Fed up with college life and want a job instead

Vlove

Basically to give you a sense of my backstory, after I finished school, I did two FAS courses which were related to office stuff. Then I did a PLC in business and now im doing a diploma business course which im nearly finishing up and hoping to do marketing. However Im just so sick and tired of going through an absolutely long education route thats leading me to nowhere. Its absolutely ridiculous and frustrating that I cant find a job that doesn't require a degree when I feel I'm over certified (if thats the right word). I sent out CVs, emailed queries, rang companies, interacted face-to-face with them, etc but no absolute joy. Even the summers are worse like these past summers as well as the upcoming summer season, theres nothing I can find to do unless if I have hobbies but I mean you want something productive to go along with them too!

Im 24 and just feel so lost. I just want a damn job man and cant take this stupid long educational route no more. Any suggestions would be grateful and for the ones who want to judge here negatively, please keep it to yourself thats all i ask..

You'll be long enough working..an extra couple of years in college now and you will be thankful you did it for the rest of your life..

Edit..I don't mean to be judgemental..I dropped out a couple of times around your age..got a job..15 years later Im sorry I didn't make more of a go of college..

qwerty13

A lot of the larger companies won’t even look at your CV unless you have a degree. And that’s for people with experience. If you do want to make a career in marketing, you need to stick with the course

Vlove

Deleted User wrote: »

You'll be long enough working..an extra couple of years in college now and you will be thankful you did it for the rest of your life..

Edit..I don't mean to be judgemental..I dropped out a couple of times around your age..got a job..15 years later Im sorry I didn't make more of a go of college..

No its grand but at least you got one like consider yourself lucky mate!

Vlove

qwerty13 wrote: »

A lot of the larger companies won’t even look at your CV unless you have a degree. And that’s for people with experience. If you do want to make a career in marketing, you need to stick with the course

Yeah I tell ya theres too much favouritism going on in like you could have neither experience or a degree but still be successful. Thats what I just can't understand like its pure disgraceful!

Arrival

Vlove wrote: »

qwerty13 wrote: »

A lot of the larger companies won’t even look at your CV unless you have a degree. And that’s for people with experience. If you do want to make a career in marketing, you need to stick with the course

Yeah I tell ya theres too much favouritism going on in like you could have neither experience or a degree but still be successful. Thats what I just can't understand like its pure disgraceful!

...if you're a hiring manager for a moderately sized to large company and you have loads, most likely hundreds, of CVs from applicants to get through you are going to establish basic requirements to sieve through them and find a suitable candidate and since the majority of applicants will have degrees, which will likely include some period of relevant work experience, it's really not too surprising that they would weed out people without degrees. Surely you're reasonable enough to put yourself in their shoes and understand this? This is just how it is, so you can complain and moan about it all you like but that's just a waste of time and energy and results in nothing whereas just deciding to stick it out and putting that energy towards working hard will actually give you very positive results...

Rubberchikken

finish up this year and apply for work.
same jobs dont require a degree.
you mention marketing. is this going to need more years in college? is it something you actually want to do?

bottom line..what job do you want to do?

qwerty13

Vlove wrote: »

qwerty13 wrote: »

A lot of the larger companies won’t even look at your CV unless you have a degree. And that’s for people with experience. If you do want to make a career in marketing, you need to stick with the course

Yeah I tell ya theres too much favouritism going on in like you could have neither experience or a degree but still be successful. Thats what I just can't understand like its pure disgraceful!

In my experience, that simply is not true re favouritism shown to people without a degree or experience. Why would anyone take the unnecessary risk?

It may be true in SMEs / family run operations, but they historically have tended to hire people that they know anyway. I’m not aware of many smaller businesses that would have much budget to spend on active marketing anyway - other than outsourcing advertising budgets to an agency. I don’t know if they would tend to fund a full time marketing employee. Have you researched this?

punisher5112

Can you work part time to get work experience on your CV and also consider charity work or likes of order of Malta or red cross etc...

These will all look good.

Noo

I know several people who dropped out and never finished their degrees. Didnt seem to bother them for a while but when they hit their 30s and started needing to make some life decisions, not finishing college was the number 1 regret. One went back to college in their 30s, one had to cancel his plans to emigrate with his young family (didnt have the qualifications for the visa), and most of the others are just bitter that their college educated peers have better paid jobs and more financially secure, while theyre still living at home "saving for a deposit".

I'm not saying that you'll fall into any of the above categories, but for the sake of a couple years sacrifice now, it'll pay off in the future, even if you cant see that far ahead now.

Johnnyhpipe

I was always thought that education is no burden to carry.

I remember being so pi$$ed off by my final year in college. My mates were working and had bought cars/mopeds/went out all the time.. and i had no money and was just reliving groundhog day in college.

I’m now earning good money, (graduated 15 years ago), I’m happy and have everything I need.

My advice, you’ll be working long enough. Stick with college for now. It will stand to you in the long run.

listermint

Sign yourself up to temp work asap. Often reception work leads to foot in the door of places and transfers to internal teams which you prefer is vastly easier. I've seen many people go this route successfully.

xi5yvm0owc1s2b

Vlove wrote: »

Yeah I tell ya theres too much favouritism going on in like you could have neither experience or a degree but still be successful. Thats what I just can't understand like its pure disgraceful!

OP, 32 percent of Irish people in the 25 to 29 age bracket have a degree and a further 15 percent have both a degree and a postgraduate qualification. That means that if you don't complete your degree, nearly half your peer group will be better qualified than you, and they will be considered ahead of you for the best jobs.

It's neither "favouritism" nor "pure disgraceful" that people who have spent years studying hard at third level get preferential treatment in employment.

So knuckle down, stop complaining, and get your degree. You will regret it down the line if you quit now.

Ursus Horribilis

A few years ago, I came across a diary I kept during my last year at university. I'd forgotten how utterly fed up I was of studying at that stage but it was all there on the pages. I'm working nearly 20 years now and have never regretted having that degree. It opened doors for me at the start and possibly helped me edge ahead of others when it came to promotions/job hunting. I've also come to realise that studying and working at the same time is really really difficult for me. Once I started working, I grew to love the feeling of not having to study and feeling guilty if I wasn't doing something. I loved the free evenings that suddenly became available. That's something that I found difficult to give up when I went back to do further courses in my 20s and 30s. Especially when I'd come home from a hard day's work feeling wrecked and want nothing more than a nice evening to recharge the batteries. I also got quite rusty at writing essays. These were things I could knock out without breaking into a sweat when I was a full-time student. 10 years after graduating, writing an essay that wasn't particularly difficult was a real struggle. These are just some of the reasons why I think young people are better off getting as many of their qualifications done while they're still full-time students.

Whether you like it or not, a degree/masters has become the equivalent of the Leaving Cert when it comes to many jobs these days. I don't agree with it in all cases but that's the way the jobs market has gone. You're competing against people who've graduated from college with degrees and masters. Why would someone pick you over Mary BSc or John MA? Unless you're lucky and find yourself in a job that has a career path that'll lead somewhere, you're at risk of moving into dead-end jobs. Especially now that life-long learning has become quite common and you have people in their 30s/40s still studying and adding to their armoury.

coredev123

I was the same OP. I found 4th year of college tough with the workload first semester. The second semester was easier, but I was tired. I loved the first 3 years, the best time of my life so far. I never missed a day in my 4 years.

I'm out 11 months at this stage, I've worked for 9 of those, and I'm currently looking for a new job. I miss college a lot at times, so cherish it while you can. I miss seeing my friends every day and going for pints at lunch.

Always Tired

I only read the OP not the whole thread but at first glance I feel the problem is you are not passionate about what you are studying.

It often is the case when people are studying business or marketing, they do it for the practical career aspect but the reality is that those who are successful in those fields are really into what they are doing. If not it's very boring stuff.

Being passionate about your field may sound more like something an acting or art student may say but when you enjoy the field, regardless of what it is, you won't be itching to get a job you will be immersing yourself in the field and gaining all the knowledge you can, because this is the time to do it. You have your whole life to work. And anyway, work sucks (other than the money aspect, but if you want more money you should try and get the highest degree you can)

Also, have you thought about how privileged you are to be in college and be able to afford it? Ask a young person in America what they would give to be that close to getting a degree for so cheap and whether they would stick it out or get a job instead.

Perhaps get your degree and for the next step figure out what your passion is, and try and pivot to that in a way that you can still use your degree in some way.

If you really just want to work, save some money and emigrate. The economy is still crap here for anyone new to the job market. Basically, it is tough even for new grads. You'll not even be a grad. If you think sticking at the course is bad, chances are the type of job you'll land will be even less satisfactory. And theres at least parties and girls/boys/whatever at college.

joeguevara

Fact of life is some jobs require third level. Others don’t. It depends on what you want to do. A degree or masters won’t be any assistance in some careers and are a pre requisite in others. If you are nearly finished stick it out as giving up may have a bigger impact. Wish you the best.

Nikki Sixx

Unfortunately a degree in Ireland in particular is the minimum level of education you need for most jobs. You are young, a year or two at your age won’t kill you. I would sit out your current course at least and see from there.

shesty

It's about giving yourself options OP.If you find it hard to get a job now, imagine how hard you could find it in ten years time when you need something that pays more to buy a house/help support a family etc, with no qualifications.What do you want out of life?If you expect a certain standard of living and options to go abroad/move around jobs/give yourself the best chances that you can, then yes, education is what you need.