unemployed after graduating, how to cope

[j]

graduated last christmas
been unemployed for 6 months now
how do i cope?
i feel jaded and demoralised. applications i do now are never good because of tiredness of having to cope with my current state. yet i have no money for holiday and am unhappy where i'm living at right now?
help

[box_of_delights]

Quoting j from 16:44, 4th Jun 2007
graduated last christmas
been unemployed for 6 months now
how do i cope?
i feel jaded and demoralised. applications i do now are never good because of tiredness of having to cope with my current state. yet i have no money for holiday and am unhappy where i'm living at right now?
help

I don't want to sound harsh but there are *always* jobs of some description around. I could walk into any number of places and be employed like *that* (and indeed have done) but I don't necessarily need to do that this summer, but I will just to keep me occupied. And no, I don't live in a city, not even a town, but a rural village. I'm fortunate to be able to drive to work in nearby seaside resorts, but if I couldn't there would be ways and means around it.

It might not be the ideal job, but I would be very, very surprised if there wasn't a pub, supermarket or restaurant looking for people, especially with summer coming up. It might not be "the grad job" you want, but they rarely are. At the end of the day it'll be £6 an hour more in your pocket than you've got now and will keep you busy.

Nothing will look worse on a job application than six months sat on your arse cos you were "too tired". Sorry to be blunt but if you want a job you've only got to scratch the surface very lightly to find loads.

[hr]

http://standrews.facebook.com/profile.php?id=37101440

[Raindog]

"Too tired" Get of yer arse and get a job, bloody hippy.

[Don]

Keep in mind that as a graduate from St Andrews you still have access to the resources of the Careers Centre, and are able to contact advisers, either by email, phone or by appointment.

[hr]

Daz, makes your whites #gggggg

[Idealist]

I agree with box_of_delights. Just because you have degree does not mean that you are too good for an everyday job in shop, pub or restaurant. It will get you into the routine of working, you will earn some cash and it will keep you motivated to look for a job relavant to your degree.

A friend of mine graduated in accountancy last June, and spent 6 months working in a department store before he found a job in accountancy.

Don't lose morale!

[hr]

[s]"You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time"[/s]

[munchingfoo]

ditto - it takes a long time to find a job at a suitable degree level. Not working in the mean time will only prolong the length of the unemployment.

[hr]

Tired Freudian references aside - your mother played my mighty skin flute like a surf crowned sea nymph trying to rouse Poseidon from his watery slumber!

[Raindog]

Quoting Idealist from 22:42, 5th Jun 2007
I agree with box_of_delights. Just because you have degree does not mean that you are too good for an everyday job in shop, pub or restaurant. It will get you into the routine of working, you will earn some cash and it will keep you motivated to look for a job relavant to your degree.

A friend of mine graduated in accountancy last June, and spent 6 months working in a department store before he found a job in accountancy.

Don't lose morale!

Being an accountant would cause the loss of morale.

[s]"You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time"[/s]

[Garnet]

why not try something like projectscotland, or other volunteer work, which aims to give you experience in the area you want to work in, it will be good experience for your CV, plus you can get £55 per week if you do a placement through projectscotland and are under 26

[hr]

so alive, so full of fire and music!

[harmless loony]

Or if you're in England try applying for the Princes' Trust scheme which gives you quite a bit of experience in project management and is sure to look good on your CV. Go on to their website and register your details and someone will ring u back.

If i remember rightly you're the same J that posted on a thread on the main board about not having a job. I gave you some practical advice back then - did you follow any of it?

[box_of_delights]

Also, have a look at CSV (Community Service Volunteers). I worked with them during my gap year before St Andrews looking after a disabled guy. You can do anything between three months and a year I think and your expenses are paid so you're not out of pocket.

As others have noted, nothing looks better on a CV than doing work for something or someone else's benefit.

[Bizarre Atheist]

Go to a recruitment agency. I went to my local branch of Brook Street last Tuesday afternoon and was working on Tuesday evening as a result. By Thursday I'll have made £303.35 for effectively just 6 days' work.

Then decide what your absolute dream job would be and go after it in some way or another. Even if it's getting on the bottom rung making tea in a local govt office because you want to be in MI5. Unless you want to be a Blue Peter presenter, Prime Minister or Timelord, because I'm going to be all of those so there.

[hr]

http://www.charities-campaign.org.uk

[j]

still unemployed. 9 months going now. my situation next to hopeless - i graduated last christmas, quit my old job to get a 'real job'. started this in jan. got rejections because of lack of experience etc. then my jsa was stopped in feb because i forgot to sign on. went through the next 6 months without any dole money, applying for jobs, getting rejected, and on a bad day i'd call up the employers and give them a piece of my mind, all the while my relationship with my folks and later the whole family deterioates, we now simply don't get along and sometimes arguments quickly escalates to violence and worse..i have also lost my best friends, now i got noone, and to be branded 'unemployed' in the streets would guarantee you a beating as people will bitch on about us sucking up their tax money when my jsa was stopped. i was forced to live homeless for 4 days (around my birthday period and all..so that should answer some peoples question as to how my bday was and why i werent here), during which i badly wanted to commit suicide but someone brought me in to the hospital and sent me back home as they found info in my empty wallet. i've lost complete confidence in myself, i have anxiety disorders, along with periods of depression, insanity, suicidal and at times even murderous tendencies (to my best friends who've abandoned me), all the while when trying to get work so many months after, people are not interested in taking you on because ive done nothing in the past few months. in most job app questionnaires they ask you this - sometimes i am tempted to make up lies so i can get ahead, but i know this is illegal and i'll be found out and thrown in jail.

alot of use my degree has done me. instead of acting as the so-called 'ticket to freedom', its become my 'ticket to hell'. i'm going to write to my 'prestigious' university and tell them the truth about graduating with a general arts degree, and how its no different from tissue paper you can use to wipe your arse with and piss on. university and college is nothing but a f**king lie.

[getting on with life now.]

Quoting j from 12:37, 17th Sep 2007[/
alot of use my degree has done me. instead of acting as the so-called 'ticket to freedom', its become my 'ticket to hell'. i'm going to write to my 'prestigious' university and tell them the truth about graduating with a general arts degree, and how its no different from tissue paper you can use to wipe your arse with and piss on. university and college is nothing but a f**king lie.

Mate, grow up. There are loads of people who struggle to get a job after university. My degree was no use to me in getting my job.

First of all take a "crap" job while you look for what you call a "real" job. There is no shame in stacking shelves, working in a warehouse, data entry, macdonalds, cleaning or working in bar. It looks ten times better on a CV than doing nothing at all, you will have more cash and more self respect. Don't act like you are better than anyone else, you aren't so get used to it. Don't act like a moody git either, you should be grateful for any kind of job.

When you sort your attitude out you might get what you call a "real" job. At the moment you come across as self pitying and whining whilst somehow believing you deserve a "real" job. Your situation is your problem not anybody elses.

As my dad told me when I graduated: "you know nothing about nothing and I wouldn't pay you in washers". - And my dad was a 100% right, I didn't believe it or like it at the time either. Get over yourself.

[Jam-bo]

[quote]As my dad told me when I graduated: "you know nothing about nothing and I wouldn't pay you in washers". [quote]

Surely that is obvious as there is nothing to know about nothing as nothing doesn't exist.

So what did you know about things other than nothing?

[Senethro]

Sorry to be a cunt but the words I focused in on here were General Arts degree. You should seriously have taken any student/shitty job going until something better came along because with 50% of hte population getting degrees you've still got plenty of competition.

[Black Rose]

Ok, as this is on the advice page this is my advice: You have a general arts degree from St Andrews - this is not a direct passage to any managment job. I'm Sorry. What you need to gain is some experience. Either walk into the nearest bar or hotel and hand in a CV or apply to the council, or tesco or a construction site, it might be fun. By the sound it you need what ever is going, and then when next year comes round again apply for another course, or apply to the open university any time of the year. If you are rellying on qualifications to get you a job you will need more. And go to the doctors, those sorts of tendancies mean something ain't right, it could be something as simply as not enough nutrients etc or actual depression, either way they can help.

[fluffy]

I, personally, am sorry that the online community has not treated you with a little more sympathy towards your current mental state. I'm sorry that you're feeling how you're feeling, and urge you to speak to someone about it. A doctor can refer you to a psychiatrist, which will really help you to come to terms with your murderous, suicidal, insanity tendancies..

In the mean time, I know how hard it is to find a job you really want post graduation - my boyfriend suffered from this incredibly, and felt no choice but to return to his native country to seek employment. It may be a case of taking the best job available to you at this period of time, and then in the mean time keep searching for that one which is right for you. But being unemployed for so long will do you worse than being in a job that you don't particularly enjoy whilst you're searching for that "right" one.

Your relationship with your family is important. They care for you and are concerned about your prolonged unemployment and your current mental state. Please try to rebuild things with them, they're just trying to look out for you, even though it may not particularly seem like this at the time.
Violence is never acceptable, especially when we are talking about violence in a family relationship.

I'm sorry everyone else appears to have been so unsympathetic to you, but please don't fall any lower - seek help, and take the best job available to you until you are able to find the one you are really looking for.

I believe in you.

[hr]

dev ksereis, alla eimai trella erotebmevei mazi sou..

[Raindog]

You can get into a teaching training course with a general arts degree or post grad IT in st andrews, which would make you very employable as people are crying out for IT literate folk.

[j]

No. You get over yourself. I don't care what your old withering man says. I didn't spend five years and 16 grand just to toss burgers in McDonalds you patronizing prick.

[b]Quoting getting on with life now. from 21:13,
As my dad told me when I graduated: "you know nothing about nothing and I wouldn't pay you in washers". - And my dad was a 100% right, I didn't believe it or like it at the time either. Get over yourself.

[Okocim]

Quoting j from 17:09, 9th Oct 2007
No. You get over yourself. I don't care what your old withering man says. I didn't spend five years and 16 grand just to toss burgers in McDonalds you patronizing prick.

You didn't spend five years and 16 grand just to be unemployed either I bet.

Whilst I wouldn't put it in quite so blunt terms as an earlier poster did, it is very true that having a degree without experience will not be enough to get you into the vast majority of 'proper jobs'.

It's frustrating but true. When I graduated in 2003 I was lucky enough to get onto a graduate trainee program for a major UK retailer. However even then I had to adjust my expectations somewhat immediately and spent (it feels like) the majority of my first year in the job stacking shelves and sitting on a checkout. It was only through such experience that I learnt the business, gained respect from my more experienced colleagues, and picked up valuable retail skills which I needed in later positions which involved leadership.

The point I'm trying to make is that having a degree shows you have a brain, but not a huge amount else (unless you spent tons of time building soft skills like communication and leadership through extra-curricular activities). You may need to start from the bottom of the career ladder in order to raise yourself up.

So far in this thread I don't think you've mentioned what kind of job it you're looking for. If you don't know, then decide something quickly, even if you're not 100% sure if it's for you. It's much easier to change an existing career direction than start one fom scratch. Then look at the requirements for those type of roles and think how you can get them. For example, jobs that you like may require 'experience of the financial services industry'. Right then - get yourself off to a local bank or financial call centre and get that experience, even if you have to work at the bottom level. If you work hard and learn lots, then you will be able to progress to greater things in the future.

Ultimately you may need further qualifications to get higher up the ladder. I just finished an MSc in Human Resource Management for example and received funding from SAAS in order to do it. But likewise, you can improve your skills through simple application of time and effort. I'm just finishing a three week period of unemployment (starting a Recruitment Manager role on Monday) and have used that time to learn touch typing and to practice more advanced functions of Microsoft Office than I've used in the past.

I'm trying not to be patronising here but what happens in your life from now onwards is really up to you. You've have tons of suggestions throughout this thread, but they're all useless if you don't give them a try.

Lastly, I understand that you're going through a very stressful period, but giving recruiters (like myself!) a 'piece of your mind' is not going to help matters at all. We're just there to find the best people for our positions. You have no automatic right to our approval - you'll have to earn through a good cv, a good interview and a mature attitude.