Graduate Prospects - March 5, 2008 - (Page 2)

2 PROSPECTS GRADUATE Issue 62 · 5 March 2008 · Fortnightly www.prospects.ac.uk BLOGGERS AT WORK ‘The new job doesn’t seem real yet’ KIRSTIE BETWEEN ROLES ‘I’ve climbed out of my pit of lethargy’ MATT FIRES UP HIS AMBITION ‘Theoretically this is when the work ends’ RACHEL’S VITAL MONTH People’s lives are now less likely than ever to follow the time-honoured ‘go to university, get a job, get married, get a house, maybe a promotion, have kids’ plan. Freedom from management, but feel you’re getting nowhere. such a constraining blueprint can lead to a At 26, Orson Welles directed Citizen Kane, while Zadie Smith had penned White Teeth by In this case, it is important to regularly step more varied and fulfilling career path. back and assess the value of experiences the age of 21. Unfortunately, it doesn’t feel so great while gained in even the most monotonous jobs. Can you are living a nine-to-five drudgery, With role models like these, many graduates you renew attempts to reach your goal, might feel that they should be halfway to searching for the right opportunity. making use of your experiences? achieving their life’s goals by now, but are DIRECTION FINDER Although nobody can Scenario 2: Having embarked upon your instead whiling away the days doing nothing make life choices for you, there are tools to very useful. If this sounds familiar, you could dream career, you realise this is not the job help such as Prospects Planner for you. This is sometimes the experience of be suffering from a quarter-life crisis. someone in a major bank or financial (www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Pplanner) and the A term coined by two American authors a few institution. They have achieved their ambition Test Yourself section of Prospects years ago, QLC continues to resonate. It and the financial incentives that go with it, (www.prospects.ac.uk/links/tests). It is worth describes a certain futility many experience in but find they need to do something more visiting www.windmillsprogramme.com with their mid-twenties. Sufferers share a feeling grounded in real life. its message that ‘if you choose you can take a that they are not doing what they really Staying with a job that is not entirely for you new direction in life now’. Advice is also on should, or want to, be doing. can be easier if you assess the benefits of your hand at university careers services (go to STAR QUITTERS Some may find it selfexperiences there, set a deadline, and www.prospects.ac.uk/links/CareersServices to indulgent to name this phenomenon a ‘crisis’; understand the job as a means to an end, see if you are eligible). And there is a Quarter however, pop history shows it is not rather than an end in itself. uncommon to quit at this age (see Kurt Life thread in the Graduate Forum Scenario 3: You haven’t a clue what to do. Cobain, Richie Edwards, Ian Curtis, Janis www.prospects.ac.uk/links/GradTalk The most demotivating of QLC experiences: Joplin, Sid Vicious and more.) you’re working your way through a bottomless The most effective escape route from the The QLC seems to take as many forms as pile of admin tasks, know this is not what you downward spiral of a QLC is to avoid defining there are life choices to make want to be doing, but are not really sure how yourself by a job that does not make you But if you are in the throes of a QLC, you may or where to embark on a more constructive happy. Formulating a short- or medium-term career path. be experiencing one of these scenarios: goal will then help you to focus your efforts, If you are nurturing your very own QLC, then mark your achievements and ultimately, if not Scenario 1: You’re trying to make it in a the most important thing is not to panic. You immediately, gain career satisfaction. highly competitive industry like the media or the arts, or maybe attempting to progress into are not alone. More people are taking time to Karen Baird WHERE AM I? step back and consider their options afresh at various stages in their lives. The travel industry has coined the term ‘career gap’ to refer to the fast-growing market for holidays longer than six weeks taken by 25-35 year olds. Further up the age range, working life is expanding into our seventies, reducing the need to put ourselves under unnecessary pressure to make early decisions about the next 40+ years. CHECK FOR SYMPTOMS OF QUARTER-LIFE CRISIS. JOB-HUNTING INFORMATION www.prospects.ac.uk/links/appsinterviews www.prospects.ac.uk/links/coprofiles QUESTIONS ANSWERED www.prospects.ac.uk/links/careerfaqs JOB-HUNTING TIPS www.prospects.ac.uk/links/jobhunt ALL ABOUT APPLICATIONS GRADUATE EMPLOYERS PROSPECTS INTERACTIVE SERVICES • Graduate Forum • Advice and Coaching • Careers Chat Live http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Graduate_jobs/p!edcaefX http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Feature_Articles/Feature_articles_2008/Kirstie_s_job_log__18/p!ebXfapd http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Feature_Articles/Feature_articles_2008/Rachel_s_job_log__35/p!efebXdk http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Feature_Articles/Feature_articles_2008/Matt_s_job_log__5/p!edLceiF http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Pplanner http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/tests http://www.windmillsprogramme.com http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/CareersServices http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/GradTalk http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Interactive_advice/p!eacXi http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/appsinterviews http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/coprofiles http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/careerfaqs http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/jobhunt

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Graduate Prospects - March 5, 2008

Editorial: Where Am I? Ofgem Editorial: Is There a Graduate Sell By Date? Royal Bank of Scotland Group Bibby Financial Services Majestic Wine Warehouse Graduate Prospects Manhattan Associates Royal Navy Chartered Institute of Personnel Costain Oil & Gas Process Ltd Somerset County Council Digby Morgan EPSRC MSPS Ltd Samuel Heath & Sons Plc Manhattan Furniture BSRIA InBev ORC International Editorial: Turn Around Editorial: Postgrad Fairs Bournemouth University Queen Mary, University of London University of Manchester

Graduate Prospects - March 5, 2008

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