Ok, it was turning it to a tale of woe, right? On a careering BSc rollercoaster to nowhere. Clearly there is a happy ending – I am presently studying MSc Engineering Geology, a painstakingly chosen degree programme this time.
With background in Earth Science, a geological focus of some kind seemed inevitable. And the whole ‘engineering’ bag? Well engineering is probably the most credible prefix imaginable in the current climate of science and technology! It provides a structured framework for continued study and career development, promoting hands-on skills and highly desirable technical knowledge = a degree with a directional future.

‘How did you manage to clear the horrendous financial rut?’ I hear you cry. Well I was accepted on to my present course with the condition of a departmental studentship from the Natural Environment Research Council. How on earth did I manage such a thing? Well, I just asked.

In the end it was actually that simple. If you are serious about further study and prepared to put your cards on the table there are many more funding opportunities out there than you realise, you just need to be determined in securing them. Bursaries are in place to help students pursuing courses which will provide valuable skills in employment or research environments. Be firm with your attributes and know your sources of support when you apply for further study.
Don’t ever be afraid to keep pursuing these opportunities. For me it made the ultimate difference between being able to pursue further study or not.

https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/bl…_place_to_start

I’ve just started the first year of a part time MA which is part of my ‘plan’ to get the career of my dreams. Or a way to ‘pass the time’ amongst the application process.
I graduated 1 year ago from my undergraduate and decided to take a year out and get into the work place full time (I’d worked part time throughout my uni course) and get some experience in management along with paying off all the debt I’d racked up in my undergraduate!
I am pursuing a career with the government, and started the application process for the faststream. It’s long, painful, in depth and competitive. They want the best – there are a lot of talented people out there – so what makes my application different?
This is where I started from. They want people who can move up the ranks quickly and do well in management, how can I know I have that ability if I don’t even try? Whilst applying through the faststream (it starts in November, and finishes in April) I decided to work up the ranks in the financial service company I was working in.
I was out the race for the faststream by February -many quotes state its unlikely to get in the first time around, and feedback told me I was in the top 35% of candidates…
So here I am, still working my way up the ranks to prove my management capability, learning invaluable skills within the work place, and studying a masters in IPE, making contacts and working out what else I can do to make sure I’m in the top 25% of candidates the next time…

So, I have finally got round to writing this blog. I’ve been meaning to for a while, but you know what it’s like.

Anyway, career news. Unfortunately, not so much. I am a final year student of Chinese and Cultural Studies. I lived in China last year studying at a university in Beijing. I kind of assumed when I graduated I would be in high demand, because, of course, everyone is looking for people who can speak Chinese, right? Wrong. It appears that to be able to use my Chinese in a job, I am going to have to be fluent. And, unfortunately, that’s just not possible in a 4 year degree.

This is my current plan. I will take a job, any job in China and just spend every spare minute I have speaking Chinese, so that I can get somewhere near fluency. I’m thinking of doing a TEFL course this summer and then in September going to teach English in a small town in China. Somewhere where they don’t get many foreigners, a place where the children will point and laugh at my strange appearance. Perhaps after a year or two I’ll be in a position of usefulness to potential employers.

But, I’m continuing to apply for jobs in this country, the problem now is, I don’t actually know what I want to do. It’s kind of been “willy nilly” applications up ’til now, and I can’t take these constant rejections anymore! I think a trip to the careers service is in order…

Yes, it is getting on for 3AM and I am here writing this blog! No I am not mental, I am in fact in a buoyant, optimistic and strangely positive mood! Yes these are outlandish feelings for me (especially when “career-thought” is involved) and so I am unsure as to how to deal with them other than to let you know all about it!

Earlier tonight, whilst waiting for some Jerry Seinfeld stand-up to download, I decided to fill in that ‘What Next?’ brochure I was rattling on about last post. The one that asks questions about your interests and skills with the aim of hopefully narrowing down what kind of job is suitable for you yourself!

I have discovered a definite area of interest, so hold your breath and I’ll come back to it later.

Since going through this process I have realised that there was a key issue I had to deal with before I could make any real progress in my search for a befitting career.

My problem has always been being amazing at EVERYTHING!

Well not exactly, of course not. But I do like to think I’m multi-talented. However, this, my friend, is a curse! I’m good at most things… to a ‘good’ standard. I don’t excel at anything 🙁 I’m highly skilled in NOTHING!

Lots of my friends have done a ‘specialist’ degree, automatically condemning them to Nick’s Most Despised Creature Crew (Hitler is in there aswell), simply because they are sorted in life (doctors, town-planners, graphic designers… you know the sort…). They’ve made the decision to pursue a particular profession and have got on with making it a reality. I’m still stuck here with my hands in my pockets.

This, really, is where “The Brochure” comes into its own! I was able to identify my skills with my interests and out came possible jobs I might like. This was achieved via the recommended Prospects Planner (www.prospects.ac.uk), which is like those ‘Career Finders’ you did in Secondary School, for which you’d answer a billion questions, only for your perfect-match, dream-job to come out as Deforestation Officer! It’s that kind of thing, only this one helps.

As it turns out, my ‘profile’ (which took 15 mins max to set up) does actually match-up with certain vocations. This is big news my friend!

Before i was a lost puppy, now I am still a lost puppy BUT my owner has decided to get off his ass and plaster a load of ‘LOST’ posters about town (with a very accurate personality and skills description… LOST: 6ft4in shaggy terrier, introspective and risk-taker, £4 reward for safe return… alive or dead)!

So at last I have a bit of direction and am now able to start thinking about an action plan with my Careers Advisor! And because you’re all on the edge of your seats and have obviously been holding your breath, I’d better cut to the chase! I should be looking at ‘Publishing, Media and Performing Arts’.

Buzzing after my first ever cup of coffee courtesy of the Careers Service, I’ve only gone and been proactive in the next, crucial step of my (and, if you’re reading this, your) life – finding a career! Yes it is scary so it’s the perfect time to start being proactive (like them fancy yoghurts).

This morning I had innocently dropped into the Careers Service for a chat with our blog tutor and this is where the caffeine-induced-high-whirlwind began…

Remarkably, it turns out that there is a drop-in clinic for your very own Careers Advisor. Turn up and they’ll see you there and then (from 11AM onwards) for a 15 minute introductory chat.

I did this, knowing full well that:

my idea of the road my life is heading down comes to an abrupt and foggy conclusion in June next year (graduation).

… it was probably the right move to make.

I’m doing a Linguistics degree – my third degree since being at Newcastle (yes you may know me as Van Wilder). I did Modern Languages for a year but I realised they were boring. So I tried the exact opposite (Maths, Economics and Accounting). Big mistake.
So Linguistics is my last-ditch effort, the subject a wild stab in the dark. It doesn’t have anything to do with what I want to do… because…

I DON’T KNOW WHAT I WANT TO DO!!! (apart from be a professional footballer or a rock star).

It’s the “just get some qualification and you’ll be fine!” approach but, it appears, things don’t work out like that, things don’t just fall into place like they have done so far since primary school.
The key point is simple – you have to start thinking hard about YOU (and the sooner the better).

That’s what Dave my Careers Advisor told me. He gave me a brochure that helped crystallise my thoughts on what I want to be. It’s simple stuff really: what motivates you, what you enjoy, what sort of life you want etc.
And when I’ve filled this out I just pop back to the Careers Service and they’ll book me in for a longer 45 minute appointment, so that he can look through it and offer up some of his wisdom. Who knows, he might tell me I should be a rock star.

All I really know is that I want to be rich and successful and enjoy my job… that’s all I ask! It might sound selfish but that’s kind of the point – it’s my life and I want holidays in warm countries!

And now it’s time to reflect in a cheesy manner:
It’s an open road folks, you just need to put some petrol in the tank.

Hi,

I am a second year media, communication and culture student and I find it quite hard to believe I have actually managed to make it this far, mostly because I have pretty much zero organisational skills, and i mean zero. My version of an organised filing system simply means that most of it made it to a file, although that’s usually not the case, most files are sat gathering dust and have been since college.

I have come to realise that this tactic soon stops working. I decided instead of sitting on my backside all year with my clever filing system, I would take on the world. Well start a society. I began my quest at the beginning of the year thinking I could get some credit and praise for organising a few drunken nights out, oh how wrong was I? Yes there are druknen nights involved, but the paper work is unreal, not so good for a girl that has a fear of paper work, I dont think my intelligent filing system is ready for that. After 2 weeks of running round my bedroom (which is possibly as messy as my sophisicated filing) searching for bits of paper work, the ones that hadn’t been reprinited about 4 times due to the early morning coffee spills (which are much more regular than I would like) I was handed a gift by my dearest mother, lots of plastic files (genius), it’s amazing how files can change my life.

I also realised this week that in order to complete my Journalism placement in India this Summer i was meant to email my CV to the guy planning my trip, about erm…….6 weeks ago, luckily after going to a CV workshop today(which was very uselful and I would reccommend) the penny dropped, only plastic files can’t save me now, this is going to take some serious apology, although I’m sure the grand I am paying him may sweeten the deal. But more on India next time, if I haven’t burned my bridges that is.

I must say even though I have chatted some utter rubbish I learned a lesson this week, as much as my laid back attitude has suited me this far, I think it time to face the facts that I need to put myself in gear.

I’ll leave you one piece of advice though, go buy yourself some colourful files and get organised now, it will prevent the 12 hour sessions that I have endured through college and first year while trying to compile an entire years worth of work into some comprehensive order. I think after years the message may have taken.

So I’ll sit here and rewrite my coffee stained notes while attempting to draft my apology for the extreme late submission of my CV. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Kerry

I was always one of the ‘Why?’ ‘Why?’ ‘Why?’ kids. A royal pain in the butt. I enjoyed everything at school and went through merry hell choosing my A Levels.
I still can’t pin my interests down – I love naturalism, wax lyrical about erosion and study engineering, but freelance for music magazines and aspire to write a comedy script that is actually funny to people other than just me. A pure ‘Renaissance Woman’ if you are being kind, ‘indecisive’ if you are being realistic.

Naturally I had no idea how to choose my first degree – English, Engineering, Geology, Biology, Geography, Archaeology, Squid Fishing? I may as well have picked one out of a hat. BSc Natural Sciences (Earth Science and Archaeology) seemed a happy(ish) medium. Cue a surprisingly rapid three years at Durham University.

Perhaps this serious career-related consideration should have begun in earnest the best part of three years ago, before my BSc left me the proverbial ‘fish out of water’. Without a strong direction to take from my degree I was unable to secure a relevant or stimulating job and although I knew that further study was probably the route for me, I simply hadn’t banked on the difficulties that I would have in funding myself through another academic year.

TO BE CONTINUED> > > >

On completion of my A levels I struggled with the concept of furthering my education to university level, so I thought, yes a gap year is in order. The aim of my gap year was to gather my thoughts regarding higher education, (which I had deferred my entry). Then in 2005, I thought well I can not see my self doing a job without a degree qualification. So I pursue my degree at Lancaster. I all told myself that ‘I wanted to work out doors’ and i loved earth sciences, thus Earth and Environmental Science was for me, however deep down I know I really wanted to do pure geology but at the time of applying I was determined to live at home.

Then during my second year at Lancaster I thought to myself, that I could not see myself working in the environmental sector, therefore I begin to search for geology related jobs, but with my broad degree I struggled to qualify for the pure geology jobs. Then I thought that a masters was in order to enable me to pursue my geological related job.

I applied to Newcastle before Christmas in 2007 as I needed realise they did an engineering geology MSc. I was fortunately able to get funding, which I was a surprise.

Therefore I conclude that it is never too late to pursue your dream as I have been able to convert back to geology……

Currently I am applying for jobs that will be outlined in my next post…