I'm Genuinely Scared Now...

[TheUnthoughtKnown]

I finished Uni a year almost a year ago, now. For the last 9 months I've been working in a bar I hate. I've tried and tried and tried to figure out what I'm going to do. I've applied to jobs online, tried to call in favours, anything. I can't get a job doing what I really want to do, what I studied for, because for every application and CV I send away, I get a reply stating that I do not have enough experience for the role. But how am I to get experience when no one will give me the chance?

 

I went to the doctor and explained how I was feeling. I'm now on anti-depressants. I feel trapped. I'm in this job I desperately hate because I don't feel capable or confident enough to do it, and I earn so little money from it that I'm struggling to pay my bills. This isn't what I had in mind for life when I went to University. Life has just fallen apart in the last few years. Very few things have gone according to plan and I just don't know what I'm going to do anymore.

[FitChick]

Can you gain experience doing volunteer work in your field? That would enable you to network. Are there professional organizations you could join?

[happydate]

I finished Uni a year almost a year ago, now. For the last 9 months I've been working in a bar I hate. I've tried and tried and tried to figure out what I'm going to do. I've applied to jobs online, tried to call in favours, anything. I can't get a job doing what I really want to do, what I studied for, because for every application and CV I send away, I get a reply stating that I do not have enough experience for the role. But how am I to get experience when no one will give me the chance?

 

I went to the doctor and explained how I was feeling. I'm now on anti-depressants. I feel trapped. I'm in this job I desperately hate because I don't feel capable or confident enough to do it, and I earn so little money from it that I'm struggling to pay my bills. This isn't what I had in mind for life when I went to University. Life has just fallen apart in the last few years. Very few things have gone according to plan and I just don't know what I'm going to do anymore.

 

What does your heart tell you what you like doing? Sometimes, there is a difference between what your true mission in life is compared to what your ambition and goals are in regards to making money.

 

Start by prodding in the heart and list the jobs your heart agrees upon. Pray for it and apply for those jobs with your credentials. Then wait patiently with joy. Jobs coming from the heart will come to you even during this tough times and always think positively that you can get the job. Dream about it.

 

[dougmccoy]

this would be unrelated to your post. but i have to say that i like your signature TheUnthoughtKnown. Pearl Jam is one of my favorites! =)

[TheUnthoughtKnown]

Can you gain experience doing volunteer work in your field? That would enable you to network. Are there professional organizations you could join?

 

I have applied to volunteer roles, but I haven't heard back from most of them. They're mostly indie films with zero budget being made anywhere in Britain, or game shows they wish to test out and film as a pilot for the BBC. I've been offered two of the volunteer positions but they clashed with my job and my boss wouldn't allow me the time off. I studied film production because, ever since I can remember, I have been in love with storytelling. I've been obsessed with movies, tv shows, books, songs, anything that tells a story I can really get into. It makes me truly happy when I get lost in these things, always has, but there are those who say it's just escapism from the real world and now I'm growing older I can't escape as much as I used to because of my responsibilities. That being said, I don't know quite what else to do. This is all I've ever wanted to do, or thought about doing. In my mid 20s now I really don't know if I have the time to start from scratch and learn someone brand new all over again. I'm not sure if I'd want to.

 

What does your heart tell you what you like doing? Sometimes, there is a difference between what your true mission in life is compared to what your ambition and goals are in regards to making money.

 

Start by prodding in the heart and list the jobs your heart agrees upon. Pray for it and apply for those jobs with your credentials. Then wait patiently with joy. Jobs coming from the heart will come to you even during this tough times and always think positively that you can get the job. Dream about it.

 

My heart tells me to tell stories. I write stories all the time; when I'm work I'm mostly coming up with little stories and ideas when I'm supposed to be doing my job. Someone once said to me, 'there's a difference between dreams and talent.' And that scares me. The reality is I may not have the talent to succeed in the only thing I've ever really wanted to do. I do dream about my jobs all the time; I dream I could be a writer one day, and create a story that envelopes you in an incredible world where all my characters seem like real people. I dream of making films, and having people all over the world be able to connect with one ideal.

 

this would be unrelated to your post. but i have to say that i like your signature TheUnthoughtKnown. Pearl Jam is one of my favorites! =)

 

Thanks. This actually ties into what I was saying earlier, but Pearl Jam's songs always tell stories. Eddie Vedder writes from his heart, and if you read between the lines of his songs, you start to figure out this whole other place that's apart from what you might think the songs are actually about.

[happydate]

Dreams and talent do coincide hand in hand. Don't listen to what people say that makes you unhappy. If you like to write and would like to be a writer one day, then this is your calling and this is your talent. Do you have the education to back it up? Are you good at it? What sort of stories do you like writing about?

 

Please tell us.

[pcplod]

I know absolutely nothing about your chosen filed. I have a niece who has just started at Manchester Uni doing a similar course, God help her! I don't think I'll show your post to her any time soon.

 

I am guessing that you probably knew how hard it would be post-uni before getting into your course, I think my niece does, but facing the reality of it is another experience altogether.

 

Having said all that, one year out of uni, fighting to get a foothold into this field, must be a pretty typical experience even in good job opportunity times, never mind like it is now. Fiercely competitive is probably a label that doesn't do it adequate justice.

 

I can only suggest that you try to take a long-term perspective on it, and try to not project on the future in an explicitly negative way. It's difficult I know, but the impression of get of people who pursue the sort of careers that you are that they have to be positive and bloody-minded in a way that us mere mortals can't contemplate being.

 

I would say that from a practical perspective, raising the point here, in a general thought-sharing forum, is not a direct approach to the problem. Have you searched out other forums that are more specifically dedicated to your interest area? Have you sussed out who are the known figures in this field in the UK? Have you found out whether they have an Internet presence on, say, Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn. Have you created accounts for yourself on such social sites? What are you doing to push your profile to the top of the $h1t-pile. That's crudely-put, but more or less sums it up.

 

What about getting involved in am-dram production? What about thinking shorter-term about getting a more flexible job, where maybe you could save just a little bit of money that might allow you to take off unpaid leave with an employer who might be more flexible in their thinking?

 

You've picked a really tough career path for yourself and what I think characterises people who succeed from those who don't are things like a hopelessly positive outlook, bloody-mindedness, incomprehensible determination, eternal optimism, and a complete and utter belief in themselves that requires a level of self-confidence that I can't even begin to appreciate.

 

Taking that all into consideration, do you think you have the 'stuff' and is it what you want to have to sacrifice towards?

[KathyM]

I think if you've been offered volunteer jobs in your chosen field, you should have taken them, even if they clashed with your temporary bar job. You can always find some random job to support yourself, but you needed these volunteer jobs to help you gain the experience employers are asking for. I would suggest keeping on the search for volunteer jobs in your field that will give you the experience you need, and when one is offered, grab it, and if your temporary job is not compatible schedulewise, then drop that temporary job and look for something that is compatible. You need the volunteer job to gain experience. That should be your primary goal right now.