The UoN Experience - Graduation Aftermath and Advice

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

As the second anniversary passes which signalled the end of my education life and the finale to my journalism degree at the University of Northampton, I have decided to share my own personal experiences from my three years at UoN. This includes a look into how good is the University in general, a critical assessment of the video products I produced and what happened after graduation.

The penultimate article looks at the graduation aftermath and advice for those who are approaching the end of their degrees. The hard work that I had to endure during my degree was only about to get harder.

Just over two months after I officially finished my degree, it was time to put the smart suit on again and get ready for graduation day itself. Held at the Northampton Derngate Theatre, it was a polished and professional occasion with many people graduating on the same day (pictured with fellow journalism graduate Tamika below), not just from the School of the Arts but other areas of the University too.

With fellow hard-working graduate and close friend Tamika on graduation day in 2012

I had a big fear of tripping over my gown when it came to collecting my certificate but luckily it all went to plan. I shook the vice-chancellor’s hand and went off the stage feeling immensely proud of what I had achieved.

The target I had set from an early stage of the journalism degree was to achieve a 2:1. The economic recession was already in rapid form by the time I had started in Northampton and I knew it was going to be a hard aftermath once it was all complete. Therefore a 2:2 final classification was going to be totally useless to my future objectives.

So I was ecstatic to achieve the targeted aim and quite comfortably actually. In fact, I don’t think I was too far away from achieving a First Class Honours degree which is the top honour you could get. Honestly though if I had got that – I would have felt slightly undeserving of it. Whilst I had worked very hard, there were some weaknesses in my first year work and the design module in second year had been a spectacular flop. I was more than happy with the 2:1 and no-one can take that away.

Only one student in our group got First Class Honours and they totally deserved it too. By living, sleeping and breathing journalism, the individual got the result that fully recognised their efforts and I was proud to see that too.

From what I can recall, all of us graduated from journalism. The majority got their awards on the day I did in mid-July 2012; some had to wait until February 2013 but it was a proud and massive day in my life.

Tough roads lied in wait though.

Starting experience

To start with, any graduate just needs to gain experience in a working environment and if that means working without pay for a few weeks, then do it. It is not officially ‘volunteering’ but can feel like it.

This might be sending some articles online, to carrying out simple tasks around an office. It does mean learning on the job. However know when to stop when you start not to be recognised for working.

For me, I didn’t do that. By the time graduation day took place, I was already contributing to writing for a football website called Total Football Magazine. Initially it was preview pieces on matches for the European Football Championship tournament that summer in Poland/Ukraine. At first I didn’t mind doing it for free because I needed to get my name out there in the media spectrum. As the weeks and months went on though, I started to feel more and more dissatisfied.

In September of that year, I was promoted from a role of writer to deputy editor. However it still was unpaid and on reflection, I should have rejected the offer straightaway and refused to work unless I received some sort of salary contribution. Without any income coming in, things became more desperate. I applied for hundreds of positions and didn’t have one single interview. On top of that, the editor of who I was working for, was dabbling in other projects and showed little confidence in my abilities.

A paid freelance contract was agreed but eventually fell through, typically before Christmas 2012. In reality it was never going to happen. I kept emailing the editor for reassurances on the deal but although he did say it would go through, the replies were never convincing. I’m glad I stopped when I did and the website ultimately collapsed as a result. Whilst it was a good starting point, I was used by the system and seven months of effort came to nothing. It left me in a difficult position.

Take career guidance

May last year saw me have three one-to-one sessions with a careers advisor from the National Careers Service. Looking back at it now, it became a very valuable service. I learned some new skills in how to approach applying for positions. It was the guidance I was looking for.

Now that isn’t exciting and when I was first given the chance for some meetings with NCS, I wasn’t sure if it was needed. Yet after the three one-to-one sessions with the advisor I had, I felt much better and I had more luck/responses in applying for roles, even if some of these were still unsuccessful. Even do some unorthodox solutions; maybe advertise your services on Gumtree. It might not work, but if you don’t try in this environment, you won’t succeed.

You have to keep trying, even in the tough times. It can be morale zapping and on the first anniversary of my degree ending last year, I was in a thoroughly miserable place; there was no two ways about it.

The breakthrough

The breakthrough for me finally came last July.

I got calls for three interviews in seven days. First was for a football website company called Fanatix based in London. Second was for a publishing role with Topps Europe in Milton Keynes and third was as an online editor for the Phones4U website over in Staffordshire.

Ultimately I only attended the first two, as I had accepted a role before the Phones4U interview took place. It was the publishing job I took with Topps, which meant I could stay locally without having to move down the country and I could finally say I had a reason for why I did go to University.

I enjoy the job a lot, although there are difficult days as expected. I’ve been with the company now for just over 10 months and they’ve flown by in terms of time. The hard work paid off with a temporary contract becoming a short-term extension last October, followed by a permanent contract before Christmas last year. What a difference 12 months made.

There will be further challenges ahead, further goals too and probably movements in the future. However the journey to the golden sky of financial earning and security in a graduate job are complete for now.

Final piece of advice for graduates

My final piece of advice to those who are just entering the job market after graduation, or those even still looking to find something; don’t give up at all. Quitters never win on this planet and that’s a fact.

Apply for what you can. There will be rejections but even something like a simple email rejection response can be seen as a bonus. It means the company have clearly read what you’ve sent them and they probably just had a better qualified or skilled candidate ahead. Don’t forget – what you could be applying for might be a very popular role. If a recruiter gets 100 applications for one open position, don’t be surprised to find out they only pick five potential candidates for interview and you miss out.

There will be times of frustration and you wonder why you bother. That is bound to happen, but stay strong in the tough times. Perhaps take a motivational quote or an inspiring song and that should keep positivity up. And venture into every application with a frame of positivity. Going into this with negative thoughts will lead to a shoddy application and the recruiter will take one quick look, screw it up and chuck it in the bin. That is a waste of everyone’s time.

The most important avenue is to never give up. Trust in yourself and you can achieve anything.  

Categories: Applications, Contract, Freelance, Graduation, London, National Careers Service, Publishing, Topps, University of Northampton, Vice-Chancellor