employees. If you are worried about it, do a profession qualification or a university Dip in th subject you want to do, that is all you need.

As for not knowing what you want to do, most of the interesting people I know still don't know what they want to do in their 30's and 40's. You are far from alone.

I am 28 and so far my C.V looks a bit like this;
Aged 14 worked in pet shop
Aged 16 worked as waitress in hotel
Aged 17 funeral directing (I am still doing ths now as extra hours when needed)
Aged 20 worked at blockbuster (made duty manager aged 22)
Aged 25 worked in finance as an account manager
Aged 27 social care, now managing a project for disabled children.

So like you, I took me a loooong time to figure out where I wanted to be, but now I found it and start my social work training in October and finish my Socal science degree with the OU next year.

Life isn't easy, so much choice and many paths, it's hard to know where to start, but start somewhere and you find it leads to other things and you will find you stumble across what your looking for, usually unexpectedly.

Good luck xx

[jim100]

Our experiences are similar in some ways - I too was horribly bullied by my flat mate at university. It left me devastated - unfortunately its always us quiet ones or do gooders that get bullied. I felt inadequate socially and academically as well and hence made zero friends. It still hurts a lot.

You are still young and seem to have not recovered from your experience. I think you are depressed and require help. Best to sort yourself out before you get into work. Getting a job as a graduate as you know is extremely difficult so further education maybe a good option

I never really started my career until 30 so wouldnt worry. You have plenty of time but question is how to get on the career ladder and something that you will enjoy and feel motivated.

I have to admire your resilence in completing your degree despite the bullying - many people would have dropped out.

[IRL]

(Original post by nienie)
A little backstory is necessary here;

I am 21 and about to (hopefully) graduate at Manchester University with a History degree. I found that History was not the subject for me by the end of my first year of university, but I thought it was mostly because I had a terrible time in halls and was bullied by my flatmates so I continued through to second year. My second year went much better, but I discovered I have no interest in History at all. In actual fact, I have no interest in anything at all, nothing sparks anything in me beyond a casual like or dislike and I have thought about doing almost every kind of job imaginable in the past.

I'm the same. Or at least, very little interest, things I am interested in are virtually impossible to turn into a job.

I have no work experience, I felt I never needed the money and it wasn't until this year that I realised that experience is so important to the process of finding work. I also spent most of my time at university struggling to even speak to people and therefore did not do any extra curricular activities. So at this point I have nothing to write on a CV, so applying for any job seems like a pointless endeavour. I am also terrified of interviews in general, the first and only job I have ever applied for, when I was 16, left me feeling rejected and useless after they told me I did not get the job.

Experience is paramount.

I would consider lying on your CV. Just say you were in the football team or something, did the Duke of Edinburgh award at scool and served on some kind of committee at University, these things are never checked.

Interviews are ****, I agree on that, that's why I always get jobs with people I know, no interview, immediate start.

My main interests are in computers and Art, both of which would require further study and going back to college, something that I can only dream of being able to afford. At this point it seems like all my plans for an enjoyable future where I can actually afford to do the things I enjoy, such as travel, are slipping away. All of this stress because I merely picked the wrong subjects to study way back at A Level and chose the wrong degree.

My worries over this situation are constantly plaguing me and I feel like its hopeless to even think of having a career or even a stable job.

A career is a job that's gone on too long. Affording to travel doesn't take much, I know plenty of supermarket assistants who have worked for a while then gone off around the world for a considerable amount of time.

At this point I am here to ask what your advice to me would be? I feel like I am at the end of my rope and its starting to affect my health.
What should I do next?
Please only give answers that are actually useful as telling me that I should not have made the choices I did is not going to help me now.

I would just pick an "easy" job you know you can even if it is minimum wage, save as much as possible from it, it may lead to a better job, it may not, but it's a start and it is some experience.

You sound like you're not very confident, but that all comes with time and generally not giving a **** about anything. Just be laid back about it all - there's really no reason to worry about things if you've got a roof over your head and food on the table every day, so just chill the **** out.

If you're desperate for cash, just go on benefits, it's better than nothing and you can just live on it if you can move in somewhere rent free, with a friend or parents.