# I wasted my time at university



## movingonup (Nov 9, 2016)

Warning... self-loathing post coming up.

I feel like I wasted my time with university, and with education in general. I was one of those people who got top grades in almost everything, from high school right through to completing my degree. I enjoyed studying and it was something that came naturally, but I honestly wish I hadn't bothered getting myself into debt. I wouldn't be any worse of if I had failed at my education and had no qualifications to my name. 

I have seen people who failed their GCSEs (high school here in the UK), who then did a HNC (vocational training) and got company funded. They are now earning £40k, despite putting in nowhere near as much effort as me and frankly, they are not as intelligent as I am (I'm not boasting, it's the truth as I went to school with them). I did what I was suppost to do and it has got me nowhere.

But graduates can apply to top jobs, right? Wrong, not unless you went to a target university or if you have high powered connections who can give you a leg up. I have spent days completing applications for graduate schemes, as many of them require me to write 5 x 250 word essays just so I can apply (no I'm not joking), only to get rejected anyway. Regular jobs don't bother replying to me, in fact it is very rare if an employer gets back to me at all. 

All I want is a career and chance at life (in my late 20s...) yet I am not even allowed that. I have done everything that was asked of me - I went to university, I got work experience, I volunteered. I know there are other in my situation, and there are many graduates in low paid work, but I am seething in anger at being in this situation. It looks like my only option now is to re-train and go to graduate school, costing yet more money that I don't have and more years of my life. I am just so fed up. The whole education system is a sham and I wish I had never bothered. I wish I wasn't so gullible to believe that hard work pays off.


----------



## nubly (Nov 2, 2006)

Just keep on looking. You'll envetually find a job.


----------



## movingonup (Nov 9, 2016)

nubly said:


> Just keep on looking. You'll envetually find a job.


I received three rejections today. I need to find a good field that I can retrain in, hell I need to leave the UK whilst I'm at it.


----------



## naes (Nov 1, 2013)

What did you major in?


----------



## movingonup (Nov 9, 2016)

naes said:


> What did you major in?


A "hard" physical science with a GPA equivalent of 4.0.


----------



## naes (Nov 1, 2013)

movingonup said:


> A "hard" physical science with a GPA equivalent of 4.0.


What was the science?


----------



## Calix64 (May 22, 2014)

I am in a similar situation also. I majored in Engineering and due to not networking in college and the fact that I made a 2.87 overall I have not found a job in my major. To be honest though my depression hindered me from applying as much as I should have and haven't looked for a job in my major in two months (too lazy to apply and I have a job in something else). To be honest though, I never got a single interview for an Engineering job earlier this year when I applied. I would be making now over 60k and I am making under 30k in something else but glad to have a job. It took me about 8-9 months to get a job at all after college. I wonder how much debt you have though. I do have debt a bit over 6k because I lost a scholarship during my first year of college due to almost flunking out the first semester. You are very hard working though if you volunteered. I just waited until I got my first job to get paid. I don't think I could work for free. I am lazy and there some incentive must be there for me to work.


----------



## ThatQuietGirl02 (Jan 14, 2014)

I am 29 years old and in the same boat. I graduated with honors from a highly rated private college and as far as actually helping to gain employment the degree has done nothing. The thing is I knew the world was like this while I was going to school so I TRIED to pick a degree that hopefully wouldn't be as difficult to gain employment in. Unfortunately now days it seems to be the case with no matter what degree you choose. In some states there are nurses who are unable to find employment now. 

If I could go back in time I think I would have spent those 4 years doing something else. Because now days it seems to be all about who you know and not what you have earned. I have ultimately accepted the fact that yes I went to school like many others and also like many others it has done nothing for me but be a life experience. So right now I am just hopping around between jobs trying to find something that doesn't make me want to pull my hair out or shoot myself.


----------



## nubly (Nov 2, 2006)

ThatQuietGirl02 said:


> I am 29 years old and in the same boat. I graduated with honors from a highly rated private college and as far as actually helping to gain employment the degree has done nothing. The thing is I knew the world was like this while I was going to school so I TRIED to pick a degree that hopefully wouldn't be as difficult to gain employment in. Unfortunately now days it seems to be the case with no matter what degree you choose. In some states there are nurses who are unable to find employment now.
> 
> If I could go back in time I think I would have spent those 4 years doing something else. Because now days it seems to be all about who you know and not what you have earned. I have ultimately accepted the fact that yes I went to school like many others and also like many others it has done nothing for me but be a life experience. So right now I am just hopping around between jobs trying to find something that doesn't make me want to pull my hair out or shoot myself.


I'm not sure why millennials think things are different but it's been like this since the '90s. You just have to keep on looking for a job until you land one in your field.


----------



## ThatQuietGirl02 (Jan 14, 2014)

nubly said:


> I'm not sure why millennials think things are different but it's been like this since the '90s. You just have to keep on looking for a job until you land one in your field.


Because there are articles and articles writing about it and telling everyone how bad it is NOW. How graduates NOWDAYS cant find work after finishing college. There are also people who talk about when getting a degree was actually worth something and helped you gain employment. Unlike now where it is a lot like a highschool diploma and everyone has one.


----------



## TheWalrus (Jul 6, 2012)

I received a rejection this morning from a job to which my friend referred me (He has a bachelor's degree), and that put me in such a sour mood that I completely sabotaged an interview I had this afternoon. I graduated with a Master's in Urban Planning last year and could only get two temporary positions between June of last year and today. Both positions did not require a job interview and were completely irrelevant to my field. If you are socially inept like I am (which might be the case for most people on this forum), it is going to be a miserable experience to find a job, especially as you watch some of your colleagues not only get their first job, but get promoted to executive director during your second year into job hunting. There is no phrase that annoys me more than "good luck on your job search." In short, I do not have the answer to help you, but don't plunge into debt by pursuing graduate school unless you are that eager to learn. Everything is so customer service oriented that personality trumps credentials.


----------



## Tofuescape (Jul 18, 2016)

Join the club, if you haven't noticed there's a trend of this happening. There are too many educated people and not enough jobs. This is is the case in the UK and US apparently and in other countries. Technology and population is the issue. Anyway either start your own business or get on linked in and work even harder to network or apply to contests or send priority mail letters directly to employers... it's pretty much like Hunger Games out in this world today. I have a biochemistry degree and tons of research experience and clinical lab experience and I had a paid internship at Berkeley National lab I work in a call center (pharmacy call center) ?. Education isn't as important as it was made out to be neither is being intelligent. Social skills is probably a better a better asset in today's society. You have to con your way into worthwhile employment now days.


----------



## unpossible (Aug 7, 2015)

well my friend that makes two of us. the funny thing is majority of you are very intelligent unlike me, I had OK grades but a completely useless and irrelevant degree. 

Reality: go to college/university, be social, party hard, drink, get sub par grades, by the time you graduate your friend's parents, colleague or relatives will hook you up at their company/firm/employer for a kick***** job. moral of story? nobody gives a flying f*k how hard you worked. you need to sociable, outgoing, good looking, bubbly, shallow douchbag


----------



## 99er99 (Nov 25, 2016)

There's a lot of reports in the UK about falling living standards. I can relate as I can't even get a job and have no income. I am one of those at risk of "poverty and social exclusion" - if it wasn't for my parents. It's a damn joke, it really is. The jobs I apply for all "prefer" (want) a masters. Why should I shell out thousands more in loans just to have a 'chance'? This is an absolute joke. The world is getting worse. If the people with jobs are seeing their living standards and wages decline, what hope do the young and unemployed have? I haven't even been able to begin my working life, let alone a career. All I have had is odd jobs here and there... admin, call centres, volunteering. What are people in my situation suppost to do? The government talks about there being more people in work, but they are in **** jobs on a **** wage. People basically live on credit. I honestly think a lot of us will emigrate in years time, maybe south america or Asia. I wish the rich *******s who hold all the wealth would lose everything. The reality is they have done nothing for it and got everything handed to them on a plate.


----------



## Glycerin (Jun 26, 2016)

If I could go back in time and give advice to my younger self it'd be to drop out of university.


----------



## futuremaster (Nov 27, 2016)

I feel you dawg. Whats all this 'hardcoded' **** this forum is giving me?


----------



## SunFlower2011 (Nov 30, 2011)

I feel the same. University does not reflect the what goes on in the workforce. I think HR recruiters today are completely lost. Many do not see the respect and value of holding a recruiting position; its just call this person to see if they are good, then move to the next person. They will call you for a job interview, yet, they most likely will not call you to let you know how you performed (whether you didn't get the position). 

I do not get why recruiters cannot take what you have to offer at face-value. You always have to fluff things up or exaggerate or even lie. It's so stupid and this problem plays out into society as a whole (marketing, etc).


----------



## railcar82594 (Mar 1, 2016)

ThatQuietGirl02 said:


> Because there are articles and articles writing about it and telling everyone how bad it is NOW. How graduates NOWDAYS cant find work after finishing college. There are also people who talk about when getting a degree was actually worth something and helped you gain employment. Unlike now where it is a lot like a highschool diploma and everyone has one.


Exactly, because the msm has been supporting Obama's and the left claims for his years in office, that the economy and the job market was getting better when it was in fact getting worse domestically. And most people got jobs or had to transition to jobs that were beneath their education.


----------



## h2016 (Dec 1, 2016)

A masters is the new bachelors degree.

I've been rejected for graduate programmes because I don't have a masters, even though my major directly related to the postion and it was entry level.


----------



## Jpatter (Dec 20, 2016)

It's not the end of the world. My mom got her degree in chemistry and worked for a smaller company for a decade. Now she works for one of the top companies in the world for her type of chemistry. Life doesn't have to be so rigid as to be in top everything. Just get started in your field and do good work and overtime you could get picked up by a large company.


----------



## afeerah (Dec 10, 2016)

Find entry level jobs, work those, until you can quit to use your degree on something, pretend you are the boss not them lol because you got the degree, time to put it on your chest like the shiny medal it is and learn to talk yourself up so hard they will have nightmares for letting you get away


----------



## rensational (Apr 10, 2012)

I am years removed from going through this. I don't know about the UK, but in the US going to grad school just puts you in a bigger hole--it doesn't open more doors. I graduated from college in 2003 and couldn't find a job, got rejection after rejection, etc. I went to grad school 2 years later for something that everyone thinks makes you 6 figures a year when you graduate, and same thing--no jobs, rejection after rejection, etc. 

I hate when people do like that one user above and are like, "what did you major in?" expecting you to say Women's Studies or English and ready to put down anything that is not Law, Medicine/Nursing, Comp Sci/Technology, Engineering or Business/Finance. At this stage in my life, I have pursued three of the industries I just listed after some coursework or even full degrees and hit walls with two, just never being able to get that first job opportunity. Lots of time and money wasted. I will say that I currently work in IT, and I have honestly had to do some lying on my resume to get an opportunity in THAT field. Plus, I'm still fairly underpaid given my educational background and student loans, and I work with guys who have never been to college and one of them has already commented on it (which has happened to me on other jobs). I also worked with a guy who, at the time, had a fiancee (they're now married) who finished nursing school and ended up having to take a job in Retail because she couldn't get a job in nursing. 

Basically, it damn-near doesn't matter what you major in, so stop asking or making that "point." 

This stuff screws with your dating life, too, and not just your sense of self-worth or whatever, especially if you date women. Most of them act like they can't look around or look at the news and see all these people with degrees struggling because we were lied to about the doors degrees would open. This is especially true if they are one of the lucky ones who got degrees and then were able to start good careers. So, you don't make enough money or have a good enough job or you don't own all this stuff or you are currently unemployed, and 98% of women hold it against you regardless of what's going on in the world or what kind of effort you give.


----------

