Please could you help? A bit sad and desperate.

[WellAlwaysHaveParis]

I've posted about my situation before, but am getting a bit desperate now. Please could I ask for your help? I've tried to be really honest. Please could you be kind and objective? I really don't want to get flamed

My situation:
I graduated with a French and Spanish degree from a very academic university in 2015. I speak fluent French and advanced Spanish.

At university, I did several placements with national newspapers and magazines, and held several editorship positions for student newspapers, as I wanted to get into journalism. However, entry-level journalism roles have extremely low salaries, especially in London, where many are based. At university, I had planned to do a journalism master's qualification after graduating, but they're so so expensive and don't guarantee a job at the end unfortunately, so I decided against it. I do hospital radio volunteering on the weekends though, as it seems like a good way of perhaps going into media-based roles.

Since graduating, I've been trying to find a full-time job and haven't found anything. While I was looking for a full-time role, straight after uni, I worked as a self-employed private tutor and freelance copywriter in my hometown and lived at home.

In summer 2016, I moved to London to do teacher training, which I resigned from in winter 2016 due to health reasons.

To try and give myself relevant and important skills, I've started training as a Citizens Advice adviser in London in autumn last year. It's been so so useful in so many ways, and I'm so glad I've started doing it. It is voluntary though, which means it's unpaid, and ideally I need to look for paid work.

I'm also doing tuition through a couple of agencies alongside the Citizens Advice volunteering. Although the tuition is well-paid per hour, it's ad-hoc and not very regular (it stops during the school holidays etc.)

I have an assessment coming up for a Civil Service job next week, but it's for one post and I'm sure lots of people are going for it.

The problem:
I've been looking for jobs and haven't had any luck with finding a full-time job.

Everything that I'm looking at seems extremely competitive and there doesn't seem to be a clear, straightforward path to these jobs, if that makes sense.

I've had quite a few interviews over the last few months, but they haven't come to anything.

I've tried looking for jobs through: recruitment agencies (Reed, Tate, VMA Group, Love Success), job websites (W4MP Jobs, Guardian Jobs) and companies' own website.

I think I must be doing something wrong. Any ideas and guidance on how I can get a full-time job please?

I'm 26, and getting on a bit, with elderly parents, so getting quite worried.

The industries that I'm interested in are:

• Communications, PR and marketing
  
• Politics
  
• Journalism
  
• Government and Civil Service
  
• Charity sector (Communications, PR, marketing and policy roles).
  

Thanks so much

[DailyMaileatmyshit]

What sort of salaries are you looking at? You need to be looking at entry level jobs, which in London would likely be 18-20k, which isn't a lot. You post suggests you may be looking at higher salary posts, which will atttract people with more experience than you.

[ExConstance]

Have you thought about Civil Service fast track graduate entry? They take significant numbers each year and it is entirely based on how you perform in the various tests and interviews, provided you have a 2.1. DS1 did this and has a very interesting and quite well paid job, for him the fact that he had A level French and was prepared to improve from there was a significant factor.

[AnElderlyLadyOfMediumHeight]

Try abroad. Doesn't have to be France or Spain. There are loads of places in European cities - from market research institutes to PR agencies - looking for clever, motivated English native speakers. Cheaper than London too, in many instances.

[Calic0]

My first job out of university I got through starting there as a temp and being offered a permanent role. It wasn’t necessarily what I wanted to do but then I was able to move sideways in the organisation to something that suited me better. It’s just a case of getting a foot in the door.

I work in the civil service and joined via a Fast Stream. Individual departments have their own graduate development programmes so look out for those, not just the generic Civil Service one.

[NickSharratsFeltTip]

Do a Masters in Journalism at Birkbeck, evening study, while working in any job (take out student loan to do it\0 - make contacts that way and gain more skills that will look good on CV.

[Pearlsaringer]

OP are you always asking for feedback when you don’t get past the interview? There’s no guarantee prospective employers will be absolutely frank with you about their reasons for not appointing you but you may be able to spot a pattern from feedback.

Try looking on YouTube for interview tips.
For competency based interviews look up the STAR technique.

And yes to temp work, it demonstrates flexibility and gets you in through the door.

Good luck, and don’t be disheartened, success will find you!

[DrRanjsRightEyebrow]

Most people I know in PR/comms worked as interns, impressed them and were given priority when roles came up. I know you do voluntary work but would you be better placed doing an internship? Be proactive and contact companies you like the look of by email and follow up with a phone call, not just ones advertising internship positions.

[JagerPlease]

In coming months there will be hundreds if not thousands of entry level jobs becoming available in the civil service as a result of Brexit. HMRC and the Home Office have both stated publicly that they'll be running mass recruitment

[pinkdelight]

I remember your previous threads too and you have had a lot of advice already. You do sound more together now though and it's good to put the whole teaching thing behind you. You sound much more focused and it's good you're getting your foot in the door. Chances are there's just people with more relevant degrees and experience pipping you to the post now so it's really anything you can do to give yourself the edge. Can you use any connections from the work experience or voluntary work to get you more of an 'in'? Or as others said, go in on a basic temp admin level and prove yourself. You are clearly smart but it's still a slight leap for people to put together your qualifications and career path so far and see that you're a clear fit so you have to make sure your story is really clear and tailored to exactly what they want.

[BarbarianMum]

I work for a charity. We quite often have people in your situation volunteer with our marketing and comms teams to gain experience to help with finding a job. Maybe that's something you could consider?

[pinkdelight]

Oh and as an ex journo I wouldn't recommend spending thousands on a masters in it, as the industry is largely screwed. Better to get a professional qualification which will give you a wider spread of roles to target and cost much less!

[pinkdelight]

Professional qualification in marketing that should've said.

[Mitzimaybe]

Exactly as pp have said, it's easier to get a job when you're already in a job. Temping is a very good way to go. There may be temp agencies that specialise in the sector you want to join - look into it.

[Snowdrop18]

this might sound harsh but as someone in marketing and comms, if you need to focus on getting any job, cross that off the list.

I stepped down a bit in my last job so it was a median type job - there were more than 800 applications and the role wasn't widely advertised.

In a position to hire, I'm afraid I would not take a 26 year old with you experience as described. I'd be much more likely to take someone who temped in any kind of relevant role and then proved themselves that way. It seems like you have bobbed around a lot looking for particular types of roles -> finding a lot of competition -> picking something else.

Honestly it would be better to get a temp admin job and even have a string of those if it means you can say you've seen inside several types of organisation.

I won't pretend to know anything about languages or government roles but in terms of B2B marketing and communications, I'd say that you are now competing with 26 year olds who do have some experience and it would be better for you to focus your efforts on an area with less competition.

good luck

[whippetwoman]

How about a job at a University? If you are in London, there are so many Universities to apply to. They will have Marketing/PR/Admin roles and a University is usually a good employer. It might be enough to keep you going while you get experience. I really would consider it, you'll find a lot of jobs to apply for.

Have you thought about doing an MA or MSC in Information Services Management/Knowlegdge Management/Librarianship. Kind of a sideways move but jobs to be had in that sector (not in public libraries though).

[Justanothernameonthepage]

Just wondering about your blog. Who is it aimed at? Do you cross-promote? Can you focus on that while job hunting to differentiate yourself in interviews and building your online brand? Also linked-in if you're not already

[LardyMardy]

there doesn't seem to be a clear, straightforward path to these jobs

There isn't.

As other posters have said, those are very tough fields to go straight into. When you say you're going through agencies, are you looking at anything and everything? I think you need to. The old adage is that it's easier to get a job if you're already working. You might also look beyond London.

The ways that my undergrads have got into those sorts of jobs have been indirect:
they've started doing basic clerical/admin work
they've done a day job & done freelance work on the side
they've done a day job & blogged or other kinds of entrepreneurial work (I think they days of monetising blogs are long gone)
Internships or paid experience years
large companies' graduate schemes
Temping
teaching
working for charities

[Jackiebrambles]

I agree with other posters, I really recommend temp admin work.

It's exactly what I did when I graduated (after doing a media degree!) - and that was almost 20 years ago.

I signed up with a local temp agency and got various roles, and I then ended up temping at a university office for over 6 months.

After that I just wanted a higher salary (and I now had good office experience) so I applied for a more permanent admin role in a different town. One with a reasonable salary where I could house share/rent (even though it wasn't my dream job of course!).

That changed everything. My employers saw my potential, permanently recruited me and promoted me into a communications role. I was then able to make my next move straight into a comms/digital marketing role in London. Good luck, it's so tough out there.

[PassTheAfterEights]

What @MrsHathaway (and others) said.

You're in a tough situation and it can make you desperate - when I changed career in 2011 the incredible agency I went to told me very quickly I was coming across as desperate, and ordered me to get down from the ceiling because nobody would hire me. Easier said than done but agree you need to calm down, focus on a chosen field, then go for it. You will come across much better if you have direction and know the sector you are trying to get into inside out, and have some views on it.

Have you considered admin as a route in? I know many brilliant people who started in poor job markets as receptionists, team PA's, team coordinators etc who have impressed and been 'spotted' and given opportunities to move into comms / PR / marketing teams, analyst positions and so on (and are now marketing managers, team leaders, heads of etc) - a lot of companies are keen to grow from within and get the name of internal promotion so you could take advantage and use that as a foot in the door.

Take a look at www.escapethecity.org/ and good luck x

[aabidah86]

Hi WellAlwaysHaveParis

My brother is a Marketing Manager for a law firm, he started off as a Marketing Assistant after struggling to find work for ages after leaving university. He ended up working in a music shop as a shop assistant then got the marketing assistant job a few months later through a recruitment agency. He worked his way up through the firm to the position he has now.

You should be able to find a well paid admin job at a not-for-profit organisation in the City with the qualifications and experience you have. Try TPP Not For Profit, they're a good agency and I got work through them in the past x

[gnushoes]

Are you looking at the Guardian and other job hunting websites? I googled with charity and comms and got this for instance
www.charityjob.co.uk/jobs/english-uk/marketing-communications-officer/543860

Had you considered Teach First?

[Snowdrop18]

I note that some posters seem to know you from before and are suggesting MA/MSc etc - I framed my advice thinking you needed a job with pay sooner rather than later.

If you can afford not to work and do further study it's very different advice really. You will still be able to access uni careers service I guess?

[KathyBeale]

I'm a journalist and I would say don't bother with a masters.

It's a very broad profession, though. What sort of journalism are you interested in? News? Features? Papers? Magazines? Digital? TV? Radio?

There are entry level jobs around, if you look in the right place (certainly for magazines, which is the bit I know about). But others are right, you'd probably only earn about £20k a year absolute max (my company pays London Living Wage for entry level jobs which I believe is about £19k?).

I've been a journalist for more than two decades and I only earn £30k a year, so you might need to manage your expectations as to salary.

[VladmirsPoutine]

@PassTheAfterEights What do you mean by desperate? Getting down from ceiling?

[GlitterUnicornsAndAllThatJazz]

In your shoes I would go to Paris and get a comms job which is what I did! 😁