The Post-Uni Fear

When entering into the home stretch of university, it’s most likely that you will be entered into one of two camps. You either know exactly what you want to do, or are currently suffering from something that can be easily categorised as THE FEAR.

If you’re of the former camp, you probably went for a run before your breakfast of steel-cut oats with almond milk and placenta, and have all your lecture notes colour coded. Or you might just be a medic, in which case, I don’t know what’s worse.

For us lesser mortals (Read: Humanities students), an existential crisis invades our every social event. Nights out, house parties, trips to the pub, and even Dominos in front of the T.V. are not safe from the dark conversations about what the hell we’re supposed to do after we leave the safety of a university degree.

While it’s definitely something to care about and give thought to, people often freak out much more than they need to.

The first thing to consider is where you want to remain living. Although seen as depressing to some, sometimes moving back home and living with your parents whilst making money is the best option in the long run. If you are originally from a big city such as London then it will be much easier to find a graduate job as well.

If you want to stay in Manchester then you need to work out where and who you might live with and how you can support yourself whilst living here. There’s nothing wrong with taking a year out and earning some money doing some bar work if you want to have some more time to think about what you want to do. Not everyone needs to go straight from their degree to a high-flying, ideal job. As long as you have a vision of your wider plan and where exactly you want to be going then you’ll be less likely to be stuck working in Sainsbury’s for longer than you would like.

If you have the funds and the time to be able to do something else, then an internship is ideal for expanding your CV. Sometimes you can be paid for these, but for the majority you may have to work for free. For this reason, choose one carefully to apply for that will really help you towards doing what you eventually want. You may have a somewhat exhausting year, but it will definitely be worth it.

Maybe you even know exactly what you want to do and you can start immediately applying for jobs. If that is the case then make sure you have a perfectly written CV and are prepared for an interview situation.

Above all, really don’t panic! You are young, and don’t need to be forcing yourself into the first 9 to 5 job that comes along. Think things over carefully and try to be excited, rather than scared!