My First Graduate Level Job | I’ve become someone I swore I’d never be!

Not too sure how to structure this blog post as my mind is all over the place! Since graduating it has been a real struggle to find a job and living costs were going through the roof. Though, I am fortunate enough to have my mother support me I no longer wanted to be a “burden” to her. It was time I started pulling my own weight. So I had to start looking for jobs outside of my field i.e. a job not related to the degree I spent three years studying for. Funny that because I’ve always sworn to never go into a profession which wasn’t related to my degree – I didn’t want to waste all that knowledge I attained. I clearly underestimated the current job market and how tough it is to find a job.

Nevertheless, I started job searching. I searched and applied for everything and anything I could find. From retail operative roles to Project management roles. I had no luck. I wasn’t even getting invited for interviews – I was becoming increasingly desperate. I NEEDED A JOB!

Then one day I received an email from my University informing me about Graduate Trainee Schemes (paid of course!). This was, of course, only a temporary fix but the pay was decent and the skills I could potentially gain from this experience were priceless. I tried to first find positions in the Science faculty of my University. However, most of these were located in Kent and the idea of commuting to work for over an hour every single day quickly put me off. I then decided to be bold and try my luck in a job role completely out of my field (and comfort zone). I applied for a role as a Graduate Trainee Research Analyst in the Business Faculty. I know nothing about business, finance and all that good stuff. I remember very clearly, I filled in the application form half-heartedly as I believed there was no way I would get accepted. I submitted the application 15 minutes before the deadline. Needless to say, I was not expecting a response lol.

After this application I began an unpaid placement in a pathology lab (I’ll give the details on this in another post). I would finish my day in the lab around 8pm in the evening. The days were long and tiring but I felt a sense of pride knowing I am doing something that will help me get a job in my field of expertise. Anyways, one evening after a long day in the lab I was standing at the bus stop waiting for my bus. I remember it was very cold and windy on this particular evening and it felt like my bus was taking hours to arrive. I was getting frustrated so I pulled out my phone to take my mind off the cold. I was scrolling through my emails when I realised I had an email from the Business Faculty at my uni. My heart instantly started beating a little faster. Is this what I think it is?...

“Thank you for applying for the above role.  I am pleased to inform you that you have been shortlisted for interview, details below…” –I cannot tell you how happy reading this made me. I know most of you are probably thinking “it’s only an interview not a job offer”. BUT you need to understand how desperate I was at this stage so getting invited for an interview was a huge step forward. This is the furthest I’ve reached in a long time. I was so grateful.

I had a week to revise my application and the job specification if I wanted any chance to do well in the interview. I done research on the faculty and rehearsed my answers every night. I really wanted to impress them haha. The night before the interview I went to sleep feeling pretty confident but it was a completely different story when I woke up the next day.

I woke up with a strange feeling in my gut – something was off. Nonetheless, I didn’t let this feeling phase me and carried on getting ready. I left my house on time and made it to the interview ten minutes early (like I scheduled). I didn’t want to be late. The interview panel was clearly impressed by my early arrival. But when I entered the room I could feel myself shaking on the inside. I do not know why but I was a nervous wreck. Generally, I am a pretty confident individual so for me to be this nervous was completely out of character. My throat was drying up and I could feel my palms getting sweaty. I just wanted to get out and go home and the interview hadn’t even began yet. I faked a smile and sat down and braced myself for the questions. I just about managed to answer the first question but as they started asking more questions my mind began to go blank. I literally had no answer. Only god knows how but I persevered and tried to compose and deliver an answer. My questions were nowhere near perfect and I knew I had blown the interview. I just wanted to get out as quickly as I could as I felt I had embarrassed myself.

The bus journey home was the worst part of the ordeal. I couldn’t stop relaying my answers and I kept telling myself how stupid my answers were. I was being extremely hard on myself. I had given up hope. There was no way in hell I was getting that job!

Then a miracle happened. I woke up the next morning to go to my laboratory placement when I noticed I had a new notification on my phone. It was an email from the interview panel. You won’t believe me but they wanted to hire me!!! I was ecstatic. I could not believe my eyes.

It just goes to show that you should never underestimate yourself no matter how difficult the situation is. No one is perfect and the world is cruel enough. We don’t need to be cruel to ourselves. I should’ve believed in myself, even if I didn’t get the job I had no right to be so harsh on myself. I am so grateful as I am currently a month into my new job and I am having a great time. The 9-5 life isn’t easy but its better than leading a purposeless life. I have a motive every day and I have a graduate level job. I have so many reasons to be happy. God is great and all good things are truly a gift from above.

Life is full ups and downs but sometime we have to face our problems head on and take control. Stay blessed guys and please let me know if there is anything in particular you’d like me to cover in my next post!