Liz's job log: 10

The story so far... Liz recently graduated from the University of Glamorgan with a degree in journalism. She has just spent three months in Ghana getting experience of broadcasting and newspapers there.

Back to reality…

Three weeks into my return to the UK, and my life consists of CV updating, job hunting, more job hunting, and in my spare time (which I have way too much of), job hunting. That’s the problem when you go away, you forget that you have to come back to exactly what you were doing before you left, or in my case, minus the full time job in insurance. Reality has hit hard. The first two weeks were a blur of seeing friends and family, talking non-stop about adventures in Ghana, showing everyone my 1,000-plus photos - explaining each one in detail - and of course, eating much missed food that was often the topic of conversation whilst I was away. My sister arrived at the coach station to pick me up, lovingly armed with cheddar cheese and a Lindt Easter Bunny - I could not have asked for more.

It’s funny how being back in Wales feels almost like having to adjust to another culture all over again (despite it being my own). I became so used to the hissing, the constant ‘I want to be your friend’, and the fact that I never had to wait for transport… and now, I walk down the street and I am anonymous. No one stops and asks for my number, I have made no new friends since being home, and when I’m strolling down the street and I get a little thirsty, I have to go to a shop to buy some water - no one is selling it in 500ml sachets on their head - which is a shame. I find myself constantly saying ‘in Ghana’ and ‘well, when I was in Ghana’, followed by some need-to-know fact. Something I feel may be getting pretty boring to those who were, sadly for them, not in Ghana!

Are we still talking about the credit crunch?

So, the credit crunch is still hitting the front pages and by all accounts, it is getting worse. That does not bode well for job hunters like me, especially in the field of journalism. I have taken to applying for anything that has a slight link to journalism or writing, as well as, oh let’s see, bar jobs, shop jobs, temp jobs… perhaps not quite what I had in mind upon my return, but when you have as many travel plans as me, you have to start somewhere. Although, if anyone asks (here, read my Dad), my plans consist of starting out on the road to my career and nothing else. Certainly no more travel for me…

Of course, as I have explained before, if a job comes along that I want and (wishful thinking alert) got offered, I would probably scrap any further plans to travel as there is a big part of me that really wants to start concentrating on my career. Of course, if I’m working somewhere that is not exactly ideal or even worse, nothing to do with the media or journalism, I will be saving those pennies and hopping on the first flight out of here.

London calling?

I have considered different routes of course. Another option for me at this point is freelance journalism, which is easier said than done. If you read the many articles there are floating around on the internet about how freelance journalism is dying out, and how it is hard to make a living from it, and so on, it kind of dampens your cunning plan to make money from this ideal job and gain experience in print. It is certainly not quite the easy option it appears to be; write a few hundred words on a topic of your choice, get paid a tidy sum, see your name in print - and all from the comfort of your own home.

I admit now may not be the best time to be unemployed, an unemployed graduate at that, but I will remain positive, even though I hate, hate, hate job hunting. Although, I do feel like I’m back to square one, the experience I had whilst in Ghana was worth every stolen item, every moment of sadness I feel in being back at home, and every frustrating moment I experience when ‘No job listings in this area’ appears, after I have meticulously entered details into a search engine, only to find that what I am looking for does not exist in Wales.
 
Can I hear London calling?

Read my previous job logs

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