Matt's job log: 3 | Prospects.ac.uk

My Prospects

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Pub log

One of the bonuses of my current part-time situation is that I have time to write. Another is that I have time to write and can do so in the pub. This, quite frankly, is awesome. And so, I sit in a warm and cosy inner city booze emporium. The weather outside is terrible but I’m safe from the elements. I have a pint in hand, am watching suits rush around in the rain, and all the while am writing this very weblog.

Despite my present decadence I have actually been into work this morning, in spite of the torrential downpour and mainly as a favour to my boss. If I wasn’t enjoying my current work, I probably wouldn’t have even entertained the idea but as happy as I am at the NHS I think I’m beginning to develop itchy feet syndrome once again. You see, I tend to get bored and restless very, very easily and I’m not sure that I’ve held down a ‘real’ job for longer than six months before deciding to find something new. I know that this situation is one which must be addressed, but at the moment I think of it as a quirk rather than a failing.

The long and short of it is that I think I’ve found an interesting job, which I’m not only qualified for but which would also be relevant to my career ambitions. The post is one of an Assistant Press Officer, and, unusually, my CV matches all the qualities which the employer is seeking. The position is based in Leicester, a city I know well having studied there for four years and a move over there would mean I’m close enough to home to easily come to see friends and family at weekends. Throw in an impressive salary and it looks like I’ve found the perfect job. With a CV in the post, all that remains is for me to beat the likely horde of other applicants, so fingers crossed and whatnot!

The end of January saw my graduation which allowed me to catch up with my course mates, who I haven’t seen in months, and also to dress like a fool for the day. Along with a hundred thousand photographs, a crying mother and my degree, I came away with a prize – ‘Best Student Performance’. I’m sure if they’d seen my daily work routine, the award would’ve gone to someone much more deserving but I’m secretly pleased that it didn’t. The last thing I won was a pretty useless Soda-Stream machine (remember those!) in 1989. By the end of graduation day, and many drinks later, I had officially designated the award ‘Best Damn Student on the Earth’ and that’s the polite version.

My graduation has stirred something within me, and I name it the ‘Academia Monster’. Sitting amongst the students, the lecturers and the professors, I started thinking about the inevitable – whether I could make a career out of being a student. Having officially stated when I’d finished my Masters that I would study no more, there’s a niggling doubt at the back of my mind. Taking on a PhD is a prospect which is growing in its allure, in spite of the financial hardships and hard work it would present. Alongside my journalistic ambitions, I’ve always seriously considered the option of working within a university, filling the heads of my students with wonder and smoking a pipe in an office crammed with books. I’m not sure why the pipe thing seems so exciting (I haven’t, by the way, had a cigarette in two weeks).

I feel that in a way I’m closer to an academic career than one in journalism. I have my degrees and really do enjoy studying and debate. Winning the award makes me think that maybe it’s what I’m supposed to do, not that I’m in any way superstitious. While it’s great to be presented with so many choices and while I’m more than grateful for the opportunities I’ve had, it is at the same time slightly worrying not knowing what I really want to do with my life. I feel that in the next few months I’m going to have to make some pretty serious decisions. At this moment though I’m still sat in the pub, and I’m just getting comfy.

Read Matt's first job log:

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