Englishwoman graduates, can’t find a job ‘suitable’ for her, writes ‘CiF’ column moaning about the unfairness of having to pay back her student loan:
. Two years after graduating in English Literature, my only income has been from administrative work. With jobs in the media industry so scarce, I opted to invest a year's earnings in a postgraduate journalism course. Another year later, with an MA on my CV and all of my savings behind it, the job-hunt is now back on.
American man graduates, can’t find a job ‘suitable’ for him, gets off backside, goes round all states taking other jobs, earns money, writes successful blog about it leading to publishing contract:
A year ago, Dan Seddiqui was homeless, jobless and owed almost £100,000 in student debt.
Knocked back from 40 interviews, the 27-year-old's dreams of becoming a financial analyst were in tatters.
But, after three years on the dole, the economics graduate decided 'enough was enough'.
He left his home in California and travelled across the US, trying out a job peculiar to each state every week.
In just 50 weeks, Dan went from being a down-and-out to an Arizona border patrol agent, a jazz conductor, a TV weatherman and even a Las Vegas wedding planner.
Now he is writing a book about his journey, which has had publishers queuing for the rights. 'I wanted to experience life and find a way of beating the odds,' he said. 'I guess I was a bit like Forrest Gump, except instead of walking across America I wanted to work across it to find the answer.'
11 comments:
An external tag under valued Mr Seddiqui yet he will make the world his oyster.
The woman who thinks the world owes her a living, may have to settle for a rewarding divorce.
There's a similar story here.
If I were canvassing job applicants, I think I would count degrees in English Literature and Journalism as handicaps. They might not have the stigma of 'Studies' degrees, but they're scarcely evidence of forward thinking as it applies to employment prospects. Neither are vocational, except in the event that one chooses to stay on the academic study path (BA → MA → PhD → Lecturer → Reader → Professor is a perfectly valid career trajectory). In the real world, their value as anything other than signalling mechanisms is highly suspect.
What Dr Melvin says.
But we didn't find out how the American guy got all those jobs, if it's so easy to find a job, then why couldn't he find one at home?
PS, US 'coast-to-coast' adventures (as typified by songs such as 'Route 66', "Me and you and a dog named Blue', 'Me and my Bobby McGee', 'Promised Land') traditionally go from East to West.
It's only loony right wingers who go West to East (i.e. Burt Reynolds in 'Smokey and the Bandit' who went from Lousiana to Florida IIRC). So that makes the story all the more suspect.
"Two years after graduating in English Literature, my only income has been from administrative work. With jobs in the media industry so scarce, I opted to invest a year's earnings in a postgraduate journalism course."
Hmm, obviously her English degree didn't include any useful definitions of the expression 'dumb fuck.'
1. Just how many literary critics, playwrights and journalists does she think that the economy needs?
2. Didn't anyone inform her tiny mind that English degrees are chiefly about:
A) staying out of jail or paid employment for 3 years while drinking non-stop, and
B) providing evidence of a set of analytical skills rather than equipping you with a vocational qualification?
It's 27 years since I was (miraculously and against all odds) awarded my English degree, and I've still not been paid to criticise a single poem or novel. It's got me into many job interviews, though, which is the point.
3. So the whole using English as a vocational qualification didn't work the first time and neither did it the second time and she's still puzzled?
Mark, an interesting point, and an idea that I need to add to my own loony Right-wing world-view.
I wonder in what direction the boating party in 'Deliverance' was headed?
Apart from up the creek, obviously.
I wonder in what direction the boating party in 'Deliverance' was headed?
I seem to remember Ned Beatty's Northwest Passage being explored.
It certainly is amazing that someone with two degrees could be so naive! I am assuming she read the small print before signing up to the student loan? Obviously not, since she still seems hazy about the rules about interest charged on it. But then, this was the Guardian.
I believe American Guy should have his book listed as fiction.
Where did you train to be an agent, and what class number were you in?
Nobody identifies themselves as an Arizona Border Patrol Agent. In all my yrs as an agent and after retiring, every single agent I've ever knew refers to themselves as Border Patrol Agent, period.
American Guy say he had all those jobs in one yr. The Border Patrol Academy is for 17 weeks. And the BP academy is only second to the FBI for being the hardest law enforcement academy in the country.
And American Guy is saying he had nothing else to do so he wasted 17 weeks plus how many more weeks trying to be an agent in AZ.
First, just getting to the academy takes from 6 months to a yr. You have to subject yourself to an oral board, background check, physical, entrance exam.
Then at the academy, they can take somebody who has never heard a word of Spanish and after 17 weeks, anybody completing the course can not only comminicate but also interrogate a native Spanish speaking person. The law is divided into 4 sections. Many agents fail because of all the laws, charts, etc thay have to learn. Then there is the physical training. The PT is a vigorous as the Marine's bootcamp. Running 5 miles a day, hundreds of crunchies, hand to hand combat training. Then there is the firearm training. Shooting hundreds of rounds daily through pistols, shotguns and fully automatic machine guns.
And American Guy sounds like, Yeah, thougth I'd see whats its like to be a BP agent. Most people fail because they just wanted a job. The academy is designed to weed out people that don't have their heart in it.
And then after all that training, American guy decides he wants to be a party organizer! LOL
Please let me know when your book comes out American Guy, I could use a good laugh.
"There's a similar story here."
Interesting. I wonder if he read that?
"If I were canvassing job applicants, I think I would count degrees in English Literature and Journalism as handicaps."
Me too.
"US 'coast-to-coast' adventures (as typified by songs such as 'Route 66', "Me and you and a dog named Blue', 'Me and my Bobby McGee', 'Promised Land') traditionally go from East to West.
It's only loony right wingers who go West to East (i.e. Burt Reynolds in 'Smokey and the Bandit' who went from Lousiana to Florida IIRC). So that makes the story all the more suspect."
Impressive musical knowledge there, Mark!
"Hmm, obviously her English degree didn't include any useful definitions of the expression 'dumb fuck.'"
Heh! No, funny how that one always eludes them...
"I seem to remember Ned Beatty's Northwest Passage being explored."
:D
"I am assuming she read the small print before signing up to the student loan? Obviously not..."
She should maybe have studied economics...
"I believe American Guy should have his book listed as fiction."
A bit of exaggeration is to be expected.
Or do you suspect a total hoax like 'Balloon Boy'? That'd be a shame...
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