Like many others (I imagine), I finished university with not a great deal planned. An ideal world hadn't presented itself to me. My first & second year delusions of grandeur hadn't quite materialised.
I must say that I was fairly fortunate in that respect, as I managed to (by some luck) land a pretty good contract position at a Financial 'Big Four' firm. The work wasn't exactly related to what I had become newly qualified in, but any working position gained in a market flooded with overqualified graduates was a welcome bonus.
This sweeping generalisation cannot of course be mistaken as the case for every single graduate; there are many people that have completed their undergraduate and graduate studies in recent times that have carefully planned and executed their aims. I do not feel however that I am in the minority by quite a considerable margin.
It's been around sixteen months since I first fell into full-time working life; and it was around one month ago that I fell back out of it again.
I miss the views that had greeted me each day on my way into the office, such as that pictured above (my own photography, by the way). I also miss the vibrancy of London - I can categorically say that I did not once become bored of the scenery. The city was illuminated during the Summer, boosted in particular by the electricity of the Olympic period.
All of this was brought to a very abrupt halt, however, and the reality of a contractors working life was made very clear.
It has it's pro-points of course:
(1) it's very flexible;
(2) it pays generously (for some), and;
(3) it is apparently more available.
I did not particularly like it, because:
(1) it is almost always a means to an end for anyone in a similar position to mine;
(2) progression is based mainly on fortune;
(3) it isn't a very settled working environment;
(4) you will rarely be paid for sick/holiday time, and;
(5) it can all be ended far more easily than in the case of a permanent employee.
It wasn't until it happened to me that I took into consideration all of those that I had seen come and go in the contracting world across an array of projects and placements. It is very difficult for me to imagine being in a position of breadwinner without having the security of a permanent place of work. Nonetheless, this mode of working life appears to often be the only recourse - and can very often be the best - for those that need a comparably strong income for a reduced amount of responsibility and "out of office-hours" devotion of precious time.
The latter is describing the circumstances of a more, shall we say 'mature' clientele, but it is for exactly the same reasons that persons of graduate age are becoming engrossed in a cycle of weekly invoicing that funds the frivolous spending of which students have been deprived for 20-25% of their lives. A sudden influx of disposable income instigates and encourages an extended period of a consumerist lifestyle reminiscent of scaled down millionaire playboys.
Although this is, or so I'm told, a fantastic relief in the wake of three-plus years of economic deprivation, it is quite short-sighted and seductive. If I am being quite honest, I would have likely continued to tread water in a river of consistent and quite comfortable income had I not had my lilo involuntarily punctured.
Now there is some evocative, if not narcicistic imagery for you.
It is only now, after a firm boot to the backside, that I have decided to consolidate my efforts into pursuing something that has been a whispering undercurrent to my academic career, and an enjoyable mainstay of my extra-curricular life. My die-hard and fanatic worship of Ricky Gervais tells me that one of the best and most simple pieces of advice that I can follow at this point is to "write about what you know".
I'm hoping that I can prove him right. Starting with this blog.
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