The Frustration of Post-Graduate Reality: A Diary
By Shelley Murphy
Photography by Elizabeth Hunt
I look back on the last few weeks of my final year of college as a fond memory. Even though it was only a few months ago, compared to my current reality it was absolute bliss. The coming together of stressed, caffeinated students seeking validation from one another: “Have you left out chapter 3? I think it will be a multiple choice!” The communal slump at around four where we sluggishly exit the library to grab a well-deserved sweet treat. The ambition about what comes next.
Unfortunately, this bliss was ignorant of the hardcore adulting that follows in post-graduate life. The endless interview processes. The websites where you submit your CV that you procrastinated for hours, and then it makes you manually fill in every single detail. The eagerness to ‘prove to employers’ that you have what it takes, only for CV workshops to emphasise that ‘Employers only skim through CVs!’
Why is it normalised that what we have spent up to four years learning, specialising, group project-ing is not sufficient to get the job? Numerous Dublin-based jobs with exciting prospects and opportunities to ‘climb the ladder’ seem like a starting point. But with a cost-of-living crisis, and entry level salaries whittling down to minimum wage, it is overwhelming entering the so-called ‘adult world.’ Not to mind when you finally find something that matches your college qualification, it demands ‘Minimum 2 years experience’ and ‘Masters preferred.’
So where does that leave us? For most, it takes settling for discomfort. Underpaid and overworked, constantly referred to as ‘our new junior starter’ and being delegated ugly admin tasks. For others, it serves as a time to play. To work odd jobs, save, travel, and experience what life has to offer before settling down. For me, it leaves me in a spiral of self-doubt, guilt about not being productive, and ambition and desire for the career I truly want.
The only advice I have had for myself, and for others is that ‘It’ll all work out.’ But maybe it is time to start demanding more from our work. We are not supposed to be just merely a cog in the working wheel - we have passions, dreams, charisma - and this is not to be boxed into just-above-minimum-wage roles with zero scope for creativity. I say, forget the standard that we are held to by academic advisors and intense interviewers. Take your time and don’t rush – find out what draws you in and what pushes you away. And do with that what you will.
