30 year old arts graduate struggling to get by

johnboy92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941203#Comment_118941203

I know people in academica. They earn less than me. It wont buy a house on one income. To be honest if it wasn't for the attitude towards renting in Ireland Id be content as is. My salary doesn't deny me of anything, expect home ownership which in Irish society is paramount, I feel like Im totally looked down on for not owning

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941221#Comment_118941221

Just put on your tinder profile that you own your home.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941221#Comment_118941221

Actually, reading this, I take back the academia suggestion. Good luck with the career/wind-up.

berocca2016

I’m a bit confused, I took on two grads last year at 35k each (I checked this is the going rate). If you can’t seem to breach 30k you must be marketing yourself wrong…

would You go to a careers coach ?

The bang of troll off this is something else.

johnboy92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941288#Comment_118941288

What industry? Marketing with 5 years experience is under 30k unless you will do cold sales

Kermit.de.frog

I echo the positive sentiments regarding the OP and wish all the best.

To be honest my immediate reaction to the title of the thread was this must be a piss take or something.

It is a salutary warning though - don't do nonsense degrees if standard of living is a priority for you. If the area is your passion, something you love, and you want that degree by all means but be sure you understand the impact that can have on your earning power and accept that. Do your research.

There are too many people taking the type of degrees that are too numerous these days that will just land them in trouble really later on.

4 years in College is not a frat party although many treat it that way. It will probably determine how you have to live your life afterward, what you can and can't do, your prospects.

It's a serious choice.

My strong advice OP - go back, get a degree in finance or computing or pharma etc - some area in real demand paying good money - see what appeals to you. You have plenty of time.

johnboy92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941303#Comment_118941303

The problem with that is I dont have plenty of time. the cut off point for a mortgage is 40. And 5 years in college again means living at home like a child in to my mid 30s. So best case scenario I buy at 40 and can start living then?

Thanks to the housing market emigration seems the only option

YellowLead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941221#Comment_118941221

If the only thing that bothers you is other people’s attitudes and not actually the fact you don’t own your own home....maybe shift your attitude to not caring what other people think? You’re only 30...too young to be bitter.

You seem to be good at creative fiction. Maybe focus on that?

StupidLikeAFox

Are you in the social housing list op?

Kermit.de.frog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941348#Comment_118941348

If I were in your situation i'd go back.

Do a degree in a field that appeals most to you that's in demand. Believe me you will be far happier with a decent wage in your mid 30's than you are now.

As for being 40 and not able to get a mortgage. That depends on your income at the end of the day.

Up to you but i'd go back. A small thing but there are back to education allowances to help you too.

Also you live with your parents. So what? You going to let pride get in the way? No one cares whether or not you live with your parents.

berocca2016

You don’t need to change your degree. The example I gave is financial services.

You have a good undergrad from a good college. You just need to find out how to leverage it. Most jobs don’t specify a certain type of degree.

My degree is technically Economics and Social Science, except practically in reality it’s low on the economic front. But 10 years post college, it doesn’t really matter a hoot.

Brucie Bonus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118940494#Comment_118940494

Parties with the same conservative values are why society took a step back. There are generations who thought themselves lucky to have a job who never had the opportunity to choose what career they followed. Thanks to parties with conservative values the number of people in that position is growing. The reality is you can work hard all your life and never own your own home. Its just becoming more common. What people could do in their 20's and 30's is now taking till their 30's and 40's.

I'd be open to a complete career change, lowering my expectations or emigrate, if I were you.

johnboy92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941390#Comment_118941390

If not for pride it would not be an issue. Its renting thats making me feel worthless, living at home would be worse.

johnboy92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941397#Comment_118941397

So you think I can leverage enough to make the 60k needed to buy within 30km of Dublin on one income?

berocca2016

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941405#Comment_118941405

Yes, get yourself out there, talk to recruiters. Pay for a career coach.

johnboy92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941438#Comment_118941438

I have tried recruiters, its always sales jobs they bring up for the salaries of 40,000. I did some sales before and its hell

berocca2016

You could try Aldi ?

https://www.aldirecruitment.ie/area-manager-programme/career-changers

Kermit.de.frog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941448#Comment_118941448

If you aren't trolling you need to wake up.

You'd scoff at around the average annual gross salary in Ireland (45k) because you hate sales?

Why do you deserve the 60k plus you seek? Most people work hard to get to a point of earning over 60k. What skill set do you have encompassed in your arts degree? What experience do you have?

You're being given suggestions and advice but don't seem to take any.

johnboy92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941471#Comment_118941471

I expected to be a media manager or organiser for an NGO or union from my degree

Kermit.de.frog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941477#Comment_118941477

Do you go through your life expecting things?

Look, I wish you the best. I'm out.

Phil.x

Art and work don't go hand in hand. Art and college courses are seen as a wasters course, if you want good money it takes time and dedication..

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941477#Comment_118941477

You don’t see any conflict between roles like that and your stated conservative values?

johnboy92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941499#Comment_118941499

As I said I was a socialist in my youth, it was working and not being able to live outside house sharing while unemployed people are housed just because they choose to have kids that changed that

ewiz9

A friend of mine who did a 6-month springboard tech course moved from a retail sales position to a company with 45K/year. You could alternatively get an MBA.. which would help you get a high-paying job.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118940349#Comment_118940349

You don’t seem to have learned much from the last 10 years… your skills are not particularly marketable and will not allow you to command the income you need to meet your lifestyle expectations. Yet you seem to be unwilling to up skill despite having the ability to do so. And of course your misfortune is caused by the foreigners.

Nobody owes you a living so you have two choices - sit around and whine about your sense of entitlement for the next 40 years to retirement or go and do something about developing a marketable skill set. The choice is yours.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118940426#Comment_118940426

Moving to another country requires significant savings to cover deposits on housing, the cost of living etc. while searching for a job. Do you have these savings in place?

How is a limited visa in Canada going to change anything for you? You’ll be two years older with the same skill set and Ireland’s approach to housing won’t have changed.

You need a better plan to move forward….

mcmoustache

I don't think this is a troll post. He's not that far from my own attitude re not wanting handouts or living with parents so I can understand where he's coming from.

I don't want to be repeating the same advice as half the people in this thread have provided but I'm going to do it anyway and reiterate the point made by our Donald Trump in this thread because it seems to have gotten lost:

Get into something tech-adjacent. You don't have to "learn to code". Even in a small team of 10, there are Project Owners, Business Analysts, Manual Testers and Automation Engineers (the titles might vary between companies) as well as coders. Within a company, there are also sales staff, customer support and various levels of middle-management, HR, Marketing, other Admin etc. Depending on the company, coders could be as little as 5% of the workforce The reason that tech is being advised is that there are lots of ways to get your foot in the door and it pays well once you have some experience under your belt. You might join a company as tester on 30K as your first job but once you have some experience, you can move about, either internally or to other companies and the salary goes up fairly quickly. People in the thread are advising tech because it fits what you are looking for.

You might not want to go into tech (or finance but I can't speak from experience there) but I can't think of any sectors that are that accessible. A one-year course gets you an entry-level position in tech. Other vocations that pay well demand longer in terms of education. Trades pay well and don't need years of education but if office work is what you're after, that might not be the best option.

I get that you have certain types of jobs in mind but don't rule out tech. There's way more to it than coding.

Annasopra

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941388#Comment_118941388

I suspect the answer is "Oh no. Im too good for that with my UCD degree"