Weighing up a post grad

So yeah...as I've probably made pretty clear in a lot of posts on this thing, job hunting in this climate is proving particularly fruitless.

I've spent the last two years in that Paid Job, with no permanent contract, and even though there is a massive big restructure going on that's involving numerous people being demoted / promoted / taking severance pay / retiring and so forth, I've still had no hint from the management of the possibility of a permanent contract with them. Then again, it's been two years. They probably think I AM permanently employed with them. I was assured by the team leader who trained me up when I was first taken on that it was unlikely I'd ever get laid off even though I was only meant to have been there for the summer. He said he'd been employed on a temporary six month contract 12 years ago (at that point) and was now in a reasonably senior position. Seemingly that's how they do things. They didn't even do that with me. I've signed nothing with them, I'm merely on the roster and not entitled to a lot of things such as maternity pay or the same holiday entitlement as every other person there.

Needless to say, I'm getting sick of it. It would be nice to have a consistent wage, and indeed to be doing a job that's intellectually stimulating and where I'm being treated well by the management instead of messed about the whole time. It would also be nice not to dread going in for a shift every day, and to not have the constant feeling of opening myself up to so-called 'performance issues' all the time (I'm not even kidding, you can get disciplined for farting in that place if you'll pardon the expression), and finally to not get the feeling that I should have stayed at home. I'd always rather make less money to do a job I like instead of more money to do a job I hate (although if 'less money' is still enough to get by that helps too). Sounds mad, but only turning up to work for the sake of the money takes a toll on one's emotional wellbeing after a while. Or maybe I just need thicker skin.

Anyway, another thing I've been looking into lately is the option of post graduate study. But in some ways, trying to get into that is proving even worse.

See, the first hurdle I tend to fall at is that a lot of courses will not admit you with anything less than a 2:1, and I got a 2:2. Despite the huge misgivings I had about this mark when I first got it (due to apathy brought on by poor class choices), this is actually not a bad mark. In addition to my 2:2 I also do have a lot of practical experience, firstly from volunteering with the uni radio station and secondly from all the Cargo stuff. I've still had interest for interviews and whatnot, and I do hope this will eventually lead to work within a chosen sector (although I would like to avoid a move to London if possible - the rent is extortionate). However, for academic purposes very few consider it to be good enough.

Even then, the only possible subject I'd be up for is creative writing. Again, more problems:

1. The writing thing has been severely on the back burner for months now. I've had hardly any new, good ideas, and what I have had just ended up getting stymied by severe brain blockage. At one point I was even planning a sitcom about my work place (because believe me, if I repeated half the stories I bring in from work on here it would sound like a poor man's Fawlty Towers or similar), if only to keep my brain stimulated. But I need to rattle together a portfolio, and indeed a thesis, and to prove to myself that I can keep up a piece of writing and finish it. Thus I can capably complete a Masters.

2. But wait, I hear you cry. Wasn't your undergrad degree in creative writing? And if so, why do you want to go back for more of the same? Well, it's like this: note how 'creative writing' is written in lower case. Aye, it was tacked on as an afterthought to the whole course. It ended up being such a cop-out, if we hadn't had to focus on the 'journalism' (note the small 'j') on that course we'd have had time to focus on more varied types of writing. But no, didn't happen. And I feel if I did a post grad I'd have more of a chance to hone my skills.

3. What to do with it afterwards? Would it really be any more useful than the degree I have now?

I've thought also about doing linguistics, but again, not much you can do with it, and plus, there's the whole entry requirement problem for that too.

Oh well. I will read up on more of it tomorrow and apply then. Anything to get out of that job.