I am a graduate of Cambridge University, and have recently completed a Master's degree in Wildlife Management and Conservation. I am, however, one of the growing number of graduates who are finding it hard to find work in their chosen field.
My question is, why, if I have worked so hard, am I still (3 months after finishing), unemployed?
If you are now thinking she must be really dim, and barely scraped a pass for each of her degrees, you are wrong. It is true that although my Cambridge degree was not a first class one, as I like to reassure myself, it was only 2 marks off a 2.i, and, I passed my master's with a distinction. Surely that must count for something?
On top of that, I gave up a whole summer to volunteer for various conservation charities, and have, since finishing, continued doing so. This, I might add, was (and still is) at considerable monetary cost to myself.
So, having recently been reunited with old Cambridge friends for New Year, the topic of conversation, as it always does, turned towards jobs; current success/enjoyment of their jobs, the excitement of a regular salary, and then the question I dread..."and what are you doing now, Becky?"
To this, I answer with as much gusto as I can manage (which is considerably less than in previous months)... "well, I'm working for my father, as a crew-member on his fishing vessel, and I'm volunteering in my spare time". I see the look of pity and wonder how quickly I can steer the subject away from my lack of employment and the impending feeling of inadequacy.
Why is it, that my all my Cambridge friends have managed to find employment, and I haven't? Comparing myself directly to them, it was not my results from Cambridge- other friends with comparable or lower grades have graduate jobs. It is not the fact I did a Master's and they did not- one friend did a Master's and has been working for nearly 2 months. It is not for want of trying- I have applied for several appropriate jobs, and dedicated hours to each application (not, like some people I know, who email a CV and generic cover letter in response to each potential position). Is it my chosen career path? Ahh...now here I stumble across an interesting notion.
I, out of all my friends, am the only one to have chosen a conservation career, I am the only one to have spent an entire summer volunteering for conservation charities, and I am also the only one without a job. Coincidence? I think not.
When I now compare myself to my colleagues on the Master's degree, yes there are the odd one or two who have managed to find employment in our chosen sector. However, (and this is honestly not my bitter side coming out), the majority of those, are the result of "who they knew", and not "what they knew".
On the rare occasion that I do get a personal response from a company, detailing why they could not select me for their final interview candidates, I find out that it is my experience that lets me down. This I have heard many times in the last 6 months, and am quite frankly no longer surprised when I get the same response.
Not enough experience. Easy enough to solve right? Work experience, volunteering, professional development courses, bat groups, mammal groups? Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes and....YES! I am doing all these things...so why does no one give me the time of day yet?
SO, the catch 22 of conservation, you need plenty of experience to get a job in conservation (probably because these companies are often charities and/or have very little extra resources to throw around training up graduates in complicated field techniques). How do you get experience? You do all the things I have been doing...volunteering, short term work placements etc. How do you fund these? Yourself. I.e. get a job which thus prevents you from doing the aforementioned volunteering.
I don't think I would mind so much, if more people I knew were in this situation, but it would seem that the only people I know of who are unemployed graduates, are those in the conservation sector.
I wouldn't even mind so much if there were a decent number of jobs that I could apply for, but there is probably only about 1 job a month advertised, for which I meet all the specifications. The others I apply for, I just have to hope that I have something the employer likes enough to give me a shot. No luck yet.
too late to change career path? It most definitely is I think, especially after paying so much money to fund my Master's. I can't help feeling though that somewhere along the line I have been mislead about the success rates of graduates finding employment.
Yes, that did seem like an inappropriately long rant about my current state of unemployment. But ok, I admit it, I am jealous of my friends who are happily settled in their jobs and have been for a considerable time. That is only natural right? I am just left wondering, when will it be my turn? Am I doing something wrong?
Please, is there anyone else in my shoes who feels frustrated with their state of unemployment, despite being what they thought was highly qualified to find work?
If you got this far, thanks for reading it!
Becky
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