Jobseekers: Are you too good for them?

Faithful to my mission, this blog was originally set-up to document the journey into the "real world" straight after graduating from my Bachelors degree. As my followers have witnessed, I kept up with the fast moving pace of politics and international relations by attending international summits, putting my heart into volunteer projects, and establishing fantastic contacts which pushed my career foresight to completing a postgraduate degree in Diplomacy.

Two months since graduating, I can't help but ponder how I managed to establish a brand for myself with great credentials and good professional experience, but still finding it incredibly difficult to compete in the marketplace. Not only was I unlucky to graduate at a time when the economic crisis showed its ugly face in 2008, but one would have thought that two years later, the economy would have picked up just a little bit! This is far from the truth. Unlike the United States which is steadily moving out of high rates of unemployment, the United Kingdom seems to be taking two steps back in pulling itself out from this economic depression. Unless you are a labourer or a senior anything, you're bang out of luck in the UK. Not only is there a recruitment freeze in all government sectors - local and central - but even an unpaid internship is not an option for me. Sourcing from feedback I received from a London-based embassy, my credentials and experience was too strong for an internship because they believed I would not have gained anything remarkably valuable from the experience. Another source told me that my resume was "impressive" and I was an incredibly strong candidate, but there was a "high calibre of excellent candidates that made the mark better". What does this mean exactly? Perhaps I shouldn't have bothered to pay for my postgraduate or UN training if in hindsight I knew I would be turned away for my credentials. Political professions seem to think that I have my "foot in the door" already, but I shake my head vehemently at that remark, living at home and being too afraid to spend what little money I have to my name. 

From my short experience in the hunt, I have one advice for jobseekers: don't sulk! Keep your skills sharp and read up on the area you claim to specialise in, because once you do get your big break, you need to stand out and know what you're saying. As one of my strongest skills, I am still networking, HARD, and have managed to set-up 'informational interviews' with career diplomats and the like as a means to get my name out and establish relationships for future endeavours. Working out is a great way to keep your mind from getting cluttered by a dark stormy cloud, and constant interaction with friends is a great fluff-buster of thoughts that may ordinarily stop you from sleeping due to stress. Here I sit, writing these thought with a cup of McFlurry, and hope that everyone who has a job that they love are thankful every day for it. I know for a fact that if I managed to get my foot into the sector of my choice right now, I would excel in that role at every capacity possible because I would want to prove to teammates that I am extremely glad to be there with them!