It’s nearly the end of October, a chill is in the air and the thought of my first dissertation hand in has left a bitter taste in my mouth. Final year students are 90% cortisol and like a broken record, circulate the same few sentences every 30 seconds. “So what are your plans for next year?”, “Did you get that telephone interview?” or my most favourable “Do you know anyone who can sit my numerical test for me?”.
A sin I’m guilty of myself, the irresistible urge to interrogate everyone I come into contact with about their aspirations and how they will achieve these, has become my go to conversation starter. The truth is, my next door neighbour’s dog probably has a better idea about my stagnant career trajectory than I do.
My mailbox is inundated with emails regarding the various careers fairs and interview skills workshops that should help guide me on the road to success. My mission emerged with ambition, full of hope and fervour, attending events from Law to HR, I most certainly put a solid shift in. But my enthusiasm has waned and I will be the first to admit to my mistakes.
Blacklisted from booking any future workshops for the next 30 days, quite a severe penalty for missing one (I’m sure life changing) workshop, my progress is on the rocks. Unfortunately not the sort that is accompanied with martini, think more the White Cliffs of Dover. After all, who really needs a CV writing workshop? Oh, right, well yes. I probably do.
Every morning, over a warm brew, I tell my housemates with enthusiasm about my new career venture. From law, political broadcasting, journalism, PR and HR, my housemates thought they had heard it all until I professed that my purpose in life had finally been actualised: “I’m destined to work in the police”. For anyone who knows me, you can imagine the response. PC Humphrey won’t be reporting for duty any time soon. I’m glad that if anything, I provided entertainment that morning.
Call me Myers-Briggs because I’ve morphed into a human personality assessment. Unless I want to fully self sabotage, I should probably stop slipping “So, if you had to pick one, what would you say is my most defining attribute” into conversations in Motion smoking area. Or, I should just stop spending prolonged periods of time in Motion. Either way, it’s not going well.
No, I haven’t applied for any grad schemes yet. Yes, I am I still blacklisted from My Careers. Stop asking me, ok.
With a gap year and a year abroad under my belt, I have no excuse to search the corners of the globe to find my sense of compos mentis. Traipsing through vineyards or creating art on the streets of Italy (horrible idea) in the hope of producing my magnum opus just isn’t an option. I can’t keep holding on to the slither of hope that my latest anecdote will secure me a book deal.
It’s a tough time deciding what you want to do after university, like asking someone to choose between Dominoes or Taka Taka. No one can decide for you, you’ve just got to try things out, or so I’m told. Cancelling out the things you definitely don’t want to do is a start. But the key thing to take away is, there is no rush. It might seem like Henry’s graduate job at Goldman Sachs will secure you a life of wealth and happiness. Wealth yes but happiness no. Sorry Henry. Don’t feel rushed or pressured into finding the perfect career path, you aren’t expected to conquer the world at 21.
Take your time and see every job as a step in the right direction, training that will prepare you in the next stage of your life. The goal posts are always moving for ambitious people, you don’t need to set them sky high to begin with.