13 Dec profile
Graduate sits down to discuss post graduate depression & struggle to find work
Many University graduates make the mistake of assuming that their degree alone will guarantee and qualify them for a job. Because there’s more competition, university graduates are now a dime a dozen. What’s going to separate one graduate with a degree from the next and the next and the next?
I sat down with a recent graduate to discuss what the journey has been like since leaving university and what changes they feel should be made to make the job search after university easier for future graduates. Zak Ahmed from East London was kind enough to have a sit-down interview with me and briefly discuss his personal experience and journey. He graduated with a 2:1 in Economics in the summer of 2018 and only acquired a job a few weeks ago.
I met with the graduate at his home to have the interview and when the young man arrived, he seemed happy to be there and take part in sharing his experience. He welcomed me kindly into his home. The young man had a calming and reserved aura about him.
After a few minutes of chit chat I asked Mr Ahmed about his initial outlook on finding work after he graduated. He calmly stated “I was quite positive. I mean I had some friends who had graduated before me and their experience was relatively decent, I knew it would be a struggle but not this much of a struggle”, He chuckled.
I asked if he was shocked when he got rejected from the jobs he was applying for. He quickly responded “For sure, at first I was just applying casually, but after a while I started sending out hundreds of applications and was getting rejected left and right! I thought having a degree guarantees a graduate certain jobs but I quickly found out this wasn’t the case. I went as far as applying for McDonald’s and even got rejected for that!” He exclaimed. “Around that time of constant rejection was when I found myself becoming more and more depressed and I developed post graduate depression”. Mr Ahmed looked down as he remembered a very dark period in his life.
I spoke with his mother about how this time had affected her son. She sighed deeply as she stated “It was a very dark period for him, at times it was hard to get him out of his room. He felt as though he was a failure and wasted his time at Uni. I felt very helpless as a mother”. The mother looked almost close to tears as her son held her hand. Mr Ahmed interrupted, saying “Things are much better now though, I was able to get in contact with an agency and they helped me a whole lot, I was able to feel hopeful again about my future, I just wish there was better preparation of university students for when they begin looking for work and I wish post graduate depression was a more discussed topic.” Mr Ahmed nodded with a hopeful smile.
