PostGraduate Life

Still in grad myself, but recalling my friends’ experiences it mostly looked like finding work in fields that were adjacent to what they actually wanted to be doing. They stayed at each place for a few years to establish a solid résumé, good references, and networking. A lot of getting their foot in the door came about from the volunteer work they did while they were in uni. They regularly put in resumes and kept up with skills trainings. They all developed pet-project, side-hustles related to their interests and skills while establishing their careers.

Those early years the jobs never paid enough for the actual amount of responsibilities on them, they had to deal with a lot of work drama, and they were barely scraping by. They would feel stressed, exhausted, and depressed a lot worried they might get stuck in a job they hate forever just to pay the bills. It didn’t help that so many people thought it was acceptable to dump cynicism on them about how college is a waste of time, and they would eventually realize their degree was pointless.

Eventually, they found work at places that make them happy, feel fulfilled, and make pretty good money with good benefits. Now everyone who gave them shit acts like they were supportive the whole time, but whatever.. 🤷🏻‍♀️🙄 The important thing is that their perseverance and strategizing paid off.


I do know a number of people, though who went to university that are bitter their degree didn’t amount to anything, but I also remember those people partying a lot, doing half ass work on their assignments, not bothering to network, not bothering to do any volunteer work, or look for work experience, not thinking through what it takes to establish a career in the thing they got a degree for, and not thinking at all about their future finances. Ehh.. when they talk about it, it’s as if they believed there would be a row of employers grateful for their existence throwing upper middle class figures at them.