What am I supposed to do with this degree thing? Paper hat?

lady_fuschia

Hiya,
Just wondering if anybody here had any tips they could share. I graduated from uni with a 2:2 in English and politics almost four years ago and since then I've done a mixture of adminny/ waitressy type jobs- nothing that's really a "proper grad job" - partly because I didn't know what I wanted to do, partly because I felt like my 2:2 scuppered my chances so didn't really have the confidence to apply for anything.
I'm now in the second year of doing my part time MA in Creative Writing alongside fulltime secretarial work. If I'm honest, the work is starting to bore me to tears and the pay (£14,000 per annum), although enough to live off, is nothing to shout about when I still have £4000 debt to clear (not including student loan)
But until I finish the MA I'm stuck in the immediate area (I don't drive either), and even once that's over, I just don't see a path to getting a proper career, as opposed to just earning money to live off. I have a crap degree, a mickey-mouse subject MA and no experience. I feel like I'll be taking dictation for the rest of my life!
I did go for a careers interview at my uni, but frankly they were useless. Just asked me what I wanted to do (something involving arts or literature- not sure) and said "Well yes, that sounds good then" and gave me a really useless booklet!
I have done a bit of voluntary work to try and increase my experience- but relevant stuff doesn't come up very often.
So I guess(apart from moaning) the question is- does anyone know a place where I can get quality careers advice about different options available, advice on how to get into the industry, work experience listings, training suggestions - stuff like that? Something that actually suggests practical steps I can take towards making my degree actually worth something.

studentphil

Keep cheerful that helps. I can understand how it takes it out of you worrying and negative thoughts. I think the key thing you need to do is get a general idea of where you want to go and then make a list of all the good things about you and the good skills you have. That should cheer you up to start with.

Shmo

Don't have any real advice, mainly because I'm in a similar position with a degree in Advanced Muppetry and also unable to drive. Much respect to you for having the willpower to do a part-time masters alongside full-time work though. Is there much opportunity for doing a PhD in your field? That's what I'm doing now and it's not great money but I like the relative freedom of hours (although the potential for slacking is difficult to control).

Also taking driving lessons but I swear my instructor is just planning on milking me for money as long as possible.

BargainHunterCat

Try not to worry too much about it. You'll find a lot of people in the work place end up in jobs that don't really have much to do with their degree, but the skills you learned on your degree course such as study and assimilation of data will hold you in good stead for the future.
Also, you will find that prospective employers put a high value on actual experience in the work place, so well done for sticking to your job no matter how boring it may seem, it will look good on your CV that you were able to hold a stable job albeit only a stop gap!
Once you get a bit more confident in the work place in general, you'll find you can sell yourself better in invterviews. You will find your dream job eventually, and in the meantime we have a decent bus service in this country!
Chin up!:A

Ianna

Shmo wrote: »

Don't have any real advice, mainly because I'm in a similar position with a degree in Advanced Muppetry and also unable to drive.

Advanced Muppetry eh? Mine's in plaigirism and developing a superiority complex.

Lady_fuscia, if it makes you feel better an awful lot of people are stuck with a worthless degree. The usefulness of all degrees is the great lie of our generation. You're not the only one in this situation and with University figures rising and rising you won't be the last.

BigBouncyBall

Hi, not much advice to give i'm afraid but just wanted to say i'm going to be in a similar spot in the next year or two. A 2.2 is not a bad degree, especially in English & Politics (mine will be in maths) and there are plenty of places (especially out of london) that will be happy to take on someone like you. Civil service jobs 'require' a 2.2 and with politics on your CV there will be plenty of op's there. An MA in creative writing will get your foot in the door as a copywriter in an advertising agency or marketing etc. Ok maybe not the really big firms with the big salarys but theres a hell of a lot more to life than money and jobs. Chin up and finish your MA!

Katmc2k

Ianna wrote: »

Lady_fuscia, if it makes you feel better an awful lot of people are stuck with a worthless degree. The usefulness of all degrees is the great lie of our generation. You're not the only one in this situation and with University figures rising and rising you won't be the last.

wow, thats pretty negative...? why would that make her, or anyone, feel better?

anyway i was going to say a degree opens doors, but you really need to push them! (such a cliche )

sit down and think hard about what you want to do and what areas you are interested in. if it is creative writing then, yeah, maybe you will have to have a job until the first novel is published and sells millions! but there is the theatre, journalism and the media, being part of a marketing team (think press releases etc) critical writing, teaching, writing therapy and so on. and maybe try to get published? i know a women who is very established writing short stories for teenage magazines and this was just through hundreds of attempts until she eventually managed to get there. she just sent them in again and again until they published one, then another and so on...

my brother and my OH both ended up with 2.2's (too much partying me thinks) which they weren't too happy about at the time but they are both incredibly successful now, which always gave me great hope for my future! they were just a bit more creative about getting work experience.

no degree is worthless, even if it doesn't lead directly to a job you will probably have learned a lot more than you think you did. and its one of life's experiences that should be enjoyed! in fact i'm off to enjoy it just now... :rolleyes:

Ianna

Katmc2k wrote: »

wow, thats pretty negative...? why would that make her, or anyone, feel better?

People often feel better knowing that they're not alone and that there's nothing wrong with them. I don't think it's in her interests to lie or to cut and paste the usual bilge about the glory of degrees especially when it's clear from her post that she's heard it umpteen times before. But if it makes you feel better:

OMIGOD you've got a degree that is like sooooo awesome!!11!!!11!!!11!!!!1 My friend just like tried REALLY HARD and stuff and she got work!!!1!!!!! and then like, my relatives got like, passes and stuff and then like they've got really good jobs now!!!1!!!!! no degree is worthless and three years partying is SO GOOD for your CV!!!11!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There's fairies at the bottom of the garden and they're only able to do spells and stuff cos they've got DEGREES!!!!!1!!!!1!!!!!!1!!!!!

studentphil

If you went to a good university then that will helps a lot too.

An MA really overwrites a 2.2 anyway. You are as good now as anyone with a 1st in jobs market.

[Deleted User]

Sorry, phil, i'm gonna be a realist here

Your MA will only -overwrite your Desmond if you have the confidence to use it and the direction to apply it.

This poor girl doesn't sound like she knows what to do in life and this is what will cause the biggest problem. If you aren't focused on something, you aren't ever going to apply for the right jobs.

Does she want to edit magazines? Does she want to be an author? Does she want to write documentation? Does she want to do PR/Media? All I can see is that she wants to write.

Personally, I think an MA in Creative writing sounds a bit like an MA in Advanced muppetry. It's what I imagine my mum doing because she's bored and wants to do a part time course. I'm sure that people in 'creative writing' jobs count practical experience (no, packing shelves in tescos doesn't count) before qualifications.

Have you written any articles before? Have you tried submitting anything to a magazine? Do you write an interesting blog? Ever written a press release?

lady_fuschia

Hi everyone, thanks for all the replies that appeared whilst I was off line!
You're right - I am getting a bit sick of hearing the tired old spiel about "transferrable skills" and how much respect employers have for degrees (degrees, degrees any degrees!) when it's not quite like that. It's not like I see the degree as worthless or anything, I'm glad I did it, it's more a case of not really knowing how to back it up in a way that looks something like a coherent career plan rather than just doing ...whatever...

I have just started keeping a blog, although I didn't think that particularly counted as increasing my employability! I registered with the CVS and they gave me two slots at fairs to do Creative Writing workshops, although drumming up the interest amongst people dropping in on their lunch break was virtually impossible. The second I did had only two participants, one who left halfway through because she had to get back to her kids.
Writing articles seems like a good idea, but to be honest, apart from my time obviously being pretty limited at the moment (MA and full time job), I don't know how to go about it - most newspapers and magazines employ their own staff to write for them.
Writing therapy is something that really interests me as well, but again, there seems to be a complete lack of information on how one gets into the field.
I actually found myself talking about going on a teacher training course the other day - I don't even WANT to be a teacher - it just seemed like something I could do that would at least lead to a recognisable career and semi-decent wage!
Thing is I love writing, I want to write, and the course has been really helpful in terms of developing my writing- I'm really glad I've done it in that sense. But I recognise I probably can't make a living out of story writing/ novel writing (virtually no-one makes their main income from fiction or poetry) and in terms of actual career advancement the MA is technically a waste of time.
The thought of working in advertising or something like that - all those yuppie-ish "graduate jobs" in marketing and sales that get thrown at English grads, just makes me want to shoot myself it sounds so soul-destroyingly awful!
It's not that I'm lazy. I am quite willing to work damn hard for a living. It's just that I feel like I need some proper quality advice on the kind of oppurtunities available and what I need to do to make myself more employable in the kind of job I might actually have some passion for some of the time. It's more knowing what to do that bothers me, not the actual doing it!
Does that make any sense or am I rambling and whining now?