How to be unemployed // Musings

Its nice to think that a university degree, and maybe even a masters too, is good enough to get you into the job role and sector that you've been working towards for the past three or four years. After graduating from my undergrad in 2012 and having just graduated from my masters late last year, I've spent quite a depressing amount of time looking for work, writing job applications,getting rejection letters, attending interviews, getting rejected again and questioning the Universe as to how it could be so cruel. Ok, melodramatic sentences out of the way, this post is all to say that I have learnt a couple of things about how to be jobless and unemployed and, I gotta be honest, it takes more skill than you realise:

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1. First you start your days with a clear plan. Focused and organised, you estimate to be in a job by the end of the month. I mean, once employers read your CV, they'll practically be begging you to work for them. It's only a matter of time.

2. Then you spend your days wondering whether you should go into journalism, or publishing, or digital marketing or maybe force yourself to gain an interest in sport and become a sports journalist. You gotta be flexible with these things, people keep telling you.

3. Scratch that, maybe you can move to New York and become an Investment Banker on Wall Street. Kinda ignoring the fact that you still use the calculator to do the simplest of equations, just to be sure.

4. Realise that you haven't left the house in three days but all your friends are working because it's only Thursday. So you make plans to go for a walk but, after a quick glance outside, talk yourself out of it because of the rain/wind/snow/general laziness

5. Spend hours on the Prospectus website, searching for different careers and wondering why you never listened in your science classes all those years ago, you could have been a doctor by now!!

6.  Get excited that your local supermarket are doing an offer on your favourite ice creams and chocolate bars. Proceed to buy all the ice cream and chocolate bars and tell yourself it's enough to last a while. Do the same thing next week.

7. On the days you decide to head in to town, bump in to every single person you know and listen to them as they tell you about their new job/promotion/boyfriend/home/iphone that you can't afford

8. Spend your time contemplating the meaning of life and also decide what you'd do as Prime Minister. You know, just incase this miracle happens.

9. Search for, fill in and send off approximately 289,957 job applications. Hear back from 5 companies. Be interviewed by 2. Lose out on the jobs to someone with more experience. 

10. Try to understand how you've found yourself in this strange loop of not being able to get a job because you don't have enough experience but also needing a job in the first place to get that experience. Whaaaaaaaaat??

Someone once told me that activly looking for work is pretty much a full time job in itself. Which is true considering how much goes in to the hunt, applications and interview prep. Arguably though, you still have a lot more time on your hands which means you can do stuff. You know, like develop new skills, pick up interesting hobbies, perfect your obscure talents, or just keep up with the Kardashions. 

Who else has been in this position? What are your tips (useful or otherwise) on how to be jobless?

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