What do I do pls

[helpmehelpus]

🤔 forgive me but I have just stumbled on this thread.

My career is a big fat mess

BA in international relations and MA in theory and practice of human rights both from same uni in UK. Top uni too but no tangle job only hot job as a customer service for the past 4 years very demoralising on low pay after all the hard work to get those 2 degrees

I had a 2:1 and a merit and even got unconditional offer for PHD

Any advice on what I can do?
I have searched high and low for a decent paying job but no luck

Apply to the civil service? What did you think you were going to do?

Your uni will probably have career support for alumni so worth contacting them

As @Rocknrollstar mentioned the civil service seems an obvious option; whilst headline pay isn't great the pension is still very good and many use it as a career pathway into industry.

Law, think tanks, social work and regulatory organisations all spring to mind as potential options. Consider doing some unpaid work experience or registering with networks covering these sectors and attend networking events.

Identify your target market and 10 - 20 organisations in that field then follow them all on LinkedIn, with notifications on so you can see posts for recruitment.

Have a look on the higher education thread.. plenty of advice for people in a similar situation
also contact ur uni career service

Human rights and international development charities - Action Aid, Oxfam, Forest Peoples Programme, Amnesty etc

No offence but if OP genuinely needs all this pointing out after doing two humanities degrees at a supposedly 'top university' I despair! Surely research is one of her strengths.
A quick Google 'what can I do with an IR degree' throws up every single option mentioned here.

OP needs to explain what exactly she's been doing and what she wants so we can see where she's been going wrong.

I have contacted my uni's career dept
And they say I am not doing anything wrong. I guess perhaps I haven't been lucky although I have a few things working against me which is

1. I do not drive for medical reasons (I have seen suitable roles that states driving is a necessity).
2. I prefer remote role or local roles local to me or hybrid roles
3. all of these suitable or matching roles to my qualifications are in London and most of the time not flexible & even when I apply, no luck (the most recent application for one of those roles was a no and that really got to me because I really worked hard on that application with the help of uni career dept.)

The civil service is very hard to get into especially the civil service fast stream- highly competitive & no luck there yet for me.

I have recently decided to do MA social work because I see there is lots of vacancies for social work. But then I am trying to conclude if it's actually a good idea because I have worked hard and against all odds to obtain those 2 degrees and that should be adequate to get a decent job with good pay 💰

The civil service is very hard to get into especially the civil service fast stream- highly competitive & no luck there yet for me.

How about applying for some non-fast track roles? Once you get there and start to get to know people it might be easier to move around and find something that suits you

The early years of your career when you are finding your feet and your niche are ones when it is particularly difficult to work fully remote. Please consider whether you would be prepared to do hybrid for a few years until you find out 'tribe' and can excel and be happy largely remote again

Good luck

@FinallyHere

Oh yes, I have always looked into and applied for non fast stream civil service roles but no luck yet there too and I don't mind hybrid roles too and even though I prefer hybrid roles or remote, I have looked into office jobs too when I though I was restricting my chances and no luck too yet

Do you actually want to work in social work? Otherwise you could be stuck in a job you really don’t care about in 10 years!

Whats your dream job, what would make you super excited? What was the most interesting part of your courses?

@Georgethecat1
I am passionate about helping people fight for their rights or what is due to them

It shouldn't be this way, but I suspect 'reasonable pay' is at odds with your desire to help people. I work in international development, fully remote, but the pay is terrible.

Am I right in thinking your search has been focused on policy roles OP? These are very competitive and difficult to get, for sure.
It's been 4 years maybe you have to bite the bullet, and go for a role that doesn't align with your degrees (like plenty of other people), then work your way back in?

Maybe you can be an Operations or HR officer for a charity . Or data protection, policy and regulation? there are lots of roles like that outside London.

Or start in the private sector then move to charities.

I don't know what 'decent pay' means to you but 26 - 30K should be achievable.

@Psspsspssssss

Thanks, I have looked at and applied for other roles too that does. Not align with my degrees.
I one point I was applying for everything I see but seems the only role I get called for & get customer service jobs

Maybe you can be an Operations or HR officer for a charity . Or data protection, policy and regulation? there are lots of roles like that outside London.

These roles all need people with experience in the field which I haven't got.
I apply for all jobs both in line with my study & does that are not in line with it.
Infact at some point, I did factory job when I couldn't get a job and needed an income.

If this is the case and you want to further your career then you'll probably have to make some compromises when it comes to hybrid/local.

I used to work in Aid and Development (for a large global charity) and there are lots of roles which would enable you to put your degree to good use but you're going to need some work experience first.

Get some work experience or do some volunteering to demonstrate that you can put your degrees into practice and aren't just a serial student. You could even contact the big charities and offer to volunteer (remotely) on a project as that will help you get a foot in the door.

If you have a limited work history that'll hold you back. The CS is not that hard to get in to,but if you're not even going to apply then of course you're not getting the job.

If you're really struggling to find any othe work, you need to speak to the job centre and ask them for CV, job application and interview coaching. This is a free service.

Tbh if you've been out of uni for 4yrs with loads of qualifications and only one customer service role (what is this role?) the qualifications are getting very stale.

You need to widen your search, target CVs, and be a lot less picky!

What sort of social work are you interested in? Majority of social work vacancies will be child protection teams and I cannot imagine those would be easy without driving, i know all social workers in my team have always driven.

It is also very stressful as a career, it's a lot of paperwork and a lot less interaction with clients than you would think - a lot of people don't want to be helped!

As a social worker I would think very carefully about that career path, if I was doing my degree again I don't think it would be my career choice!

@ButtSurgery

Pls pls ready my last post before this one,

I am NOT picky at all, I have & I do apply for everything in line & not in line with my degrees

Pls read my last post

@PizzaPartyForOne thanks for your suggestions thanks I will surely bear that in mind thanks

DD and friends who graduated with 1st class degrees form a good uni, all found they had to move to London to get jobs that paid well. They are hybrid. Several had summer internships that lead to a permanent job , my DD took a lower paid job with a good company for a year and then applied for a graduate program that paid well and had a sign on bonus.

There are more opportunities these days in other places like Manchester, if you can't get into one of the big grad schemes.

OP, ordinarily your peak application potential is the first 2 years after graduation. Unfortunately, at this stage 4 years out of university you're not really considered entry level anymore.

I don't know where you live - but maybe move to a city like Manchester and try temp jobs that can lead into a different role.

NHS admin roles for example are always struggling to recruit.

Can you afford to move though? Where do you currently live?

Law conversion course maybe?

Also I suspect you will have to be open to taking a job in London, or at least one on the larger cities, for the first couple of years. You should then have more options.

How could you be a social worker if you don’t drive????

You’ve been in customer service for 4 years…. It is very easy to move up the ladder in customer service very quickly if you are smart and have drive. I know quite a lot of people who have progressed through customer service, to supervisor to manager to area manager to project management. Have you just stayed at the one level over the last 4 years?

Most roles involving international relations are going to be in London or other major international cities like New York, Washington, Brussels etc. my friends working in this field generally move countries every few years. didn't you think about that before picking a degree subject?