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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

What did you do after graduating?

26 replies

custardcreamzz · 08/08/2019 19:46

I'm confused as to what people do after uni. It seems incredibly lonely the thought of just moving across the country and living by myself/a flat share with people I dont know and working?

I must be missing something! Would love to know what everyone else did!

OP posts:
caballerino · 08/08/2019 19:58

Moving across the country where?

Original poster
custardcreamzz · 08/08/2019 19:59

As in, away from uni- I study in London so wouldn't be able to rent there :)

OP posts:
caballerino · 08/08/2019 20:06

Move back home and find a job there
Stay in university city and find a job there
Pursue a specific career/graduate scheme that takes you somewhere else
Further study
Go travelling
Do something else

You make it sound like you're going to stick a pin in a map and move somewhere for no particular reason.

As for being lonely, how is relocating after uni different to relocating for uni? If you join a grad scheme or some other employment surely you'll meet people that way?

What are you planning on going into?

PooWillyBumBum · 08/08/2019 20:10

Why can't you stay there? My sister did - she stayed in a guardianship with a couple of friends so their rent was about £300 a month each in a lovely house in Stoke Newington. Now she rents a room in someone's house. She's in the early parts of her career as a freelance television producer (after getting a Chemistry degree!) and the pay is shocking but she's managing fine.

What line of work will you be pursuing?

namby · 08/08/2019 20:11

Moved back home to do a traineeship, but I had a boyfriend from school and we ended up marrying then moving away together after that. We lived in London for a while and I worked with quite a few post graduates who lived in house shares, which was always my idea of hell after a stint of it in uni, but I suppose that's the reality for many with house prices these days, in the south at least.

TeenTimesTwo · 08/08/2019 20:16

Got a job.
Moved to where the job was and rented.
Made friends with colleagues.
Visited uni friends.
Moved with job when it relocated.
Built a life.

AppleKatie · 08/08/2019 20:20

Relocated for a full on job. Met amazing friends and my DH. Have no fear- stick a pin in a map and wander. You can always go home later.

doadeer · 08/08/2019 20:21

I was in London. I got a job in an office to get experience.. Didn't enjoy sales but it enabled me to get into a career I liked. What do you want to do?

WhyBirdStop · 08/08/2019 20:22

My parents live in a town very popular with London commuters so I moved home (studied far away), got a job, saved like mad for two years, moved out and bought a flat (not in the same area), got a new job, promotions etc, DH moved in, then we saved bought a house (in another different area), got married, had a baby. I have a few friends I've known from childhood but that's not my main social circle. I made friends through work, hobbies, friends of friends, DH's friends and their partners etc.

BobbinThreadbare123 · 08/08/2019 20:23

Stayed in university city in a house share. Re-enrolled at university for a PhD! After that I did get a job.

JaceLancs · 08/08/2019 20:24

I stayed in university city - found a job, met someone then bought first house
Lasted 6 years then unravelled and ended up moving back to my home town with a different DP

Youmadorwhat · 08/08/2019 20:24

I went travelling for a year and then I did a postgrad in another city...loved it there, bought s house, got married and had 2 dc.stayed there for 9 years.

perrieryay · 08/08/2019 20:25

I've just completed my final year. I've secured a place on a grad scheme, annoyingly the company is moving its hq's to my hometown (home counties). I also went to uni in London so was looking forward to experiencing a new part of the country.

OP, think of it as an adventure!

StarShapedWindow · 08/08/2019 20:26

I was already in London so I flat shared with a friend and started up a company. I had a part time job to pay rent and bills. It was such a fun time, full of meeting people, spontaneous nights out and clubbing.

thaegumathteth · 08/08/2019 20:28

I got a job in the same city I went to Uni in and dh and I bought a house and got married and I got pregnant on the first 18 months after graduating.

AnnieOnAMapleLeaf · 08/08/2019 20:30

I finished university, worked at a bookstore for the summer and then took off to Taiwan for 2 years to teach English. It altered the course of my career, but it allowed me to pay off a huge chunk of my student loans and, more importantly, showed me that I was strong enough to stand in my own two feet. Absolutely zero regrets.

PanGalaticGargleBlaster · 08/08/2019 20:36

Moved from Bristol to London to start a grad job. Ended up in a flat share in a grotty flea pit in Clapham with several other recent grads. Didn't know any of them but within a few weeks we were all mates and having a great time. Joined the local rugby club and made more friends there as well as mixing with new work colleagues.

Lyricallie · 08/08/2019 20:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Lazypuppy · 08/08/2019 20:43

I rented a flat in my uni town as i had a full time job. Stayed there for about 8 months then got a job back in my home town, bought a flat and moved back.

After house shares for 3 years it was so nice to live on my own!

Original poster
custardcreamzz · 08/08/2019 20:55

Thankyou for all the replies!

I'm going to graduating into veterinary medicine - my boyfriend will graduate a year after me due to doing an extra year, so we can't move away together if we are still together then.

I was thinking I'd have to either live at home and work or go somewhere on my own, I'm worried my first year in practice would be stressful enough without finding new friends and support groups nearby- so was just wondering how other people dealt with it!

OP posts:
flipperdoda · 08/08/2019 21:02

I went to uni in London too - grew up in a different part of the country. I got a graduate role and rented in London for 2 years, now have moved out to Surrey (knew nobody) and I commute in.

Why do you think you won't be able to rent in London?

flipperdoda · 08/08/2019 21:04

Also moved to Scotland for a few months in the middle of that time with job actually Grin

That was a bigger change but I made friends and invited old friends up - and I'm by no means a social butterfly. Still felt quite settled after the couple of months.

Retraintoday · 08/08/2019 21:11

I took a 'gap year' and modelled around the world. It was great fun but a little lonely as the other models were not English, so I found it hard to integrate with them. (I'm a little awkward)

When I came back I decided to go back to university and study something else! Sorry, not much help...

Could you move back home and work from there for a year until your boyfriend finishes? Or could you both rent in the home counties. He could commute into London for university and perhaps you could get a job more locally. Guildford or Reading are good commuter towns and cheaper than London.

surroundedbyvulpices · 08/08/2019 21:59

I moved abroad on my own to a city where I had never been before, took up a job I had applied for while still at uni, rented a house there on my own, worked hard and learned to be an adult. The first year or so was lonely and tough, but making a fresh start was very liberating. Being away from my family actually brought us closer together. We are now always happy to see each other. It took me another six years to meet DH, and that was really good timing actually, because I'd built a life for myself and had become independent first.

LadyMonicaBaddingham · 08/08/2019 22:10

Worked as a student union sabbatical officer for a year, then got a job. Got married, had babies, got a different job.

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