By Emily O'Hara
Credit: Miltiadis Fragkidis
So, fellow graduates, I don’t know about you, but my life’s aim from the minute I started my GCSE’s was to get a degree. The image of me in those ridiculous robes, feeling like I’d finally made it to Hogwarts and holding my degree scroll (I was highly miffed to discover this is just a plastic tube you hold for the photos and not the real deal), got me through my A Levels and three gruelling, sleepless years of undergrad study. I sat through lecture after lecture, note-taking, revising, making multi-coloured study timetables, all with the end goal of getting a degree, becoming one of those successful few that complete university.
As I sat there tearfully, on the stage at Bristol cathedral, smiling and waving awkwardly at my divorced parents in the beaming crowd and awaiting my turn to be called to the front and receive my long-anticipated, hard earned degree, it dawned on me.
What the hell do I do now?
The blind panic set in as they called my name and I stumbled onstage to shake whoever’s hand it was who was giving out my degree. Half of my life had led up to this moment, I hadn’t given a thought to what to do with, you know, the entire rest of my life. I’d barely thought about where I was going to have my celebration dinner that night in all honesty, I just asked my boyfriend to book somewhere that did nice pasta.
So, if you’re hoping to graduate soon, or even next year, I thought I’d briefly walk you through some quick options to mull over to save you a similar gut-wrenching panic attack in the middle of your graduation ceremony.
An obvious starting point is graduate jobs. Now, I’m not going to lie, I didn’t take this route, but from what I can gather, sometimes there isn’t much difference between graduate jobs and, you know, regular jobs. This being said, some companies offer graduate schemes which are actually worth looking at. For example, I worked for a restaurant company during uni, and the grad scheme offered an immediate management role once you’d landed your degree and a guaranteed general manager role within two years - which is excellent, well-paid, and something you’d have to slave for without a degree under your belt. The downside to these is many of them might not be related to your degree - I did a degree in professional writing, and had I opted for a grad scheme, there’s a high chance I wouldn’t have ever become a writer. It’s a great option if you got halfway through your degree in psychology, for example, before realising you have no desire to become a psychologist.
The next option is the one I opted for - the master’s route. My eventual aim is to become a screenwriter, and while I’ve been writing screenplays, stage plays and TV pilots, I’ve yet to convince anyone to actually pay me for them yet. I think I’ve got a grand total of eleven rejections for various projects so far - fair warning to anyone thinking of freelance writing in some shape or form, you need a very thick skin! So, while I go about my day cheerfully filing my rejection emails, I’m going to add a master’s degree in Screen Production to my portfolio, which is a fabulous option for honing area-specific skills and delving deeper into the field you want to get into. So much of an undergraduate degree is focused on just passing the degree, so this is a strong option to better explore the working world of your chosen industry. The obvious downside here is that it costs a further £6000-£9000, but most masters courses can be covered by the student loans company. Besides, I’m already £27,000 in debt thanks to university, what’s another few thousand on top of that?
Thirdly, I bring you the post-grad gap year. Another expensive option, and probably ill-advised when we still aren’t done with this whole global pandemic palaver. That being said, some of you, like me, will not know what you want to do next even after graduating and thinking about it for some time. So, think some more. See some sights, enjoy yourself for a while - while wearing a facemask, though, please. It’s important to remember that it’s fine to feel a bit lost right now. You’ve spent most of your life so far in education and grafting really hard. Maybe some space to breathe and some new experiences are just what you need to inspire you for the next chapter in your life. Flight prices will probably be low for the next few years anyway.
Option four is voluntary work. This can be great to do alongside your waitressing or retail work that got you through uni, as not many people are in a financial situation in which they can work for free. I graduated last year, and my master’s begins in January - unpaid roles is what I have been doing since graduating and will probably continue to do for some time, and I really recommend it. The obvious bonus here is that it's unlikely you’ll get rejected since you’re not expecting payment and it creates some great material to go on your CV for when you do get to a point where people are looking to hire you in your field. It also helps you get a better feel for the inner workings of your industry that perhaps even your degree didn’t manage to show you.
So, in between 3am revision sessions and your 4pm breakdowns, here you have a couple of options to dwell on. If you’ve ever sat down and planned out your post-uni days, well done, you’re one of the few who thought that far ahead! If you didn’t, well, I hope this helps a bit. Happy panicking everybody.
As I sat there tearfully, on the stage at Bristol cathedral, smiling and waving awkwardly at my divorced parents in the beaming crowd and awaiting my turn to be called to the front and receive my long-anticipated, hard earned degree, it dawned on me.
What the hell do I do now?
The blind panic set in as they called my name and I stumbled onstage to shake whoever’s hand it was who was giving out my degree. Half of my life had led up to this moment, I hadn’t given a thought to what to do with, you know, the entire rest of my life. I’d barely thought about where I was going to have my celebration dinner that night in all honesty, I just asked my boyfriend to book somewhere that did nice pasta.
So, if you’re hoping to graduate soon, or even next year, I thought I’d briefly walk you through some quick options to mull over to save you a similar gut-wrenching panic attack in the middle of your graduation ceremony.
An obvious starting point is graduate jobs. Now, I’m not going to lie, I didn’t take this route, but from what I can gather, sometimes there isn’t much difference between graduate jobs and, you know, regular jobs. This being said, some companies offer graduate schemes which are actually worth looking at. For example, I worked for a restaurant company during uni, and the grad scheme offered an immediate management role once you’d landed your degree and a guaranteed general manager role within two years - which is excellent, well-paid, and something you’d have to slave for without a degree under your belt. The downside to these is many of them might not be related to your degree - I did a degree in professional writing, and had I opted for a grad scheme, there’s a high chance I wouldn’t have ever become a writer. It’s a great option if you got halfway through your degree in psychology, for example, before realising you have no desire to become a psychologist.
The next option is the one I opted for - the master’s route. My eventual aim is to become a screenwriter, and while I’ve been writing screenplays, stage plays and TV pilots, I’ve yet to convince anyone to actually pay me for them yet. I think I’ve got a grand total of eleven rejections for various projects so far - fair warning to anyone thinking of freelance writing in some shape or form, you need a very thick skin! So, while I go about my day cheerfully filing my rejection emails, I’m going to add a master’s degree in Screen Production to my portfolio, which is a fabulous option for honing area-specific skills and delving deeper into the field you want to get into. So much of an undergraduate degree is focused on just passing the degree, so this is a strong option to better explore the working world of your chosen industry. The obvious downside here is that it costs a further £6000-£9000, but most masters courses can be covered by the student loans company. Besides, I’m already £27,000 in debt thanks to university, what’s another few thousand on top of that?
Thirdly, I bring you the post-grad gap year. Another expensive option, and probably ill-advised when we still aren’t done with this whole global pandemic palaver. That being said, some of you, like me, will not know what you want to do next even after graduating and thinking about it for some time. So, think some more. See some sights, enjoy yourself for a while - while wearing a facemask, though, please. It’s important to remember that it’s fine to feel a bit lost right now. You’ve spent most of your life so far in education and grafting really hard. Maybe some space to breathe and some new experiences are just what you need to inspire you for the next chapter in your life. Flight prices will probably be low for the next few years anyway.
Option four is voluntary work. This can be great to do alongside your waitressing or retail work that got you through uni, as not many people are in a financial situation in which they can work for free. I graduated last year, and my master’s begins in January - unpaid roles is what I have been doing since graduating and will probably continue to do for some time, and I really recommend it. The obvious bonus here is that it's unlikely you’ll get rejected since you’re not expecting payment and it creates some great material to go on your CV for when you do get to a point where people are looking to hire you in your field. It also helps you get a better feel for the inner workings of your industry that perhaps even your degree didn’t manage to show you.
So, in between 3am revision sessions and your 4pm breakdowns, here you have a couple of options to dwell on. If you’ve ever sat down and planned out your post-uni days, well done, you’re one of the few who thought that far ahead! If you didn’t, well, I hope this helps a bit. Happy panicking everybody.
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