The Finalists

How many blogs start with the line: ‘Its been a while since my last post…’? Well, it has been a while, but with exams, dissertations, graduations and now full time job-hunting in a tough climate, the 2009 Finalists certainly have their reasons.

So, what has become of the Finalists? Was Florencia lured from the glamourous decay of print world into the bright lights of a new media career? Did Jan Sramek become that Emerging Markets/Global Macro trader at G.S? Is Jan Seifert running his own firm and championing green causes? Did one too many scandals convince Daniela to give up on UK politics? We hope to bring you updates on the Finalists over the next few weeks.

Where are the Finalists of 2010? Four years of running the Finalists blog has convinced us that writing about looking for work alongside the pressures of a final year is a lot to ask of our bloggers. So, this year, with the big noise all about a saturated graduate employment market, we’ve decided, rather than wave off our 2009 graduates, we’re sticking with them, and focusing our attentions on the experiences of those who are braving the world beyond LSE.

LSE Graduate Advance is a new blog for recent alumni, written by a variety of contributors, including members of LSE Careers. The blog is updated (regularly, her hem) with careers news and information, drawing on the new LSE Graduate advance service, launched for LSE alumni this summer.

We’re keen to hear from you if you’d like to add a blog post - anything from info and events to real-life experiences, particularly if you’re an LSE alum, could be of interest – please just get in touch: careers@lse.ac.uk

It has been a while since my last post. My only excuse is that I had not actually been job-hunting. See, I had been spending time in a safe place. That place is called academia.

For the past three months all I could think of was studying for exams. Once those were done I entered the wonderful world of dissertations and decided I had reached a point of no return until August 28^th (the official deadline). By that I mean that there was room for very little in my life but books and media theories. My long-term vision was temporarily blurred and the next exam was the next big life project. The same applied to dissertation plans, symposiums and drafts.

In a strange way I have to admit that it was a very comfortable bubble to live in. Sure, there’s pressure, but in the end all you do as a masters student is read and think about things you’re interested in – then write about it. I loved that.

Bubbles burst though, and my LSE postgrad is almost over, which brings me to my current situation: a place where things are undecided, ambiguous, and not in any order whatsoever. I am still not sure of which country I will live in, nor do I have a job, and I find myself without a back up plan. Oops.

The only thing I am sure of at the moment is that I still have to write 10,000 words on Starbucks and the corporatization of cosmopolitanism.

All of this made me think I am in the most uncomfortable place I have ever been in my life. I get worried looks from my employed friends, and my mother avoids the topic altogether at the moment. The Guardian jobs alert email stares at me every morning and my heart jumps every time I hear of a potential employer. On the upside: I am not the only one in this place, and having friends who understand what you’re experiencing makes all the difference.

In the end, it may be the most awkward and uncomfortable place, but still it’s the most exciting one. I don’t think the chance to re-invent oneself comes along very often, and if anything, this is it.

…but I found it funny. I mean, I just hope I don’t find myself in this situation come December…

My whole day today has been like one long and extremely cold shower. A New York Times article, a blog entry, and a PhD student are responsible for this, but to be honest, I am mainly responsible for my own shock. Let me explain.

While I had been having dreams of Barcelona (my spring break destination for a week), end of term parties, and the possibility of an early summer for the past few days, today I very abruptly came to the realisation that there are too many things to be done in too little time.

I believe I am not alone here. All of a sudden we have more essays to write, a dissertation to plan, and exams to study for. Well, let’s be honest, it’s not ‘all of a sudden’, it just feels like it. The PhD Media student who gave us a talk today on how to prepare for exams made that painfully clear. After the first five minutes I knew I had not planned enough for um… anything?

Now I am seriously wishing my days had more hours, that I could go on with only a few hours of sleep, and that my concentration powers were infinitely greater than they are right now.

And yet, all of these things seem small in comparison to the daunting prospect of job hunting because, even though getting a distinction would be nice, it won’t determine where I’ll live and what I’ll do for at least the next year of my life. So instead of carefully planning my studying strategy (or doing meta work as a friend of mine called it) I am looking for possible jobs and imagining myself in a wide range of positions (Account manager? Deputy editor? Barista? Yeah, I’ve been there, in my mind at least).

All of this as I try to push away thoughts of the credit crunch and the unemployment rate, which has not been easy lately. The New York Times is calling college graduates the new generation OMG. We’re the first to job-hunt during The Great Recession. College graduates themselves are starting to wonder Is This the Worst Year to Graduate College Ever?

Right after reading those two articles I had two reactions: At first I was terrified and thought I would never be able to join the working class which seems more and more elusive by the day. As a postgraduate student, further study is not an option at the moment. Nor is an unpaid internship, or volunteering if I ever want to pay back my loans.

My second reaction was more of an observation: both articles seem to claim towards the end that because college graduates are facing such terrible job market conditions, they’ll be so much more creative, resourceful and inventive in order to become part of the workforce. In other words, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.

If the worst of circumstances can bring out the best in us and make us more creative… that makes me a bit more hopeful. I’m still on full panic mode about school and future jobs, but somehow I’m a lot more motivated and determined to get it all done. Maybe it has to do with reverse psychology, whenever someone tells you that you can’t do something it just seems natural to turn around and say: ‘Watch me.’

Two weeks ago I had two job interviews: one for Facebook and one for the UN (the last one was an exam actually). All was good with the world and I felt like I could avoid the credit crunch, get a job for the summer, and go furniture shopping at Ikea (in my mind, the ultimate symbol of independence). New media industries are growing after all, and the world always needs more diplomats, right?

As it turns out, I’m right back where I started.  My interview with Facebook went quite well, but I was told from the very beginning that an offer for the job I applied for had already been made, and would I like to apply for something else, in Dublin maybe? So I said yes, and I’m still waiting to hear about that position. This was the first time that I had gone to an interview for a job that did not exist anymore. That threw me off a little bit, as the interview turned into a ‘I like your CV but have no clue of what to do with it’ and ‘I like your company but where would I fit in?’ conversation.

So. There’s still hope I guess.

The UN exam was more straightforward but I must admit that I was surprised at how slow their recruitment process is. The exam itself was four and a half hours. It was handwritten, which in my opinion is a big mistake. Having to write a radio cut, a speech, an oped, a press release, and a short script for a video is fine by me if I can type it all up. But let’s not whine about it. I handwrote the entire thing.

After we handed in the exam we were told that the results would be posted on the website ‘sometime between June and December’. Wowzer.

And what would happen after that? I would wait probably another six months to hear back from the first round of interviews, and then the same for the second round of interviews. Maybe I will be in the UN employment roster in two years. Just maybe.

So here is a list of the things I learned from my two little job adventures:

• The UN is the probably the biggest bureaucracy in the world. If you want to work for them in a few years best thing is to apply right now. I still want to work for it though.

• Going for a mock interview at the Careers Centre will definitely boost your confidence but it cannot possibly prepare you for every single interview scenario.

• I will not start dreaming of my very own Ikea decorated flat just yet…

Today, the LSE’s Career Service has organised an excellent talk about “Green Collar Jobs”. First and for those not so familiar with this very recent term, let’s define Green Collar jobs as somehow environmentally-friendly occupations or lines of production. If you want to have a wider idea about the whole concept and its politico-social dimension, you should read the excellent book “The Green Collar Economy” by Van Jones! For anyone else: I guess the most common idea is to work for a company producing renewable energies but obviously the spectrum is much wider. The EU estimates that in 2005 already 3.4 million people were working in the eco-industry in Europe. This is more than in car-manufacturing (2.7) or chemicals (2.4 mio).
Anyways, I have been working a bit on the Green Economy lately in some freelance activity and found it obviously appealing to learn more about it also from the employment perspective. In fact there is no clear career path if you are interested in a Green Collar Job. Read the rest of this entry »

As pretty much every single student in this university knows, Facebook has become the ultimate, most essential social networking site - ever. For those of you not on Facebook (what is wrong with you?) please click here.

My parents obviously don’t get it, and over the holidays my mother even expressed her concern over the time I spend on the site. Sure, I procrastinate, but just the healthy amount. I figure it teaches me how to work under pressure.

My point is, I recently clicked on the jobs section and applied for one of their positions in London. Just like the UN form, all I had to do was upload my CV and write a paragraph about me. Fun!

After I sent in my application I thought, will they Facebook me to see what I’m like? Too late to untag myself from all the pictures where I don’t look like a responsible person who has only healthy fun. Oops.

Well, I guess it didn’t matter much, or they really didn’t Facebook me because I got an interview with them on Monday! I am of course a little bit nervous but so excited about possibly working for a company I genuinely love, know a lot about, and is right in my field of study (Media, in case you were wondering).

I guess this is one of those if-you-can’t-fight-them-join-them situations? Nothing would make me happier.

I thought my first post would be about the credit crunch and about the media dying, and unemployment, and will I ever be able to find a job in the industry? Because that’s what everyone seems to be talking about these days.

Since December I have been involuntarily collecting unemployment stories form friends, friends of friends, and complete strangers who have been fired. How one day you show up to work and your computer is locked and you’re escorted out of the building. Yikes. How the company will no longer pay for your business card so you just have to print your own. How the office environment is tense and jumpy. How they ask you if you mind another one-month contract because they don’t know how much longer they’ll be able to keep you. That’s all I’ve been hearing, which is why I thought it would be really depressing to start looking for jobs right now because, you know, the UK is now officially in a recession.

So, instead of going into a credit crunch analysis and what that means to young graduates, I will write about how with very little effort I find myself a little bit closer to my dream job. It’s still a bit surreal and it was definitely the last thing I was expecting. It all started at the LSE International Organisations Day. Really? Really.

To be honest I was not even sure of why I went. It was near impossible to get tickets for it and you had to be at school on a Saturday at 8 am. Those of you who went there will remember the long lines to get in, and the even longer lines to get a cup of coffee at such unmentionable hours. I went to talks all day and I was secretly furious at myself for thinking I was actually going to get a job right then. Most presenters referred students to their websites, required years and years of actual experience, had little time to have one-on-one conversations and did I mention they said to go check out their website?

All I walked out with that day were free pens and plenty of pamphlets. No job. I did however, find out about the UN’s National Competitive Recruitment Examination, which was something I had never heard of before. Each year different countries recruit for different areas and luckily for me, Mexico was recruiting for the Public Information sector, which is basically their media department. Perfect. The application took me no more than an hour. I sent it during my lunch break and didn’t give it much thought because, what are the odds of the UN actually wanting me to work for them?

Well, a few weeks ago I found out I had gotten through the first round. It was completely unexpected - in a good way of course. I guess what I’m trying to say is that even when the circumstances aren’t optimal, even when you think it’s pointless to attend careers events, or apply for jobs that seem unattainable, and even when everyone keeps saying it’s difficult to find a job… it’s still possible.

I’m taking the exam in three weeks. There’s no guarantee whatsoever that I’ll get it, but I will never again underestimate myself. I don’t think any of us should.

One of the aspects I love the most about LSE is just how international it really is…I have met classmates, friends, and, yes, even long-lost relatives here hailing from all over the globe.  I find this to be the environment in which I feel most comfortable, and being here has only furthered my already-longstanding desire to do something in the field of diplomacy.  I always hope to be in a situation where I can meet as dynamic a community of people as I have here.

While on the whole I’ve enjoy living in London (except for today), I came to the realization last term that my passion for politics might actually require my being a UK national in order to apply for any government-related civil service streams. Barring this minor handicap, I will continue the attempt to find something in the UK political/public policy sector that does not have citizenship strings attached to it.  But in the meantime, I will tell you about my experience taking the US Foreign Service test, in the hopes that it may shed some light on those of you considering working for your own country’s foreign ministry, irrespective of whatever citizenship you hold.

The first step requires sending in an online “application packet” as part of your test registration.  This involves figuring out which “track” you want to pursue.  They also ask a few personal questions involving your background and why you wish to pursue a career in the foreign service.

Read the rest of this entry »

[Pre-emptive knock on wood] I haven’t so much felt the credit crunch. I mean, the wicked sales have been duly noted and I am trying to cut back on spending…but more out of solidarity. Truth is, I’m not living off of my own money. As a full-time student, I never really had any money (that’s not actually the government’s, my family’s or a bank’s) to spend…or lose in the first place. So, because I live in this strange bubble of academia, the crisis seemed more like a case study- something I read about, tried to understand, squinched my eyes up and hoped wouldn’t ruin too many lives and made me worrying about my parents’ pensions, but not so much about me… At least not until my friends started losing their jobs, my flatmates started worrying about theirs, and I starting thinking about my own hypothetical job. Read the rest of this entry »