Before coming to the UK to pursue my master's in journalism last year, a huge campus and a global classroom were concepts that were restricted to television sitcoms. I had stars in my eyes all through freshers' week, but it didn't take long for the bubble to burst.
During one of our first lectures we were told that if we really wanted to earn money, we should get into PR, not journalism, as there are neither the jobs nor the money there used to be in the field. I said to myself: "They tell us this now, after we've spent more than £10,000 in fees alone to get here?" I withdrew the urge to ask for my refund and book the next flight home.
You would have thought getting your foot in the door would be the least of your concerns after passing your master's. Unfortunately, if things are hard for the British students, the struggles are only amplified if you're an international student.
What does it take to get a media job?
I'm often told by my friends in India to come back home. With bigger media corporations looking to the east, jobs are available by the dozen and there is room to learn and grow. But there's one factor that separates those who leave the UK soon after their graduation and those who persevere to land a job in an extremely competitive field: money.
For the fortunate few with affluent parents or the lucky few who have earned full scholarships, returning home is as easy as picking up where you left off because you don't have any financial sword hanging over your neck. You are free to find your feet and climb the corporate ladder at your own pace.
But many of us have come to the UK almost entirely on a student loan. Going back to our countries will guarantee us a job but the amount we earn may not be great to begin with. Even by negating rent and living at home, it will still barely be enough to pay off our monthly loan instalments. True, salaries can rise sharply in a few years but you can't rely on fate as climbing up the media ranks depends on loads of factors; even luck has a major role to play.
Conversely, even a decent-paying job in the UK (if that term still exists for journalism), coupled with a few sacrifices, can help you pay back your international student loans much faster, mainly because of the strength of the pound compared to our currencies.
With two years of work experience in the UK (the permissible limit on your post-study visa – the last of which are being issued this year), the job you land upon returning to your home country will, in all likelihood, be for a better post with a much higher salary. Starting over then becomes much easier once the financial noose is loosened.
The final category of journalism graduates comprises people who, despite not having a loan and knowing the odds are against them, want to stay back so that they can return home with their heads held high saying that even if they failed, they "gave it their best shot".
Am I a strong candidate in the UK job market?
As elaborate applications with carefully pruned CVs and extensively edited covering letters disappear into an abyss you begin to wonder what you're doing wrong. Is the competition too fierce? Do I need more work experience? Do companies not want to hire me because I'm not from the UK? Do they need proof of my PSW before they can commit to me? The replies seldom come and feedback is rarely given, especially by bigger corporations where it is not logistically possible to reply to thousands of applications for a few positions.
Then come the fringe questions: Do I move to a bigger city such as London which are supposedly more media-friendly but also expensive to live in? Do I work for free in the hope that my worth is recognised and translated into a paid job? Do I attend seminars, lectures and workshops to hone my skills and meet people that can "possibly" land me a job?
These are just some of the many questions that constantly plague the mind of an international student like me. Eventually many of us are forced into taking part-time jobs just so that we don't have to dig deeper into our already burnt pockets.
But we're constantly waiting for that one elusive phone call that we know has the power to change it all and make things better. That is what's keeping thousands of us from booking the next flight home: hope.
Sherwin Coelho blogs at After Dark Musings and tweets as @sherwincoelho.
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