Entry-level jobs/careers - help!

[PetiteBlonde]

Hi everyone.

I just feel totally stuck and as if I've lost all of my confidence.

I graduated from university a little while ago, and am looking at entry-level jobs at the moment.

Every time I try to decide on what job I'd like to do, I just feel really stuck and confused, for a few reasons:

1. I spent a couple of months last year in a job (teaching) I really, really struggled in and that I ended up resigning from. It's such a worthwhile career though, and (ironically?) I've become more and more drawn to the idea of working in the field that that career is in. However, people have mentioned to me that it might be best to work as a teacher first before going on to do other education-related roles. I completely understand where they're coming from and actually agree, but I think that having another go would just break me though).

1. Especially after the teaching experience, I really would love my next job (that I'm applying for now) to be something that I really enjoy and find fulfilling. (I realise that this is much easier said than done! :) ) I just don't know what job to do. I would also love to have a job that led to a 'career' but I'm really stuck at the moment on how I can link a job to a career and work my way up.

1. I've lost complete confidence in myself after applying for a few jobs recently and having rejections.

I know that this is absolutely to be expected, but it's just been a bit demoralising - especially not having feedback from the applications.

I was really lucky that I received feedback from a couple of the applications, but a lot of the places that I've applied to have said that they won't be able to give feedback before the interview stage (which is again something that I expected and understand).

How can I find (and be successful at getting) an enjoyable entry-level job? Would be great to have some of your advice and ideas please :)

I'm happy to give more information about my situation if needed.

Thanks so much! :)

Are you talking about being an ed psych in no 1)? Or some other role in education?

When you say "entry level" do you mean "graduate first job"?

What types of activities, hobbies, interactions etc do you enjoy? There is a good "Career Planner" interactive quiz on www.prospects.ac.uk that asks lots of questions about motivations, skills and interests and suggests a long list of career role matches with % scores to indicate how good the match is. Have you seen it or tried it?

Hi SerfTerf, thanks for your reply :)

For 1., I'm really interested in education policy roles or roles in charities that work with young people.

Yes, exactly - I'm looking for my first job as a grad.

I hadn't seen the Prospects tool before - thanks for posting about it. I'll have a look :)

A few other random thoughts;

It doesn't matter how "worthwhile" a career is if you hate doing it, or aspects of it or the reality of how it's done "on the ground". If you've tried it and you disliked it that much, you've learnt something. Listen to what that tells you.

Taking "education" (which is a big and varied sector) as a starting point, interrogate yourself about what appeals to you. Consider different age groups. Think about the difference between policy work and teaching. Also the difference between primary, secondary, FE and HE. Also the differences and overlaps between youth work and education.

Equally, think about a skills based approach and career roles that can be practised across a variety of sectors. Do you think you're more an administrator or a creative, for example? Narrow it down that way. Spend time researching and imagining what the hour by hour tasks that make up any given job are.

People often make the mistake of muddling role with sector with motivation or getting the wrong combination of the three and they end up as miserable archivists when they'd be happier as public-facing museum based interpretation workers. Or Architects when they'd rather be Regeneration specialists. Or Legal Aid solicitors when they'd be better suited to Corporate Law.

Hours spent reading about jobs and sectors isn't a waste. Also find places online where people are bitching together about the worst aspects of their jobs. That's very illuminating.

You mention "worthwhile" which suggests a need to be socially useful and/or make a visible impact. Is that your own innate values speaking? Or something you've inherited or picked up as being a "good thing"?

Serf thanks so much for your post - I've learned so much :)

In terms of having a 'worthwhile' career, it is my innate values, I think. I definitely do want to 'make a difference' in some way in my job and to feel fulfilled.

I think the biggest tip for entry roles is to get things done. Your first 90 days should comprise of a list of achievements (no matter how small) that your manager should know account to you. It's really impressive when an entry professional interviews senior people in the team to ask them how they can support them and actually delivers - it will ensure you get the best projects.

If you want to make a difference then working in education or the charity sector might end up disillusioning you. You will probably be able make more of a difference in a banking grad job in banking AML policy (AML is anti-money laundering where you create policy to target proceeds of crime - policy advisors or investigators in this sector make a huge real difference to People and society as a whole).