Advice please?

[ahint]

I know there's a tonne of these kinds of threads, but I don't really know what to do.

I picked a useless degree I'm struggling in and I can't financially afford to switch degrees (trust me, I've called student finance, been to several university advisors, done all I can - there is no way I can switch, and if I drop out to do another degree I have to find £9,000 to pay upfront for that year and support myself with no access to benefits or family help, it's just not financially doable). I study Biology and I'm not sure I'm actually capable of coming out with a good grade. The plan was it didn't matter that Biology is useless as I wanted to go into graduate entry medicine, which required a 2.1 in any BSc, which Biology is. Now I'm not sure I can get the grade, and reflecting critically on myself there's no way I could get into medicine (there's about sixty applicants to one place in graduate entry and I'm not being able to get work experience - I've been turned down by over twenty hospitals, it's insanely competitive to get it and most spaces that there are go to high school schemes or people who's friends and family work there). My degree is either causing persistent depression or making it worse. I could probably get into an allied health profession with a 2.1, but again trying for the 2.1 is the issue along with the work experience problem. I was half considering a conversion course to computer science, but I don't know if the job prospects will be anywhere near as good as people who have a BSc in it.

I'm applying for part time work to get experience in anything at all (I have a tonne of voluntary work and have tried playing up the transferable skills from that, but everywhere seems to value paid experience) but without experience everywhere is rejecting me and it's become a vicious cycle. I've asked careers advisor for cover letter and CV help and they've said mine is great, they wouldn't know what to recommend to improve it and it's just luck.

Just... What do I do? An enjoyable career would be great, but all I'm wanting is something that's stable and that I can get into, seeing all my friends try and fail to find jobs along with my own unsuccessful job hunt has made me so terrified of the job market. Has anyone succeeded getting a good grade in a degree they loathed? Are there any careers in demand that I could train in? What can I do to make myself more employable?

 

[BrassEye]

Hey i'm not sure if I can be much help to you. But i'm here and I care to listen

I measure life in happiness, not money.


How can you make yourself more employable?..

Well... most efficiently...Be completely unconventional. Stand out.
Look at what everyone else is doing, then do something else.
Don't overthink.. Make a CV on bright fluorescent pink card.
Scrap the CV, record a video CV and burn it to a DVD.

When you get to interview, ask tons of questions.
Tell yourself in the back of your mind that the job is yours already.. you're just there to case the joint

Best of luck

 

[BrassEye]

This might cheer you up.

I uploaded a better quality version a while back, but it was taken down



edit.. One more thing, write any cover letters by HAND.
Seriously, such a small thing but.. think about it.. no one throws away a handwritten letter without reading it -all.

 

[Pretty_Diamonds]

You just might wanna try less desirable positions but still in the same general field. Try to broaden your search. Even if it may not be what you want to do; you'll need to probably start at the bottom-bottom. Also, think of people you would want to be around that may be able to be a stepping stone for your next job. You really only need to work at a place for 3-6 months for good experience.

 

[ahint]

Thanks for the advice. For part time work (I'm currently in university, my full time career is a few years away), I'm currently applying for minimum wage work in all the areas I can think of.

 

[-=SS=-]

First thing is, don't beat yourself up about the job market. Beat up a politician. No seriously.. our generation has been absolutely betrayed and yet we're taking this ass-fucking by getting disheartened, depressed, and just accepting whatever leftover scraps we can get from our parents generation. It is absolutely disgusting and young people should be so much more angry than they are. So, don't beat yourself up about the job market. It fucking sucks ass because people older than you fucked up this country royally.

Stable career? Teaching, firefighter, policeman, we'll always need those. Everything else has become massively unstable. Again, we've been shafted on that front too. A lot of jobs are likely to disappear through automation and increasing computer technology in the near future too. It's ridiculous. This is not how I envisioned things would be back when I was 12 (I'm 28, from London).

I got a 2:1 in Landscape Architecture. There's things I like about it, and things I really loathe about it.. like just how corporate the whole thing is, how sustainability is monetary buzzword, and like architecture it tends to focus on making things for the cities and rich people/corporations. And yet I'm doing an MA in it and hoping to get into it career wise. Chances are I'll be out on my ass at age 50 with a piss poor pension that I'll have to wait until 75 to claim, by which time I'll most likely be dead. Fucking bullshit. But what else is there? It's all a fucking crap shoot..

In demand careers? Well.. I hear lots of cries about STEM degrees but that's a load of bullshit too. Just as much competition and too few jobs in those fields as any other career, in fact it is more competitive thanks to globalization. Fact of the matter is we're in really bad shape as a nation, in Europe, and everywhere really.. that's just how it is. Like I said, it's a crap shoot.


I wish I could offer you something more positive than that. My advice to you would be to lower your expectations about what this country can offer you in the next 50 years of your life and adjust accordingly. Marriage, family, home ownership.. I dreamed about all of those.. I'll be damned if I'm going to do those now, not until our government pulls its thumb out of its arse. Fuck it. We've been systematically betrayed on so many levels and yet asked to pick up the tab? Fuck that.

 

[ahint]

Thanks -=SS=-, that was strangely comforting. Fingers crossed whatever happens career wise I'll always be able to eat (although who knows, a few of my friends are couch surfing homeless - benefits should technically cover everything but a lot of my friends are getting unnecessarily screwed around with it), it'd help not to put my self esteem in my work and find other things to make living valuable.

Thinking about it nursing is probably a good idea, and there's a few conversion courses I could get onto if I complete my degree that might be promising. Even though I'm not fond of my degree, anything is interesting if you approach it the right way, I just have to find the interest in biology, hopefully if I get into it I can get the 2.1.

 

[-=SS=-]

Thanks -=SS=-, that was strangely comforting. Fingers crossed whatever happens career wise I'll always be able to eat (although who knows, a few of my friends are couch surfing homeless - benefits should technically cover everything but a lot of my friends are getting unnecessarily screwed around with it), it'd help not to put my self esteem in my work and find other things to make living valuable.

Sorry if it was overly bitter, was having a bad day haha! But the jist of what I said is true. The part I highlighted.. this is an issue in itself. If you're working for peanuts with no hope of advancing it begins to grind on your spirit very quickly. We need to feel valued and contributing to society, but it doesn't feel that way in most dead end jobs. A certain level of income does really help one feel better.. means you can do a lot more. And no one enjoys it when you constantly bum cigarettes/joints/beers because you're a pauper lol.

All the best in your journey my friend.

 

[Tude]

This is a silly question, but have you asked friends and family members to help in your search? They might know somewhere hiring and put in a good word for you.

 

[ahint]

My family is either unemployed or accountants, I could definitely try asking for easy enough office work that comes up from the accountant side. My friends are all students or unemployed, except one that I could definitely ask for work experience from a friend who runs a web design business. Thanks, I'm going to do that.

 

[Tude]

Good luck!