Unemployment is ruining my life

LegacyUser

I just graduated from college a few months ago. I have an English degree and no job. I work one or two days a week part time, but my hours have been cut and I'm on benefits. That would all be bad enough if I didn't have to cope with my parents. They insist I need to get a real job, move out and get a life, which I would be glad to do if I could.
The situation has put a major strain on our relationship. As the days go on they're becoming more and more annoyed with me that I haven't got a job and insist I'm not looking hard enough. Maybe that's true but I honestly don't know where to look. There are little to know opportunities in my field of study and I have no applicable skills. I can't even afford to do a postgraduate degree (I was hoping to get a job and save up for one).
It's really starting to get me down. Their attitude really isn't helping and I really dread talking to them because I know they'll start telling me off. I can slowly feel my self respect dying away. I feel like rubbish. I want to stay in bed all day. I'm even starting to wonder if I shouldn't just kill myself - I feel like it would be a favour to everyone.
I really need advise. I don't know where to turn, how to handle this, or what I can do to get myself a job and get out of this rut.
I've considered leaving the country too, but my parents are against it.

Darkginger

Go where the work is , if that's what you want to do. In the country or out of it - it's up to you, not your parents. The 'kill yourself' comment sounds like a drama-teen-wobbly - stop doing that! You're an adult now, surely? Act like one. Just look around for the type of work you want to do, and apply for it.

Not being able to get a job as soon as you start looking, and experiencing a little parental conflict is totally normal. Best thing you can do is find a way to become independent from your parents, and make a life for yourself. Move out, find a job - any job, not an 'I'm a GRADUATE' one, work as a shelf-filler if you have to - pay your own way and make your own life. If that means moving abroad, so be it - what a great opportunity!

Respect your parents, but show them you're an adult now. They have their opinions, but it's YOUR life - go carve it out for yourself. Best of luck.

Ainekav

if you can move abroad then do - you are old enough to make this decision without your parents.

But first look for a job here. Hit the pavements, make a rule that you can't pass any shop without handing in a CV, thats what I do - otherwise I start getting picky. You cannot be picky.

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if you are in a small town, i would try for a month or so more and then make plans to leave. if you are in a city I would give it a bit longer. If you have no savings then you are in a bit of a pickle and you will have to persist with the jobsearch more vehemently and for longer.

Get someone to look over your CV and make sure its up to scratch.
best of luck

ps. nothing wrong with being on benefits, and you say you are also working part time? sounds like your parents are being unfair.. try and save as much as you can, even if it means no socialising or clothes etc. It'll be worth it if you can get enough money together to head off

Sleepy

Harsh reality time: a degree in English qualifies you for nothing (especially one that didn't teach you the difference between 'know' and 'no').

Apply for everything going, whether it's low level admin in an office or shelf stacking in Tesco.

Or, learn to cut the damn apron strings and if leaving the country is what you want to do: do it. Unless you're a child prodigy that's graduated with a bachelors degree at the age of 12, it's time you stopped acting like a 12 year old and learned to take charge of your own life.

seachto7

Get a loan. Do a week/weekend TEFL course.
Research TEFL jobs. Get on a plane. Work. Pay back loan.
Save for postgrad. Job done.

Overheal

fuffered imuniteH wrote: »

I just graduated from college a few months ago. I have an English degree and no job. I work one or two days a week part time, but my hours have been cut and I'm on benefits. That would all be bad enough if I didn't have to cope with my parents. They insist I need to get a real job, move out and get a life, which I would be glad to do if I could.
The situation has put a major strain on our relationship. As the days go on they're becoming more and more annoyed with me that I haven't got a job and insist I'm not looking hard enough. Maybe that's true but I honestly don't know where to look. There are little to know opportunities in my field of study and I have no applicable skills. I can't even afford to do a postgraduate degree (I was hoping to get a job and save up for one).
It's really starting to get me down. Their attitude really isn't helping and I really dread talking to them because I know they'll start telling me off. I can slowly feel my self respect dying away. I feel like rubbish. I want to stay in bed all day. I'm even starting to wonder if I shouldn't just kill myself - I feel like it would be a favour to everyone.
I really need advise. I don't know where to turn, how to handle this, or what I can do to get myself a job and get out of this rut.
I've considered leaving the country too, but my parents are against it.

School of hard knocks: English degree? Sciences, Engineering, Economics, etc. - those land jobs. Arts degrees do not. Not in a recessionary economy anyway. In a boom economy sure.

But aside from that.

Teaching positions, Journalism, Book Writing? Proof reading, Customer Service Representative, Authoring technical manuals, Speech writing, English Tutoring, English Lessons for 2nd language speakers, etc. There are applications for your degree but they are admittedly slim picking. You will have to turn every rock and lick at every piece of mold to get what you're after.

karaokeman

Sleepy wrote: »

Harsh reality time: a degree in English qualifies you for nothing (especially one that didn't teach you the difference between 'know' and 'no').

I would certainly not recommend Arts bashing as that will get the OP no where. There are many, many Science, Engineering and Economics graduates on the dole.

But I do agree with the above posts about moving abroad. I don't know anyone (even with degrees) who would want to stay in Ireland their whole lives. Explain it to your parents that you're ready to bite the bullet. Show confidence and tell them that you want to be independent, to embrace the world on your own.

I wasn't really independent of my parents until now (20). It can take time but they will understand if you show them you actually believe in yourself.

LegacyUser

OP here.
Anyone that doesn't have anything constructive to say can keep their opinions to themselves - I feel bad enough without having my choice to do what I was passionate about bashed. (Especially from people who can't excuse a single typo)
Thank you to all the people mature enough to give me reasonable advice. I really think it is time I started looking abroad. I have noticed that there are a lot more opportunities in the UK for people in my field, so I guess it's time I stopped procrastinating and started really looking over there. I have a TEFL cert as well so maybe I can start looking at positions in Asia, or somewhere where the recession isn't as bad as here. I really wish things were easier but I suppose that's just the time we live in.

LegacyUser

do TEFL! seriousley just google it, having a degree and being a native english speaker are ususally the only requirements for the job.
not saying it will be great money, but enough to live on nd a great experience, being in a foreign country and gaining skills.
a less dramatic route than hopping on a plane to Korea, would be to do a TEFL course here (get a loan - itll be worth it) and start appling for jobs in europe, when you get one move out there (with most langugae schools the staff all live together so it should be cheap and not too intimidating), the english teachers often do english language city tours and things like that too, so you could make a bit of extra money to save for a postgrad back here.

take a risk!

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tenchi-fan

What would you do a post graduate degree in? Oscar wilde? I think you have enough study done for a while. Move out of home as your parents seem to be a drain on you, and get serious about jobhunting.

Darkginger

That's great that you've already got a TEFL qualification - have a look at places in the UK that are popular with foreign students - like Brighton, for example - it's got loads of language schools - only an hour from London on the train, a great place for socialising, lots of bedsits, temp agencies for work until you find something permanent, and close to Gatwick so you can get home quickly when you want to, also close to cross channel ferries so you can go exploring France or wherever if you're interested in working on the continent.

Also consider applying to something like the UK civil service - there's a huge variety of jobs available for graduates, pretty well paid and good career prospects. I'm an English grad myself - it worked for me Maybe look at the COI, think about doing PR work, that sort of thing - your degree is well suited to it, and it's interesting work. Most (if not all) government departments have PR people and press offices - sure it's the same in Ireland (though have no personal experience of it here), should you decide to stay in the country.

There's so much out there once you start looking beyond your local area. Start by getting a basic job to support you whilst you're looking for something better, and then try to find a way into something with a career path.

Another idea would be to get a job somewhere in an academic support/admin role - like in a University. You'll find that many offer free tuition to employees (did a postgrad diploma for free when I worked for a Uni in the UK) - probably after a qualifying period. Working in academia is brilliant - loved the time I spent doing it! I could have done a Masters for free if I'd wanted to (well, if I hadn't taken it into my head to move to Ireland, tbh!).

I actually envy you, being at the beginning of your working life, with all the opportunities available. Sure, we're in a recession, but there are jobs/careers out there - you've got a degree, you've got a TEFL qualification - you're well ahead of the game. Hope I've given you a few ideas

OP, seriously, if you have a TEFL cert, there is NO excuse for being unemployed. There are TEFL jobs available all over the place and a lot of them are well-paid. I don't know how you can say you 'don't know' how or where to look for a job. What kind of attitude is that? Google key words and find some job sites like everyone else does. Stop feeling sorry for yourself for no reason. If you're able to live at home and you have good health, you're already much better off than a lot of people, including myself. Stop wasting your time in Ireland. Get a TEFL job somewhere else (in Korea, you usually get a free apartment on top of a decent salary) and save up as much money as you can while you keep looking for jobs related to your degree.

I am a friend

In the meantime make sure you are helping your parents around the house unprompted...

Don't be sitting in under their feet all day. Research your options and advise them of your plans. Maybe they see you are lacking motivation and it's frustrating them.

SlimCi

If you REALLY want a job to earn money and to get a foot in the door of a possible future job I would recommend you go into your nearest FAS office and ask them about the temporary Christmas jobs with An Post. I know quite a few people who did this that now have permanent positions there now. I think ANY way you can get a foot in the door of a big company would be of benefit. Experience stands for a lot. Offer your services for free for a couple of weeks - and if you're any good they will keep you in mind for any future positions. You have to be inventive and willing to sacrifice your pride and ASK for a chance at a job even if you have to do it for free for a while. I know its hard, I spent about 5 years out of work in the 1980's but got into the insurance business doing cover for secretarial people on their summer holidays. I went up and down the South Mall in Cork for two years covering temp work on my own steam and through word of mouth. Eventually I got a permanent job in Irish Life, which was a great opportunity. You also need to know your limits on what you are willing to do and what you would like to do and whether you can afford to be choosy. Hope this helps. I'd say your parents think you are not doing enough to help yourself and they are trying to encourage and egg you on. Think of it this way, if you had to put food on the table for a family and were not getting benefits what would you do? Work in McDonalds, Tesco, any damned thing at all......

seachto7

You could do a post grad in technical communication, and become a technical writer. Not a lot of graduate jobs in it in Ireland at the mo, but there were, and it's not bad money, if a little boring. I did it for a while.......

I had an arts degree and did TEFL too.....If you have a foreign language you would have a VERY good chance of getting a job in France for example, or Italy.........

Overheal

Yeah I think I said it earlier in a dumbass sort of way, but TEFL is a great idea If you're already certified all you really need to do I'd wager is find someone already organizing classes or start organizing yourself. In Ireland at least I always saw advertising for them inside of Libraries on the bulletin boards. Going abroad would be an even better idea not to mention a pretty adventurous experience.

FlashD

This might interest you.

Look at the EPIK & SMOE (Seoul) programs for Korea, JET for Japan, these programs are for teaching conversation english in public schools.

The next intake for EPIK is at the start of March, start applying now, you can go through a recruitment company like 'Footprints'

I'm not sure about JET in Japan.

Alternatively you could check for jobs that are available right now in Asia.

You will have your own apartment, make a wage, save money and see a bit of the world, EPIK Korea.

With no experience, Korea is the number one place to teach ESL as far as benfits and cash go.

Taltos

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Eve_Dublin

seachto7 wrote: »

You could do a post grad in technical communication, and become a technical writer. Not a lot of graduate jobs in it in Ireland at the mo, but there were, and it's not bad money, if a little boring. I did it for a while.......

I had an arts degree and did TEFL too.....If you have a foreign language you would have a VERY good chance of getting a job in France for example, or Italy.........

...or Spain! Like I'm doing now! If you need advice, you know where to find me (hope this is not breaking the rules...just offering my assistance to the OP if he needs it).

kylith

+1 for the TEFL! There are many agencies which will even place you in schools abroad, even as far-flung as Japan. They'll arrange accomodation, work, etc. and all you have to do is work, and enjoy learning a new culture. It can be a great way to save up some money for returning to education when you get home too. Anyone I know who's done it has had a blast.

seachto7

I only mentioned France and Italy, as I have experience of living in both and taught TEFL in Italy.
I'd say lots and lots of countries open up to you as far as TEFL is concerned. Who knows, you might like it, come back and do a HDip,or you might learn a new language, and come back to something related, and swing a job out of it......

IrishEyes19

Sleepy wrote: »

Harsh reality time: a degree in English qualifies you for nothing (especially one that didn't teach you the difference between 'know' and 'no').

Apply for everything going, whether it's low level admin in an office or shelf stacking in Tesco.

Or, learn to cut the damn apron strings and if leaving the country is what you want to do: do it. Unless you're a child prodigy that's graduated with a bachelors degree at the age of 12, it's time you stopped acting like a 12 year old and learned to take charge of your own life.

OP, you need to be saving at least 100 euros a week for a year to save for a postgrad, they level off at around 5,200 euros some of them. what exactly do you want to be. Its not difficult to achieve this. just walk into any place and ask for the manager, coming up to christmas, they will need extra staff. but time to get up now and do something. you are being slightly lazy in that respect. time to make a plan, a goal for next year. I get where your parents are coming from, they put you through college through some form I imagine, and you cant live of them for the rest of your life. at least if you try harder and make plans, they will see you are making the effort and that will get them of your back.