friends, had some dramatic relationship woes, but ultimately immensely enjoyed my time at university. So the day I graduated, after the slog and stress of the final year, in which I spent a lot of time smoking, wearing a dressing gown and lying on my kitchen floor, was a huge achievement and although my gown was hot and hat was itchy, I felt extremely proud of myself sauntering across the stage to pick up my certificate-less envelope. I was full of dreams for the future, in the midst of PhD applications, and job applications, and any other applications I could think of. But coming from a lower middle class family has its disadvantages.


I had no potential self funding options, and PhDs with


scholarships are very competitive and hard to come by. I sadly have no old rich benefactor, and have not been surprised by a large inheritance from a long lost relative. I do not play the lottery (£2! You must be joking- that could buy me a week’s student shopping in Lidl) and therefore have started to lose hope that I will a) continue with post-graduate education, or b) ever be qualified enough to get a job at the level I am supposedly trained for. I heard nothing, I received nothing, I started nothing. I eventually started work as a laboratory assistant, three grades below what I trained to do, before embarking on other jobs since, and tried to keep my chin up.


The thing they don’t tell you is, sometimes it doesn’t all just work out. You don’t get that job of your dreams two months down the line. It is a long, hard, depressing slog to even get employed nowadays, and regardless of how educated and expert you are, there is


someone who knows someone, or someone who is slightly more educated and expert than you. I feel incredibly sorry for graduates who are coming out this year and next, with high shiny hopes, who I hope will attain these but possibly could end up struggling a year on to find a job where they are happy and paid a middling wage, like me. I have one piece of advice for my fellow graduates however- don’t stop. You may not be the cleverest, or the most qualified, or the one with the most interesting hobbies. But you CAN be the most determined to succeed. A lovely man I worked with recently


advised me “you apply for 100 jobs, get responses from 60, asked to apply for 30 again, get 3 interviews, and potentially get 1 job”. He was previously a recruitment consultant and had seen this time and time again. So, make sure you make that CV amazing, tailor it for each job, and write an awesome cover letter to set yourself apart from the rest. And most importantly, don’t get down on yourself. Keep your chin up and remember how hard you worked to get here, you just need to keep going a bit longer. I am sure I will get there one day, and so will you.


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