Graduating from university just worsened my mental health

[FireFox]

I graduated in 2019 and graduating just worsened my already declining mental health.

When my university exams ended I was so upset whereas everyone in my class was so happy.

My classmates had all these cool graduation plans and I didn't have any plans. My class mates had planned to travel , do a masters degree and were excited about post university life. I was absolutely scared about losing my student identity.

I wasn't happy at my own graduation ceremony because I didnt have my life together or anything to look forward too. I felt like a massive failure.

The months after graduation were just difficult. I couldn't cope at all. I had all the free time in the world but it made me depressed and i didn't know what to do with it. When i was university I was so focused and motivated but when I graduated I just lost all focus . I applied for graduate schemes because of the job stability and never having to worry about the uncertainty of unemployment . A graduate scheme is a job training programme for graduates which lasts for 3 years. The massive employers in the UK use graduate schemes to recruit graduates for job roles in thier company.

I failed to get on a graduate schemes. I have also applied for retail and supermarket jobs and have faced rejection.

Being unemployed I had found it it harder to build relationships with people because everyone talks about their job and life outside of work. I struggled to keep a relationship with my university friends because all they talked about was life in thier new universities and my other friend who did au pair as a nanny in Spain.

I stopped talking to people ever since being unemployed after graduating. It gets embarrassing after a while saying you are still looking for a job.

I dont see the point anymore in applying for jobs because all employers wants is a literal carbon copy of themselves . All employers want is experience, experience and experience. I have done voluntary work in the past and employers are not interested at all.

I know i am hard working person.

Soon it will be 2 years since I graduated and I am just an single unemployed loser..

 

[saltshaker]

On the upside at least you graduated. Mass unemployment is the new normal, try to stay occupied even if you aren't "working".

 

[Some1's_Wasted_Fetus]

I'm sorry you're having to through this right now :( I want you to know you are not alone! I'm a graduating senior as of now and I am in no way, shape or form ready to graduate. I pretty much spent 4 years in uni hating school and my experience. School just seemed to bring on a plethora of problems into my life rather than solve them. My motivation is at an all time low. I'm not happy or excited to wear the cap and gown because I feel like a failure and a fraud. Every time I have to hear about people getting accepted into post grad programs and jobs it makes me feel even worse that I have nothing lined up. The job market is horrible for recent grads so it doesn't surprise me that you still can't find a job 2 years after graduation. A lot of my alumni friends just went back to school because they couldn't find anything at all and felt like they were wasting time.

These entry-level jobs keep wasting my time. I interview, they say they're planning to hire immediately (despite advertising to seniors that these jobs wouldn't start until the summer after graduation). They say they'll "let me know once I'm graduated", and then I don't get anything back. They all want 2-3 years of experience, references, etc. despite putting that "no experience required" bs. They love to hire internally and just put the job posting out to reach a certain quota of applicants to say it was fair. Life after graduation is one of my reasons for ctb'ing. I've always hated school and the corporate lifestyle. I'd rather be dead then slave away until I'm nearly 70 and my bones are breaking and my body is shutting down to finally "enjoy" life. The only thing holding me back is a job I applied for that seemed genuinely interesting, had great benefits and set hours (since it's a gov job), great vacation time, paid leave, student loan forgiveness contract etc. and pretty good starting rate for a recent grad. It's individual lab work too (and I work better alone than in a group) so it sounded too good to be true. If I can secure it, I might look into postponing my ctb and giving life another go but we'll see.

I wish you the best of luck. I understand life after graduation is so tough. I'm not even graduated but I feel like I'm going through a mid-life crisis. The idea of being left alone in the world with no more help from anyone and no job prospects scares me so much

 

[PapaSuicide]

Take it easy my angel, after the pandemic everything will be back to normal in the job market.