Dealing With Uncertainty as a Graduate — The Reality of Life After University

Dealing with uncertainty can be an unpleasant feeling to begin with, let alone coming out of university as a graduate. You’ve spent many years following the typical educational path, but now there’s a chance that continuing with further education may not be entirely necessary. Okay, what next? Do I have enough work experience? Why are the salaries so low for someone with a bachelor’s degree? In 2022, the average salary for a graduate in the UK was approximately £24,000 (Save the Student, 2022). These may be just a few questions that are running through your mind. Take a step back and breathe… This blog explores the pressures from family and friends with the pressure that you put on yourself and provides a few tips that I use to deal with uncertainty as a graduate.

The Weight of Family and Friend’s Expectations:

Towards the end of your degree, family and friends may begin to ask you questions such as: ‘What’s next?’, ‘Are you looking for a job?’, ‘Are you going on to further education?’. The truth is, you may not even know the answers to these questions yourself. It can feel overwhelming and emotionally draining to be in a state of the ‘unknown’. Pressures from family and friends can take the form of comparisons with other family members or mutual friends, as there is a hidden expectation that you should meet similar milestones. External pressures such as cultural expectations may also be thrown into the mix, where the need to fulfil such expectations can eat away at you. This may be something that you have experienced throughout your life nonetheless. Take a step back and reflect on what is best for you, if the conversation becomes too pressurising, allow yourself to walk away and take a breather. Below I have listed some tips that can help you in such situations.

Tips to manage pressure from family and friends:

1. Setting boundaries with those around you — be clear with how the pressure makes you feel.
2. Focus on what makes YOU happy — what hobbies do you enjoy in your free time, what peaks your interest, where could you see yourself?
3. Follow graduate related social media platforms. GotDis offers some great advice for graduates, from top tips to interviews, networking tips and discusses whether grades are everything. Other platforms like ‘Gradvance’, ‘GraduateMentor’ and ‘Gals who Graduate’ also offer great advice as well. Platforms like GotDis provide you with food for thought and provides a great opportunity to network!

Internal Struggles:

You may be asking yourself similar questions to what your family and peers are asking you. Combined with external pressures, you may have a vision of what you want to be able to achieve in your life irrespective of the career field. For example, you may know that you want a nice house and to live comfortably. That drive behind wanting financial security is crucial in motivating you to go far. If you are unsure of your motivators, researching intrinsic and extrinsic motivators for work can be useful, and remember to only apply what resonates with you.

Graduating with friends can be a pressure in itself whereby others may have received better grades than you. Remember that grades don’t define who you are. What is more important is how you come across to professionals, such as demonstrating professionalism through maturity and responsibility. Hand-in-hand with the immense fear of failure you may feel, fear of failing others and ultimately letting yourself down is an uncomfortable feeling that wallows at the pit of your stomach.

So how do you move on from this wallowing feeling? Does the feeling of uncertainty ever go away?

The truth is … you can move on from the wallowing feeling but uncertainty itself won’t go away. Uncertainty is always anticipated as there are things that you cannot plan for, especially if you are risk-averse. However, the uncomfortable feeling that you are feeling does go away. Try creating a loose plan about what you would like to achieve, and slowly work towards that.

I wish you all the best with your journey! GotDis offers advice for students and graduates, equipping them with the necessary tools to succeed. Check out some of our tips on our social media handles listed below:

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