Unfortunately, there is another problem. I've got to get a job. Which, it turns out, isn't as easy as the university made it out to be. For some reason, the most severe, two stage economic downturn since the Great Depression has reduced the demand for medievalists. I read in the paper the other day that there are 66 graduates chasing every retail shopfloor job. God only knows how many are chasing graduate level jobs. Experience is now apparently far more valuable than the pieces of paper which gave the skills apparently needed for a job. Experience which I haven't got, having been too busy being educated.
And then there are the rumours. The rumours that job centres are starting to tell those of us who have more than one degree to quietly leave their MA off their CV, because it'll hurt our chances of getting a job.
Perhaps understandably, I'm more than a little bit cross about this. But it's ok, because I'm not alone. If you're looking for empathy, sympathy, or maybe an excuse to laugh at the overeducated and underprepared, then this might be your cup of tea:
I have total sympathy with you Kieran, I have been in the same position in the last couple of months, and I spent a lot of time last year gaining valuable work experience, most of it for nothing and now I am told the best chance of a job might be to do an internship where I still get paid nothing in the hope that they might employ me afterwards. At least I have only just started getting interviews, which is at least a positive sign. I think at the end of the day it is all about contacts...are you on LinkedIn. There you put a profile with all your skills and experiences and you can make contacts. If you join lots of groups around areas you are interested in or might want to go in, then you can meet people in the sector and find out information about it, you might get a job from it! I got work experience from a LinkedIn contact a few months back, and while no one has given me a job yet, I have got lots of valuable advice and sector information from it, and if you get people to recommend you and endorse your skills then there is a possibility of you getting head hunted. Also, I recently went to a grad fair with thousands of other people for about 50 employers. The most valuable thing I took away from it was a talk on social media where I was told that 85% of employers check out their candidates before they even offer you an interview, and that 90% said that they rejected someone on something they saw on a social media site or they googled them and nothing came up. The conclusion of the report was that having no internet presence was worse than being googled and a photo of you drunk on a pavememnt somewhere coming up.
ReplyDeleteNot that i am implying you have ever been drunk, Kieran
Delete