Venting - my honours degree seems worthless

[ParsleyCake]

I got an honours degree in Classics and now I feel like I wasted my time as I can't find a job. It seems unless you want to work in admin or for some supermarket chain there's nothing.

You might think I should have thought about this before I chose to study classics but I was originally studying something else and was persuaded not to drop out when I was failing miserably and instead study something I had a passion for. I chose Classics as if interested me more than history (Classics being the study of the Greeks and Romans, including the Latin language, ancient writings and plays and general history). So basically it was a degree in Classics or nothing.

I studied so hard and got an average grade which was more than I expected and I was so proud. I decided I wanted to work in archiving and applied for an intern type job at a local council archive. I'm a hard working person and I get on well with people and even have experience from volunteering in those archives, but I didn't even get an interview. I know my CV and cover letter were fine so I don't know why I didn't even get an interview.

It's been months since I graduated and this has been the only job I have been able to seriously apply for. Not only because it is in my area of interest, but simply because on all the job websites, it was the only things I felt qualified for. I already spent years working as a cleaner and in cafes and shops, surely I should be able to get better work now that I have a degree? And by better I mean with better opportunities. In those crappy jobs it's not worth working your way up. You get to earn 8p more per hour for being a supervisor rather than a cleaner/waiter/shop assistant in some places, and that just isn't worth it.

Why did no one tell me that university was a useless waste of money? I've got student loans to pay off and my life feels stagnant and miserable at times. Where are all the job opportunities I was promised?

It's tough. But it's tough for everyone. It sure as hell is tough for those without a degree. You just need to keep going.

Ok let's star with the positive, you have a 2:1 degree ignore the subject as that is the minimum you need to apply for the big graduate recruiters.

Glasgow is a big uni so all of the big ones would have been there at the recruitment fairs- did you go to any of these?

The bad news, most will have filled their positions for this year but get online and see who hasn't.

The big graduate recruiters will be opening up their schemes to start next year, some closing for applications by Christmas so you better get s move on.

Next, be proactive, volunteer, approach your old tutors for advice don't give up or expect it to fall into your lap, it won't.

Use the resourcefulness you had to get your degree to get a job, you can do it.

YY to volunteering. My DD is the same age as you. She also got a 2.1. Not in your field, so she's not competing for the same jobs . She also did a Masters, abroad. She has worked abroad on short-term work, in 2 different countries, after graduating. In spite of all that, once back home, she struggled.

She has been applying for jobs around the UK. In her field, most jobs ask for at least one degree and 2 years experience of volunteering. It seems outrageous to me, but clearly they can pick and choose.

As a direct result of volunteering she has just been offered a paid PT job with one organisation. Hopefully she is on the ladder at last.

If you are still in Scotland, and you want to explore volunteering, contact Project Scotland.

I'm going to cut across all of this.

I suspect the main reason you are where you are, is that you are feeling so down /depressed, this isn't meant to blame you!.

Sadly, this comes across in how and what you write...how you express yourself.

I wonder if your lowered mood is coming across when you are speaking to potential employers or potential opportunities.

People who are recruiting want active, engaged people. Sadly, the employment market is so drenched with graduates that employers for any decent positions can afford to be extremely fussy. You have a good academic degree from a good uni!

I wonder too, if your lowered mood is stopping you being proactive? I also wonder if this has been a long term problem? To not go out with your course mates or make any friends at uni is quite unusual, as well as lonely for you! Was your? Depression making you quite passive in relation to making pals and socialising!

You've been given some sound advice-please follow it!
BUT,
I would prioritise your mood first... Please speak to your GP. I suspect this is the key to your future!

Sorry re reading your posts,i see you had a diagnosis of depression when you were studying.

Were you offered any help for this?

I am an (ex) archivist so feel free to ask me anything you want. Yes, you do need a postgraduate qualification to work in archives, yes the jobs are few and far between and the pay is pretty awful. If you don't like working with people and don't like speaking in public I'm not sure it would be right for you - you might have to give talks and if you get involved in Local Government archives there is much helping of family historians.
There is a professional publication with jobs in and also a forum where jobs are advertised with regularity. There is a post graduate distance learning qualification you can do. University archives would probably suit you - quieter and more academic. It is not just browsing through old documents (sadly). The profession is small but I don't see why you couldn't find a way in, if that is really what you would like to do.

Have you thought of working in an academic library? The pay is better than in public libraries and at least in not the food industry.

Big lack of classics/Latin teachers in independent schools. We have been interviewing, and most applicants were recent graduates without QTS. All considered. Worth a thought?

Can you touch type? If not, learn to now. I found it really useful as a way to get into admin temping and was then asked to stay on permanently.

Have you considered applying for graduate trainee schemes with large organisations? You don't need a particular degree to apply to many of them.

My P is a librarian and quite a few of our friends are archivists. They all have Pg diplomas at least, but if you could find an entry level job you may be able to study alongside. It's very competitive and not well paid.
Could you see if any public libraries near you have bank staff? Dp- who career changed- did this for a while and they would call on the morning if staff were off sick. Also- am sure someone mentioned- most universities employ casual shelvers. Maybe think about organisations you might not have- one of my archivist friends works for a tv channel and another a bank. But you are still likely to have to work in a very entry-level position for a while. And all the archivists I know do quite a lot of public speaking, so maybe you could work on that a bit?
Sorry you're having a tough time. I had some recent grad interns over the summer and the amount of experience they all had was terrifying. Very different now.

When I left school (late 80s) there were pretty much four entries into employment:-

None or few qualifications
4 'O' Levels
2 or 3 'A' Levels
Degree

Now it seems that everyone needs a degree. I worked with a girl a couple of years ago who had a law degree from a good university and she was working as an HR Assistant. She could have done that job with four 'O' Levels in my day. The whole thing makes me despair. People are being sold a dream (at great expense) that doesn't exist. More graduates does not equal more graduate level jobs.

So, I do sympathise with you. However, much as you feel down about it, you need to snap out of the 'woe is me' script. It oozes from your post in buckets. Yes, it is tough but there will be many people in the same position as you. You need to elevate yourself above the masses and stand out. How are you going to do that? How are you going to impress an employer and make them want to employ you? It sounds as if all you have done is apply for one job that floated your boat and moaned that you are incapable of doing anything more than a cleaning job. Get out there and do lots of different things that interest you; volunteer at the local animal rescue centre, start a blog, organise a charity event, go and shadow people doing jobs that interest you, help the village association to edit their website, etc, etc. If you do lots of different things with zeal and enthusiasm eventually something will stick and lead you in a different direction.

People want staff who are positive and get things done. You don't need to be an extrovert but you do need to reframe the situation and take control. You are in control of your own destiny.

I was like you....I went to Uni to do vet sciences and hated it, dropped out second year and was told i could do Genetics or nothing else. It was pointless because I hated that more- i graduated with a 2:2 (was involved in a very unstable relationship) and didn't have a job.

I applied anywhere and everywhere- you have to keep your options open and really throw yourself into the market. I got on to the NHS graduate scheme and paid for myself to study Social Work six years (and one mortgage and two children later).

Is this where I thought I would be when I was 18? No way....but it isn't all that bad.

BakeOffBabe is so right.

My mother left school aged 16 in 1953 with her School Certificate (I think 5 O-levels). She got a good job as a trainee in a bank.
When I was 16 in 1981, the same job (although easier because calculators and early computers were in evidence) needed 2 A-levels.
When my son was 16 in 2009, the same job (although even easier because computers were much more advanced) needed a degree.

Employers just keep pushing up the requirements, because it's the only way they can separate the sheep from the goats. Not because the jobs are harder - because as explained above, lots of them are easier.

I knew this in 1981. Really feel for you OP, you've been sold down the river. But you're not the only one, there are thousands of new graduates every year who genuinely expect to walk into jobs as the equivalent of Richard Branson's deputy, on the strength of their degree.