Sara:
When I graduated from University I had absolutely no idea what the hell I was going to do with my life. Up until then my life had been planned out, go to school, get GCSEs, get A-Levels, go to University.What now? Not wanting to go back home I decided to try and get nominated as a Sabbatical Officer in the Students’ Union, and to my utter astonishment, I won! Life was good, I was now being paid to be a student for a year, I had a rugby player boyfriend and the partying was great fun; but little did I know that when my year was up I’d really have to decide what to do with the rest of my life!
D-day came and went, the rugby playing boyfriend dumped me and the partying came to an end, the real world was calling. What did I do?
Got myself another boyfriend of course! This one lived in Plymouth, so I decided that after six months of knowing him it would be a great idea to move to Plymouth and move in with him.I managed to get a job interview with Plymouth University, my first interview after graduating, and I got offered the job. But, did I take them up on the offer of the really well paid, great opportunity for experience job, ha! No of course I didn’t!
Not being sure as to whether I wanted to stay in Plymouth or tie myself down, and, maybe optimistically, I thought there was a huge array of exciting employers out there waiting to snap me up, I declined.
Crappy job after crappy job then followed. But the boyfriend stayed put and our love and companionship continued to grow.
After a couple of years of working in retail and customer service I decided enough was enough and I should really focus on a proper career that related in some vague way to my degree in Journalism. So I moved to Cornwall to become a Client Account Manager for a specialist HGV marketing company. It was good fun and hard work but I learnt a lot. However, after a couple of years of long distance relationship the boyfriend and I decided that it was time for me to move back home.
So back to Plymouth I went, I got a marketing job in a higher education institution and so moved back up the line.
Eventually, I found myself getting an interview for Plymouth University, and this time I knew that if they offered it to me, it was mine.
I didn’t plan to make this my career, but for now it is a very secure income which has allowed me to enjoy maternity leave.
Kate:
I’ve had more than my fair share of jobs, I started in a pretty usual way as a waitress in Llangollen, did some time on the phones for a well known energy company and during university I worked for the local pie shop.
It was after I graduated and I found myself working in a florist that I realised there were only certain people I was prepared to work for and Nicky wasn’t one of them. The turning point was one winter’s day, Nicky floated in whilst myself and Dani, another florist, were up to our elbows in prickly wreaths. They were talking about Thanksgiving on the radio and Nicky pondered slowly and out loud ‘hmm I wonder if they celebrate Christmas in America, you know because they have Thanksgiving?’ Neither Dani or I could muster a response, we simply waited for Nicky to float out of the room again before we looked shocked at each other and decided we deserved a cup of tea and a biscuit. I don’t think either of us stayed much longer than a month after that.
I was determined to make it as a self employed artist, I am a hard worker and I knew that what ever I put in to being self employed I would get out of it. It was a slow start but thanks to some very supportive artists in the city of Stoke-on-Trent I started to make quite a good living. I had a studio at a contemporary art gallery, AirSpace and had regular workshops as well as commissions. As much as I enjoyed this time, meeting new people every week, seeing new places and experiencing new things, I always felt the pressure of having to look for work. The money thing always stressed me out so when a job came up at the local Museum I thought I’d try going for it and see how a regular salary suited me. It was only a 6 month contract so it wasn’t too much of a commitment. I’ve always feared permanence; I like renting, it means I can get away if I want to. I don’t have any interest in having children and am yet to be persuaded on marriage. A 6 month contract turned into 8 months, then 12 and after 2 years I found myself staring at a basement wall (no windows to stare out of) my Dad’s words ringing in my ears ‘It’s hard to get into the local authority, but it’s even harder to get out.’
Soon after I went on an amazing narrow boat based hen party and met a woman my age who worked as an outdoor education instructor. Her job sounded amazing and brought back memories of sailing holidays when I was younger. I’d started climbing about 12 month previous and decided that it would be something I’d really enjoy. The following week I wrote a letter to all the outdoor education centres in my local area, I had no qualification but I had passion and was a hard worker ‘what do I have to do to get into this industry?’
I got two replies, an interview and a meeting. The interview for a private company went well, the meeting with the local authority went better (seriously it is very hard to get out). When I asked the Outdoor Education Service Manager what I had to do to get a job with them he simply said, ‘Well Katie, you don’t have to have qualifications, they are things you can gain with experience, but what you have to have is a good character and the ability to string a sentence together, I’ll let you know when we are advertising for jobs.’
Two years later and I’m not looking for a way out, in fact I’m hankering for a permanent position and an excuse to leave the staff accommodation.
