Yesterday my little 8 year old brother, while watching his cartoons and dabbing a cotton pad soaked in Gulab Jal on his face asked me, "You're 20 now Didi?"
I said, "Yes I am 24".
He added,"Well, if you're 20 shouldn't you be having a job right now?".
OUCH! He completely hit the nail on the head. Yes, why don't I have a job yet?
I am currently in the Middle East with father, and on my way to Mumbai. I am leaving the UK for good, because I as a sad graduate have truly suffered the consequences of the economic recession. As a graduate all you strive for is employment in the degree you pursued. However, as I learned from my 18 months in the UK, this is not as easy as it sounds.
I knew getting this work visa would be a risk, and no guarantee of a job, but I thought, when am I ever going to get the chance to be in a different country in my life. I am an opportunist and if I was able to get a work permit, post study, why not? I was eventually able to get my visa with no hiccups, however I did undergo 4 weeks of stress and suspense before I got it.
For the last 18 months I have been looking for a career in media, or even associated with media. Working for the community radio station Newport City Radio in Wales was a real boon, and I was able to gain experience as a news editor and presenting and producing a film show. I have also had a string of part-time jobs in between to tide me over financially.
However I continued to apply like a dog, for any job in my career line, but to no avail. And after Easter I wasn't even able to gain a part-time job let alone a full-time.
So here are my plans to move to back to my motherland for employment - India. However, I have heard I am not alone. A lot of international people in similar situations are realising once they graduate they don't want to continue in the UK. As an international student we invest heavily in the UK's education system, and without us, university wouldn't survive. We spend between 15,000-25,000GBP annually within the UK on tuition fees, accommodation, and other expenses. Big universities like Cardiff University (where I did my MA) are closing up various departments to save money. I also heard from a friend doing her PhD, that they are now going to slow down funding in new medical research, because it is deemed "unnecessary". Just continue what you are doing already? Imagine no money for future medical research? So no cure for cancer then? No vaccine for AIDS?
Immigration is going to become harder as time go by, because the UK wants to keep jobs and opportunities local. I saw and felt the brunt of this in the kind of employment I sought after - I was not local enough. My job applications would have been thrown to the bottom of the pile as I am not from the UK or even from Europe!
So I have decided to take my skills elsewhere and hopefully where they are worth being paid for. I am going to miss my friends in the UK as they have looked after me in good times and not so good times. My colleagues were kind enough to give me due respect and praise for all the hard work I have done, which is always good to hear.
So thank you to everyone in the UK, and hello to all in India. You won't know what hit you!
No comments:
Post a Comment