Blogs: Serena just doesn't know what to do with herself

Post 1, February 2013

The novelty of graduation has worn off, you're living back at home and everyone is asking you, 'what are you going to do now you have graduated?'

But you're unsure and don't have an adequate answer for them. But then you get the inevitable follow-up question, 'well what do you want to do?'

'Well, I still have no answer for you,' you think, feeling more and more lost.

I kept hoping that by the time graduation came round I would know exactly what I wanted to do in my career, that I would have had some sort of epiphany.

You may know how it feels - when your friends seem to know exactly what they want to do and are sending off countless job applications, whilst you are sat filling in a career planner for the umpteenth time. It can be frustrating even deciding whether to go straight into a job, to apply for a graduate scheme, do postgraduate study or just somehow make enough money to go travelling.

If I knew one thing upon graduating, it was that I wanted to do something I loved - I wasn't going to do a job I wasn't interested in, no matter what the salary. I also knew some areas I didn't want to go into, for example teaching or retail. This list will probably continue to grow through trial and error, but we graduates have to start somewhere.

Since graduating I have had numerous jobs, from working at high-profile sporting events to cycling in the rain to do housekeeping, cleaning at a police headquarters and more recently getting up at 4:30am to sort mail. 

Although none were what I wanted to spend my life doing, and were mainly to put money in the bank and keep me sane, they were all character building, offered valuable experience and allowed me to meet some wonderful people and potential job contacts.

Since leaving university I have come to realise you cannot wait around for an epiphany that may never happen. Time can never be retrieved so start doing something now.

If you don't know what you want to do it doesn't matter. In fact, it is somewhat liberating - this is a time in your life when you have few ties and are free to do anything.

Any volunteer position or work experience will help build up a portfolio of transferable skills highly valued by employers, and you may end up finding your niche in a job you didn't even know existed.

Keep up to date on international affairs, as many companies look for graduates with commercial awareness, particularly in the fast-paced world we inhabit today.

Despite the popular slogan, things don't come to those who wait, so start searching for something you love and then figure out a way to get paid for it.