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.
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