It has been a while since I have written a careers blog, admittedly partly due to the immense amount of work which I am presently doing for my Masters, but also in large part due to the fact that I simply don’t want to have to ponder the prospect of beginning my career in the current economic climate if I can possibly avoid it .

Of course this is hardly a realistic solution to any problem, so ponder I did….

Thinking about this matter somehow put me in mind of a career path long forgotten, when I was avidly studying Robert Frost’s poetry for A Level English Lang. Lit. and, in particular, a little four stanza number entitled ‘The Road Not Taken’ which begins:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth…..

At present I see four main roads open to ‘vocationally’ geared Masters students such as myself:

1. Work in Industry
2. Another Masters
3. PhD
4. Work ‘in the area’ and pursue further study

and a decision will soon need to be made as to which road will be taken.

At the moment the clearest and most-trodden route for an Engineering Geologist is the one in to industry and a placement related directly to my Masters degree:
Sadly this path is presently obscured by the unseemly undergrowth of the recession. Whilst it is clearly always a sensible option to apply for jobs and graduate schemes throughout the year and to keep on good terms with potential employers, it is becoming increasingly apparent (by direct admission of many of the major companies) that the Geotechnical sector is reducing its intake indefinitely.

It must, therefore, be considered prudent to invest some more research time in further career ideas, and other possible paths to take.
So what about doing another MSc? More in the next instalment….

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 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> > > >