Currently I am job hunting. The process is not going well. Ideally I am looking for something in the legal sector given that's what I have been studying for the last few years. The gold standard would be a training contract that would allow me to become a solicitor however there aren't that many going at the moment.
I have been slowed down a bit in the process by a couple of factors. Firstly there was the fact that I had a resit a few weeks ago which knocked my confidence severely. I have therefore been reluctant to send out CVs with the exam outstanding on it. Secondly is a general lack of confidence in my abilities. I have a good degree from a very good uni, a range of extra curricular activities and interests to talk about and a few positions of leadership and responsibility to my name. Unfortunately so do most others in the job market. I read a column by Boris Johnson a few years ago speaking of his frustration at being almost entirely unable to distinguish between candidates when recruiting for a job.
As a result of this, I have been extremely cautious about sending out CVs which I know is about the worst thing to do. However the near-constant rejection is soul destroying. Then again, so is the fact that I don't have a job and therefore a waste of space.
A bit of a lift came on Friday when I received feedback from a CV review by my college saying they thought it was very well written. A minor victory I know but still a confidence boost that will hopefully bear fruit.
Part of the problem is my academic history so far. A lot of jobs won't touch me because they know that's not what I want to do and I will be off like a shot. Fair enough. I don't hold it against them. Unfortunately, this extends to a lot of graduate level jobs too and ones that I would be perfectly prepared to stay in for the long term. Because I have now done the professional practice part of my law course as well as the academic stage, it gives the impression that I want to be a lawyer. That's true to a point, I wouldn't have done the course otherwise but it would be nice to be able to communicate discreetly that I really am open to a better offer if they've got one. Law was a decision made with the head not the heart: good salary, bearable hours, vaguely engaging subject matter in that order. Because of this, I am more than happy to consider other things on similar grounds. Obviously some element of interest would be fantastic but there are very few things I can think of that I find interesting that could be converted into a career. Grrrrrrr!
Hopefully I will find something soon:s
JR
I kind of know what you are going through. Not personally but being close to people who have or are...specifically in the law profession. I have a close friend who has just started a training contract after doing the GDL and the LPC and he was so very lucky to have secured a training contract (albeit delayed for 1 year) when the vast majority of his peers haven't managed to do the same and many are not likely to regardless of how much effort and money they have already put into themselves. I also know someone who completed the BVC and he is unlikely to ever see pupillage. It's a really sad state of affairs and such a massive gamble at the start. I wish some other professions (i.e. Medicine) knew how lucky they are in so many ways compared to those in other professions.
ReplyDeleteBluebandage, thanks for the moral support. I think law is becoming the first resort for the terminally unoriginal who see it as a decent job with good pay that is reasonably recession-proof. I'm probably not helping myself by trying to get something that utilises my scientific background. At least studying it has given me a shed load of transferable skills that can be taken elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteI agree, other professions have it, if not easy, then at least considerably more straight-forward. They could do with a bit of a reality check.
Ah well, perhaps the government will realise that they need a whisky ambassador and let me travel the world drinking scotch on expenses!
JR