Today I'm applying to a course I like the look of. Of course I've researched it, emailed lecturers and got some responses. I've filled in most of the form and my lecturers from the first degree have agreed to provide references.

All that stands between myself and the application flying off to a dusty admin's office is my Personal Statement. It fills most A level students with dread- this is what gets you noticed, decides whether potential tutors leap with joy or toss your application into an ever-growing pile of rejects.

I've already written one of these, quite successfully as it happens, four years ago. I'm an old hand at it, right?


Of course, it does help if the course description gives little clues as to what the lecturer wants to hear. Unfortunately, this particular lecturer chose not to reply to my attempts to draw him into discussion. He also chose not to write anything on his website about the course he teaches.



One thing that worries me about postgraduate study is financing it.

I'm working like a good little bee at the moment. It's full time in a £17,100 job a year for 4 months, plus bonuses. To get said bonuses which could be anything from £400 to £1500 a month I need to push my stats up. Unfortunately, I work as an arrears collector. This means that to get the bonuses (and avoid being put on disciplinary for being below standard) I have to be mean, hard and pushy on people; a particularly nasty job considering the credit crunch and the rising mortgage prices.

One option is to apply for postgraduate scholarships. As a British citizen, female and applying for courses in the Environmental sector, I qualify for zilch. Nada. Nothing. If I'd been foreign, male or studying social sciences (or all three) I'd have money thrown at me by our delightful government. But then I suppose foreign students bring foreign money into the country. Does it matter that they then take all those new skills and never come back?

My choice then, is to apply for a taught course and save up my earnings then take out a hefty career development loan (at an equally hefty interest rate) and be up to my eyeballs in debt until I'm 50- or 75 if I ever get on the property ladder or (shock horror!) take a brief holiday abroad.

The other choice is to get paid to study; which means get paid a measly sum (but supposedly livable on) to do research into something I find vaguely interesting. But would a specialist research not pigeonhole me? After a year of peering down microscopes and firing light at objects would I be employable in anything to do with the environment, or would I be forever resigned to living out my days in a dark laboratory continuing said research and passing on the knowledge to people who could actually make use of it?

Looking at an alternative to being told I'm too green/ inexperienced/ young/ arty/ not arty enough/ efficient (and no, that last one was not a joke entry), I went for a chat with the lecturers about Postgraduate study.

The first meeting was about a Geography based degree in Environment, which includes aspects of environmental decision making and legislation. Useful for a career, but doesn't half seem dry.

The second was a research course in materials. To be more precise, storage of hydrogen for fuel cells. At first I thought I was going to have far too little knowledge and experience in this area, but the lecturer at the head of the research still took me on a tour of the department. By the end, I was gripped. I wanted to be there, behind the spectroscope or whatever fantastic piece of complicated machinery you felt like picking. I wanted to make a new compound and try it out; fire electrons at it, pass gases through it and look at it under a microscope.

The only thought is where I would go after such a year. The options are further study, phd level and eventually have a load of impressive letters after my name and hopefully a couple of useful discoveries, or research for an engineering company. But what if I don't like it that much? Isn't all that time, money and energy going to be wasted?

Project Time Estimates

When starting a project, you usually estimate the time each task will take. You then see what tasks are dependent on the completion of others planned, and what tasks can be done simultaneously. After this, you devise a plan which makes the most of the resources available to you; gaining the maximum output in the least time and on budget etc etc.

In this case, the project is Getting Hired, the resources are the careers development unit at university and myself, the budget is variable depending on when I get paid, and the time? Well I estimated 6 months, maybe a little optimistically.

At first the project was running along smoothly- find a prospective job, apply, interview and await the response. Sometimes the job found me, with previously unknown agents picking my CV from a site, or seeing my portfolio and getting in touch.

One such job was with a huge company, massive in the technology field. They needed a European Energy Advisor who had knowledge of Product Design. I thought I was too young- at 21 you can hardly command your week very well, let along advise the mid to top level management throughout Europe of environmental legislation! Anyway, following a successful phone interview with the agent, a CV evaluation and another phone interview with the company, I was called down for a face to face interview. At this point there were between 5 and 10 candidates remaining, none of which had my limited experience. I traveled for 8 hours on public transport and sat in a very flash reception only to be caught out by... wait for it.... my age.

Which they knew beforehand.

They did seem impressed by my attitude though, a characteristic which later interviewers also reported as being professional.

A Brief History of the Hunt

I graduated last year with a degree in Bsc Product Design (Innovation & Ecodesign). It was a good grade, I won't brag but it was a First Class and I was the only one who received that classification.

Ever since then I've been searching for my dream job.

This is the story of my progression. Prospective employers shall remain nameless.