What to do if you feel lost after graduating from university
Congratulations, you’ve just graduated from university and now it is time to move on to the next stage of your life!
Your friends from university seem to have their plans in place and are excited to start their career, move into their new flat or house, and meet their new peers.
You, on the other hand, might be feeling lost and unmotivated. Maybe you don’t know what kind of job you want to do, or maybe you entered university with a clear path and something has changed.
What can you do about this? It might feel overwhelming, and you might not even know where to start, which can lead to a feeling of spiralling.
Choosing what to do with your life after university can feel like a big decision, and even though there is really no rush to figure these things out, you can feel like you want your future sorted out as soon as possible.
So, what can you do if you feel lost after university?
The first, and possibly most important thing to know is that it is perfectly okay to feel uncertain as someone who has freshly graduated from university.
It is perfectly okay to feel uncertain as someone who has freshly graduated from university.
You’ve just gone through an intense few years, which required you to put your all into your coursework and exams. This might also be the first time since starting school that you are no longer in full-time education.
It’s also very common, with many recent graduates facing uncertain periods post-graduation.
You might not have had time to work on your career goals in-between lectures, seminars, your social life, and extracurricular activities, all of which are important.
Our top tips for beating a lack of direction after university
- Be proud of your achievements! Studying at university is hard work, and that is after years spent in school or work. Taking time to focus on the fact that you were able to graduate from university can help to shift your perspective.
- Speak to the people around you. Your friends and peers might feel the exact same way, and they might have a useful coping strategy you could use. If you can, chat to people who have previously graduated and see if they have any experiences they can share with you.
- Know you are not alone. Whether graduates have a job lined up immediately, or have no idea what they want to do, you all go through a transition phase. Many people have gone through this before, and so you can too!
- Take your time. You don’t need to go into a lifetime career straight out of university. You can work as many jobs as you want to, and combining different types of jobs is becoming far more common. Trying different things might help you to understand what you do (or don’t!) want to do in your future.
- Stop comparing yourself to others. It’s easy to feel more anxious and lost when it feels like everyone else who graduated with you already has a job lined up and a 10 year plan ready to go! You are on your own journey, and you don’t need to worry about what other people are doing.
- Seek help if you need to. If your anxiety becomes overwhelming, or you begin to struggle with your feelings, it’s time to ask for help. This might involve speaking to the career or counselling services at your university, your parents or a trusted person in your life, or your doctor, all of whom can provide you with options to help you cope with this new phase.
With these tips mentioned, we’ll go on to discuss a phenomenon we’ll call post-graduation blues.
Post-graduation blues
During your final year of university you pour your heart and soul into your final project, dissertation, or exams.
Once these are over, you get to celebrate and look forward to your graduation ceremony and all of the fun that comes with this! But once you’re officially a graduate, the blues can set in.
This may be because you don’t get to see your friends everyday, or that the days of lie ins and late nights feel like they are behind you (which is not necessarily true!). Perhaps you might have to move back home, and feel like society pushes you to make big career and life decisions.
It’s easy to understand why you would feel pressured, it may seem like the fun is over and you have to be a real adult now. But viewing this as a positive and seeing that you have so many exciting milestones ahead of you can help you to beat the blues.
It is important that you are able to distinguish between ‘the blues’ and depression or anxiety. If you are feeling down and it is starting to affect your daily life, then you need to seek help.
A recent survey of international students has shown that it is common to experience feelings of anxiety or depression following graduation.
It is important that you are able to distinguish between ‘the blues’ and depression or anxiety. If you are feeling down and it is starting to affect your daily life, then you need to seek help.
Depression and anxiety can happen to anybody, and they are both incredibly treatable conditions.
People to contact can include your doctor, your university mental health services (they are often happy to help graduates), or a trained mental health specialist. Taking care of yourself is very important, and you shouldn’t ignore your feelings.
Putting a plan together
So how can you be constructive if you have finished university and you want to take control?
A good place to start from after completing your studies is to work out where you stand. Do you have an idea what you would like to do for a job? Did your degree point you in the direction towards your desired career?
Some people have no idea, and some people have changed their mind during their time at university.
If you don’t have a plan, it can be useful to try and see this as a positive thing, as it means that the world is your oyster! You haven’t narrowed your opportunities down at all, and can explore all avenues.
Finding an area of interest
Most universities have a careers or career counselling service, and most of them will allow recent graduates to take advantage of this service too.
Using these services can show you what other recent graduates in your position are looking for. They may highlight options and opportunities that you have not considered.
Speaking to an advisor who will have dealt with numerous students will also give you assistance in how to approach interviews and deal with rejection.
Another good source of inspiration is speaking to your peers, what job opportunities are your classmates looking at? Are they staying in the country of their studies or are they returning home for job openings?
Focus on your strengths
A university degree often gives you many transferable skills such as:
Communication skills
Think about all the oral communication skills that you picked up during presentations, seminars and group work and how this can translate into the workplace.
Digital literacy
It is highly likely that you have developed sufficient digital skills to jump straight into most workplaces during your degree.
Critical thinking about problem solving skills
You may not realise how proficient you have become at university at developing ways of approaching and solving problems which can be successfully translated into the workplace.
Collaborating with others
Did you work with other students during your degree? Congratulations, you have shown yourself to be able to work efficiently as part of a team, and in many roles this is essential.
Specific knowledge and skills
During your degree, it is natural that you develop specific knowledge and skills in the subject of your degree (or Major), giving you a greater advantage if you want to pursue a career in a specific industry related to your studies.
Remember then, that you have built up a wide skillset during your time at university, and you can put these skills to a wide range of potential careers.
Stay busy
If you are experiencing a period of life that feels like you are getting no-where, it is important to make sure you are staying busy and making use of your time.
There are always constructive ways to fill your days whilst you are looking for work.
Some examples include:
Exercising
Running, walking, the gym, team sports, whatever it is that you can do, even if it is just a couple of times a week, exercise can both help elevate your mood and contribute to feeling motivated.
Exploring hobbies
We don’t necessarily mean computing gaming (unless you are pursuing a career in this field!), but pursuing a wholesome hobby activity can both give you something constructive to concentrate your efforts on and keep your mood high. So remind yourself what you enjoy spending your free time on and bring it into your life.
Working on career skills
You might find that during the course of applying for jobs, key skills or experiences show up in job descriptions that you don’t yet meet or weren’t covered in your degree. If this is the case, you can use your time by enrolling in online courses to start building these skills, or volunteering in positions where you can build up relevant experience.
Maintaining a routine
Studying at university or going to work brings a daily routine to your life, and not having this can contribute to a feeling of aimlessness.
So make it your aim to maintain a good daily routine of getting up at a normal time, getting ready for the day and spending your time productively whilst you seek employment.
Try to stay social, either by meeting friends regularly, or small things like making a regular time to visit a coffee shop when you search for jobs.
This will help you to maintain a positive mindset and keep yourself focused on the present.
I know what I want to do, but I keep getting rejected
Perhaps you know what you want to do after university, but have faced rejection and it is hurting your motivation.
Applying for jobs can be a leap of faith, especially when you are just out of university and perhaps don’t have the most experience in your chosen field.
Being rejected when you put yourself out there doesn’t feel good, as most people on the planet would likely agree! So how do you keep going when you feel like you might never get a job?
Remember that every job interview you go to is giving you an experience to draw from. Ask for feedback following each interview. Look for ways in which you can improve next time. Ask to keep in touch with your interviewers.
The aim throughout this process is not only to land your first job after university, but also to learn what the work environment is like, to get a feel for what it is that interviewing panels are looking for and also to make sure that this fits with your requirements.
One day you will find that job that you have been looking for, and it can feel amazing when you are finally accepted for a job.
Even then, you should remember that if you later feel that the job isn’t what you thought it would be, it is okay to look for another job. You don’t need to stick with a job just because you felt like it was difficult getting it in the first place.
How to approach your post-graduation life
The main takeaway from this article should be that everyone is on their own path, and you can take your time when making decisions about what you want to do next.
Be kind to yourself and embrace all of your new experiences, including the opportunity to try lots of different careers.
We also want you to remember, your career isn’t the most important thing about you! What you do outside of work, including the friends you surround yourself with and what you choose to spend your free time doing are also important, so don’t forget to pay some attention to these too.
In summary
- Everyone progresses at different rates, try not to compare yourself to your peers, it won’t help!
- Make use of the services available to you, including career counselling and advice at your university (even as a graduate).
- Ask for help if you need it. This applies to preparing for job interviews, how to deal with rejection, and more serious mental health considerations.
- Try to stay busy and productive whilst you plan your next steps after graduation and make time to put a plan together to approach the next stage of your life.
- Your career isn’t the be all and end all. You are a well-rounded person with many interesting facets. Your job is only one part of your life.