I've just finished an MA in English and I can't find a job better than the one i had before I took the MA, a routine administrative post in a school. I don't drive and can't afford to commute which I know hampers me, but finding a job even vaguely related to my academic field and interests is impossible without experience, which I also appreciate I should have done during my university time. I was on my club committee during university and despite the fact that I enjoyed this and my MA I am consumed with anger and bitterness regarding my time doing my MA. I can't think of my university with pleasure, didn't feel able to go to my graduation ceremony and wish I hadn't wasted my time doing it. I don't know how to get over these feelings or indeed how to forge any kind of meaningful career since all I can find is Sales and Recruitment, neither of which interest me. But for the friends and partner I gained during my MA I would be completely broken by my stupidity in taking the MA and I find it hard to enjoy these wonderful things in my life because I had expected - naively - so much more from my MA and just feel totally let down. It doesn't help that people off my course have gained better jobs either through moving abroad, having done work experience which I can't afford to do any more, or just through being in the right place at the right time. I hate myself for not being able to be happy for them since my own personal development has been so pitiful.
Has anyone been in a similar situation or has any advice? I'm sorry to have written such a miserable post but I am finding it nigh impossible to move on in any way.

Hi Summerfox. It's pretty grim in the job market in general at the moment. A few years ago, I was completely in the same situation as you - stuck in a rut. I decided to re-train as a consequence and learnt to drive. I then decided to do a PhD, which I'm in the process of writing up. Who knows where I'll be at the end of it though? What do you want to do, career-wise?
It may be as much help as a chocolate teapot, but here's what I think you should do:

1) Take any job for now - just earn some money.
2) Learn to drive - I know it's obvious, but it'll make a huge difference to your job prospects.
3) I'd recommend considering becoming a teacher so that you can use your skills - but there really are few jobs for NQTs at the moment.
4) Don't feel bitterness and resentment - getting an MA in English (I got a flippin' C at GCSE!) is a massive achievement and something to be extremely proud of.
5) Don't compare yourself with others - the 'grass is always greener' syndrome can be destructive. Anyway, it's not.
6) Consider if there is anything you can do freelance. Despite what you may currently think, you've got marketable skills which are in high demand.
7) Network with other people and potential employers.
8) Don't forget to use your university careers service.
9) Don't give up.

I hope you do decide to go to your graduation ceremony to be acknowledged for all your hard work.

Best wishes.

I'll be joining you in the struggle soon enough. My MA finishes soon. I'm definitely not holding out much hope that my MA will open that many doors for me, regardless of whether I get a distinction or not. I did it in view of moving onto a phd later, though right now i'm unsure if I want to do that, and am kind of sick of studying.
I understand the bitterness you feel though. MA's arent cheap and youre entitled to expect a return, after all uni's sell it as a means of distinguishing yourself from the crowd. Unfortunately employers dont see it that way, prizing relevant work experience.

I think you'll have to grit your teeth, and accept it'll take a while before things take shape. It sucks.

You are in the same boat as the vast majority of the population, in fact you're in a significantly better boat than most - you have prospects. We're just coming out of recession Summerfox (hopefully), thousands are losing their jobs, people with many more years work experience, many of them with equal qualifications and for now the job market is dire.

The advice that Walminskipea has given you is very wise. If you can get a job take it, if then you can afford to learn to drive do that. Consider further training. Above all don't allow yourself to wallow in self pity about your prospects right now, things change. I'm probably quite a bit older than you (I'm 40) and I've seen times where there are loads of jobs, and times when there are very few - its cyclical, this won't last forever!

You don't say what you want to do, where you want to go with your life. You need to be proactive and quit the bitter pity party (sorry if my words are harsh). Many of my friends are only now getting close to where they want to go - an MA isn't a ticket to a high powered job, its another rung on the ladder that can get you higher potentially. One of my friends from my MA got a good BA, a good MA and then took a job in a shop (only thing available) to save enough money for the further MA she needs for the career she's chosen - she's pretty much as guaranteed a job as you can get when she completes this. Another is also doing a training course for her chosen profession, but they couldn't have got their places without the original MA. Some are working in shops, some in admin, biding their time til the right job that they're qualified comes around. The thing is with arts qualifications (I'm in History) you have to look not so much at the actualy qualification as the transferable skills you have unless you want to further train and specialise. Its not like some of the more scientific areas where jobs are more fixed if that makes sense.

Either way, you really need to think about where you want to go and plan how to get there - it'll take time and this is a rubbish time for everyone in the country - but until you sit down, think about your hoped for career projection and work out what you need to do to get there you aren't going to move any further. Take what you can to pay your bills and fund what you need (be that driving, training etc) and see it as a long term goal that your MA will have put you in a better position for in the long run

Hi Summerfox, feelings do pass and these really difficult ones will too. Although when you are immersed in them it really seems like you are stuck in the bitterness forever.

You have gained a great deal from your MA- friendships, a partner (something pretty special), experiences and a great deal of knowledge about an area you love. Plus the actual skills developed in research, motivation, sheer cussedness in order to finish, etc.

However, no one owes us a living. It is unfortunate but true-no matter who we are and how good we are at doing what we love to do. And many of us don't work (paid work that is) in an area that we are totally passionate about. We work to earn a living often, to provide for our families, to have some control over our housing and how we spend our leisure time with family, partners and loved ones. It is great when both passion and work coincides but for the vast majority of people in the world-it doesn't-or at least it doesn't very often. However, that being said, there is no reason you can't work towards achieving this dream. You were given some fantastic advice by a really experienced forumite on how to go about that-but you have to move forward and actually put some of those steps into action.

Don't be too bitter about being 'sold' on the academic dream-it has snared most of us at some time or other. I'm not talking here about the actual academic goals of achieving a Masters by research or doctorate-they are real things and worthy achievements in and of themselves alone. I am talking about all of the fairy tale stuff we hang on academia and pursuing the holy grail of knowledge (or something or other). Like most fairy tales, it is lovely to read about and use to help stimulate the imagination and motivation. Like the food of fairy tales-it is always tainted. Once you have tasted its fruits, you become very unhappy with reality. Get back into reality. Make some realistic plans, give yourself your due for having achieved your masters and move on to working out how to get the sort of job you would like-even if it is a bit of a compromise for a while. Its what most of us do...no one can take away your actual knowledge and delight in your actual area of study though-that will be with you always-even if it doesn't pay the bills.