I'm an unemployed graduate - feel completely hopeless and stressed

[unemployedgraduate]

I have an undergrad and master's. My master's finished in October last year and since then I have been unable to get a job or a funded PhD. I feel so useless and hopeless.

I had spent up until now working part-time and applying for PhDs but there have not been that many opportunities as they are often very specific with the candidate they need. I was also looking for graduate jobs but was more focussed on looking for a PhD as the career I want requires a PhD.

Now my workplace has closed and I am unemployed. The first few weeks of lockdown I was busy with following the news and doing things around at home but this week it has just hit me how hopeless and dire my situation is and I feel completely overwhelmed. I feel like I have completely ruined my future career prospects with all this wasted time.

PhD opportunities have dried up in my field as universities are closed. I have looked for graduate opportunities and cannot find a single one to apply for that is for someone with a biosciences background. From what I can understand labs are closed too aside from those doing coronavirus-related work which is not my research area and I can't find any research assistant positions. The NHS Volunteer scheme is no longer accepting new applications. I also have an underlying health condition so nervous about getting a job at a supermarket.

I just have no idea what to do. It is nearly May and I know before I know it I will have a whole year empty on my CV.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on what I should do?

Volunteer or start a community project.
You have achieved so much already and it is understandable to be out of work in these times. Your story is not over yet!

My son is in a similar position.
I think the most important thing for him right now is to maintain his mental and emotional health. You are doing well with reaching out like this, and asking for advice and help. I think the world will be a different place soon, and the coronavirus time will not be a detriment. Keep up with maintaining your sanity. If you can do that, you are winning.

Could you do online tutoring for maths and science ? Or proof reading?

For the academic side how defined is your area of interest? Could you start doing a literature review? Could you work up your masters work into something publishable? See if you can find any online forums or conferences in your field.

How are your excel skills etc? Do you speak a foreign language?

It sounds like you might need a bit of structure so consider signing up to a future learn course or similar to help give you that, plus if you pay like 30 quid you get a certificate so you could add that to the cv.

Tutoring is a brilliant idea, especially now when parents may be struggling to do it all themselves. Years ago I used Tutor Hunt to get work and it was great, have a look there. I reckon you'd be inundated with work now and it'd look great on your CV (and the money is good too!)

Keep in mind this is a completely unprecedented situation and as a recruiter I wouldn’t care a bit about a year’s absence from the workforce at this time.
Graduate programs may still run (as businesses often have budget to keep that pipeline going and grads are cheap). Keep an eye on lab jobs as I would expect they might be funded well too.
Online learning for something to do? Future learn, udemy etc either learning or providing courses.

Have a look at the NHS, there are loads of jobs that are not Drs and nurses. I was a clinical physiologist. On the website you can do a 50 question quiz and it finds things that match with your skills and preferences.

There are training schemes that require a good degree and an MSc would do any harm.

www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/

Have a look at pharmaceutical company internships / grad schemes. I've just had an email from the one I work for looking to start in Sept.

have you ruled out applying for grad schemes when they open up again in the autumn? If I were you I would look at the NHS graduate scheme (also HMRC, local government NGDP, and Civil Service?)

If you can't find anything at the moment I really recommend getting involved in a local volunteering scheme, food bank, social phone calls to the isolated, whatever you can. Have a trawl through social media for your local area and you will find loads of local groups you could volunteer with.

We graduated into the last recession and it is really hard, but being able to show that you found something productive to do when your original plans were cancelled helps long term.

Have you applied for Jobseeker’s Allowance OP? I’m in a similar position. The only jobs here are care assistant jobs at the moment.