Advice for the Unemployed Grad

I’ve learned a valuable lesson over the last few months.

In fact, I’ve learned quite a few.

I was no doubt in the vast majority when at school and when at college. I was bright, but never had any real ambition. There were things I wanted to do, places I wanted to go and people I wanted to meet – but career-wise?

Nothing really stood out on its tiptoes.

I coasted through exams and partied my way through university – never thinking any further ahead than the next day.

People used to always ask what I wanted to be when I’m older.

“Dunno”, would be the usual reply.

I suppose I always saw myself in a traditional 9-5 job, get up for work in the morning, come home in the evening and enjoy my weekend.

That was all I knew.

My dad had done it, my brother had done it, my uncles had done it…

I was no different.

Then came the luckiest break of my life…

…unemployment.

I was one of 47,000 unemployed graduates in the UK in 2009.

Where was my 9-5 office job that I thought I’d end up in?

Wait…

…I found myself having to actually work in order to find work.

Out of nowhere came a passion and a desire to find employment that I never knew I had.

But what was it I was looking for? A job? Money? Happiness?

This made me stop, and think to myself:

What do I actually want out of life?

Do I want to travel the world?

Do I want to be a family man?

Do I want a traditional 9-5 job?

The fact is; I came to realise that money really isn’t everything.

Rather than finding a mundane job so I can pay the bills and do what I want to do in my spare time – why not decide what I want to achieve, and then aim for that?

I wanted to write. I wanted to work in my own time, and be my own boss.

So, who cares if I’m making slightly less money – I’m doing what I love.

Would you rather enjoy yourself at work every single day, or trudge through a job you hate for 40 hours a week, only to earn a few measly pennies more?

What’s my point?

Ask yourself what you want out of life.

Don’t jump into a job because it gives you money.

You want the extra money so you can afford to do the things you love, right?

What do you love?

Do you love cruises?

Why not work on a cruise? Then you get PAID for doing what you love… every single day.

Do you spend your extra money on books?

Become a writer! Work in a book store! Work with authors!

Do what you love and you will be happy.

That’s the goal, isn’t it?