By Simon Wright
Tomorrow
begins a new chapter and a new dawn in my life, and I am glad to say
that. Almost a full year after attending
my graduation ceremony, and a staggering 14 months since actually handing in my
final assignment at University, I can officially say I now have a full-time
job and most importantly too in the media industry.
It is where I
have always wanted to be, but I really have had to work very hard for the
opportunity. The past 14 months have frankly
been a nightmare, and whilst I was doing regular freelance work to keep me
busy, I had to endure confidence setbacks, rejection after rejection from
applications, some close interview calls that didn’t go my way and have to
endure several frustrating false starts in my post-education career.
Now I know
I’ve made it – at least in the short-term.
In this personal piece, I will express my satisfaction, the highs and
lows and the times where it felt like my life simply was going nowhere, as well
as providing advice to those who might be about to start out on a journey that
is bound to have its steep drops.
The new role and local locations
The job I
have is on a temporary contract until the end of October, but with a strong
chance of extension as long as it all goes according to plan on both sides,
that’s mine and the company I will be working for.
It is a 9-5
role in a Monday-Friday capacity. Not
only am I delighted to have my weekends still completely free from any
commitment, the position is local walking distance from my home in
Milton Keynes.
I was
especially lucky with this. The chances
were if I was going to breakthrough into the media industry, I would probably
have had to relocate. This is something I
was totally prepared to do, and would be willing to accept but it would have
made settling into a new role far harder.
While I
believe I would have made myself to be a success in a new area in the UK with
Lancaster being a prime example from my near-miss with a job up there in
February, other locations won’t have been so easy. London is a good starting point. I was prepared to move, but renting to stay
in the capital is very expensive, and can only really been done on a high-class
salary. Also commuting might sound
easy, but a 9-5 position would have been tough to do, as it probably would mean
leaving at ridiculous early morning times just to beat the dreaded rush hour
trains.
I don’t drive
– and haven’t even attempted to in the last four years since practical test disasters,
and that might count against me in the future but I’m not really thinking about it.
Northampton
might not be millions of miles away from Milton Keynes, but I proved in my
three years at University that I could be successful on my own, and felt
comfortable relying on my independence so I would have done it.
However the
local appeal does help. I am a trainee
journalist with high ambitions and top expectations, and want to be totally
successful but you have to start somewhere.
The salary is
good too. I won’t reveal it in public,
and only the odd person (close friend) will know this. True, I won’t be earning £50,000 a year – but
that’s stupid money unless you live in football fantasy. The most important thing was accepting a position
which would leave me in a comfortable position for the next few months and this
role will provide that.
The job
description doesn't play totally to all my strengths. I love writing, and will continue to do that
in a couple of freelance positions along with the book I am currently
researching and writing for a planned release next year. However the company I will be working for
specialise in a sporting department, with football being one of its prime
markets.
 |
| Working with sticker albums and trading cards is among my main new role |
The new position will allow be
to enhance my current skill levels, and help me develop new ones which can only
be a good thing for the future. I will
be working on projects around football trading cards and sticker albums (pictured) and it
will be a busy time, especially with a World Cup year coming up. However I’ve always relished a challenge
that is achievable and I will look forward to what is ahead of me.
Dealing with setbacks
There is no
doubt that the media industry is highly competitive, and it has certainly come
under closer scrutiny since the public revelations of phone hacking at several
leading newspaper titles two years ago.
The days of
leaving University and walking straight into a job are so 2006. Now you have to work especially hard to even
get noticed and it isn’t easy let me assure you of that.
There was a
time during final year on my journalism degree at the University of
Northampton where my final degree classification was firmly in the
balance. I made a poor start to the third year and just after Christmas, the chances of getting my realistic aim of a
2:1 degree were not looking good – certainly below the 50:50 mark.
I worked hard
though, put even more extra effort in which is something I’m sure my course
friends and colleagues can vouch for and ultimately got the result I wanted. Leaving with a 2:1, I thought that classification would open up
opportunities fairly quickly. Yes I was
aware it would be tough, but never could have I imagined how tough it was going
to be.
I have worked
in several freelance positions since May 2012.
Some roles ended in fairly acrimonious circumstances whilst others just came
to their natural and mutual end. I
was used heavily, especially by two companies and it has questioned my value of trust in such a competitive sector.
I never ever
wanted to be driven by money. For me being successful and having a loving family and friends has been more of a
priority than the extra elements such as excellent incomes and an unlikely love
life. I have had to change that element,
especially in more latter applications where I stated I simply couldn’t work
for free. Financial circumstances and
bad experiences led to this criteria.
Not many of
them turned into interviews. Before a
few weeks ago, I’d only been offered four interviews, and lost out on all of
them. Two of them were very close calls,
and I don’t feel I could have done anymore.
However, it is one of the worst feelings in the world when you feel you’ve
got the job in the bag only to end up being disappointed.
I had to ask
myself some questions, including whether I was good enough. I started doubting myself after all these
rejections and that is only natural I think.
I even started to wonder whether going to University had been a total
waste of time. I had already made a
decision back in 2006 to delay going to Uni by two years to do an extra course
at college, and have never regretted that decision. At Uni, I made some great friends, and have lots of great memories too, but for all that student debt and struggling to find
something, I was starting to regret going into further education back in 2009.
There were
times where I wondered packing it all in and giving up. Some days, it did feel incredibly difficult
to motivate myself knowing what the inevitable answer will be. The majority of my course buddies and
colleagues were already in jobs, ranging from office roles to PR and writing
positions, and I was wondering why me?
What have I done to deserve all this bad luck?
I had to consider
other alternatives. Studying a master’s course
was a possibility, but eventually got ruled out due to lack of funding
opportunities. In the last few months, I’d considered travelling or even
moving abroad on a permanent basis. This
is something I’d never thought about at University. I did want to own a holiday home abroad, and
maybe move to a hotter country after retirement in over 50 years’ time, but
never had I considered this aspect. That
changed after writing about some travel destinations for Holiday Weather Ltd,
one of my more successful and enjoyable freelance roles. I did consider spreading my wings, as
opportunities in the UK did seem limited.
It is almost
a year since that glorious fortnight and the Olympics last summer in
London. The famous legacy message of ‘Inspire
A Generation’ was commonly used. What
legacy? What generation? Not much has improved since, and it is a
pretty grim world when you work so tirelessly, but don’t get the chance you feel you deserve. Hard workers, not couch
potatoes should be rewarded.
Advice to fellow graduates
 |
| Me on my graduation day almost a full year ago now |
As far as I
know, the majority if not all of the University of Northampton journalism
course from 2011-12 have now managed to find full-time work in some form. When we finished, I did say we’d set the
standard, and ‘we did it our way.’ I do
still look back at some of those times with pride, satisfaction and
vindication. Even the bad times I had
still get occasionally thought about. It
makes me (pictured on graduation day last year) proud to see the people I spent three years of my education life with
doing so well.
Since then, new
batches of journalism graduates have come through and that is from up and down
the country. Some Universities have
already had their graduation ceremonies, with others due over the next few
weeks and months. I could be wrong, but
I think the new Northampton journalism graduates from 2012-13 have their
official ceremony later this week.
I say to them
and everyone else to enjoy the day. A
graduation ceremony is not only the end of your education, but it is the proud ending to spend
the time celebrating your hard work with close family and friends. These days only happen once in a lifetime for
the majority of us, so cherish them and treasure the photos, the moment where
you get the certificate and the various congratulations from pats on the back
to emotional hugs.
And this is
where new adventures begin. If there is
anything I can say from my experience over the past year, it is that it could
be a long journey, so be prepared for rejections. It will happen to everyone. Well done to anyone who has just completed a
degree who has already managed to get a full-time job. That is a mightily impressive feat,
especially in this day and age.
However by
working hard, getting your name out there into a wider spectrum and taking
advice on from experts – many will get the opportunity that they deserve, and
so they should do. This country always
needs fresh and emerging talent.
The past 14
months have been the hardest of my life, and I hope that I never go through
this experience again. However I now
have that crucial foot in the door. I am
in a secure position for the next few months at least, and look forward to a
new adventure that waits over the coming weeks.
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