Metropol

My degree result: a 2.2 in English and American Literature. Don't feel bothered though, just sort of "meh", for want of a better word. Perhaps it's because pretty much everybody else I know got firsts or 2.1s, or perhaps I know I could've done better, but mostly I think it's just that I don't really care that much. 3 years of my life has gone, studying a subject which I thought would be fascinating but ultimately wasn't, and not socialising enough. I know that's my own fault though, so I guess I shouldn't complain about it, yet after 2 and a bit years, I think I realised it was too late to socialise, or that I just didn't want to bother because the whole uni experience alienated me somewhat. I don't know.

So what are you going to do now then?

marksi wrote:So what are you going to do now then?

No idea. All I'm doing is sending off CVs to companies involved in either the media or advertising and hoping I get something there. I've got a summer job at Boots, but that won't last forever.

I'm totally stumped as to Uni at the moment. Everyone says that I should go, but everyone who's been says its rubbish. And apparently, it hardly helps your job prospects.

I'd be looking it doing politics or history, and becoming a journalist with the BBC. But is there much point, when a lot of the high flyers in the media started off as school dropouts on hospital radio?

Oh, and congratulations by the way (':

math-yoooo wrote:I'd be looking it doing politics or history, and becoming a journalist with the BBC. But is there much point, when a lot of the high flyers in the media started off as school dropouts on hospital radio?

Wouldn't you stand a far better chance if you study your politics or history, join the uni radio station, write for the uni newspaper and join a politics, history or any other kind of society? Perhaps in the meantime get some experience at a local radio station or newspaper? And when you're free have a good time meeting more people than you'll ever meet again? That will look slightly better on your CV than being a dropout and saying "gisajob BBC".

People considering or at uni need to bear in mind two main things:

Firstly, The fun and success that many EXPECT doesn't just happen, what you get out is what you put in. Make the most of every moment. If you don't have a good first term, you have time to try again the next term, and the term after that, and the term after that - BUT, as the weeks go on, it gets harder, before you know it you're about to graduate and the regrets start to accumulate.

Secondly, don't expect to walk out of uni into a £30,000 job you love. The reason many people get disillusioned is because they don't realise uni is just a help on to the ladder, not a lift to the top of it. It's a bloody great shock when the week after your final exam you're sitting watching This Morning wondering what the hell to do now.

I graduated in 2006. After that I spent three miserable months temping, surrounded by a bunch of cretins. I then had a dodgy job doing customer service for an insurance company starting on £12,000. Then a slightly better job at a telecoms company starting on £15,000 and ending up at £20,500. Then a more enjoyable, more responsible job at the same company. In between the jobs and in my holidays I did a fair amount of travelling. Without any of that three year experience, I would not have been invited to the interview that got me a job on a well known broadcaster's grad scheme. Without the uni, I could still be explaining to customers why European travel insurance policies do not cover the Canada.

Moral of the story: Don't think uni guarantees your wishes, but don't underestimate it either. And once you've graduated, take your time - uni might not sort you out straight away but it will always be there in the background.