I’ve got a good graduate job but I’m bored because it’s not creative enough
I’m 22 and have just graduated from a good university with a good degree. I was fortunate enough to get a job in marketing very quickly and took it without hesitation. Now I’ve been in it for about three months and it’s starting to depress me.
The work is unfulfilling. I wanted a full-time job where I could write copy and blog for a living (which is what I thought it would be) but there’s very little of that involved, and I’m left feeling bored. It’s now becoming quite stressful and pressured, too.
I’m annoyed at myself and feel guilty because I feel that I should be grateful for a graduate job with decent pay, and my colleagues seem to think it’s a great career. It’s also naive to expect a brilliant job when straight out of uni. My thoughts are very conflicted.
In my spare time I’ve been trying to build up experience in what I really want to do: writing for stage and film. This being so oversubscribed and difficult to break into, means it could take me years, so I obviously need a day job.
I write every day and submit work to various creative institutions regularly for feedback and, occasionally, funding, but my daily grind is becoming worryingly debilitating, often causing me anxiety and feelings of depression, and I really don’t want it to affect the part of my life that I love.
Sometimes I think I’d be happier in a job with less pressure, but with that comes less pay, and it could mean taking that classic graduate step into minimum-wage work, which can leave people stuck.
Should I stay in my boring, stressful graduate job? Am I judging it too early? Or is it better to think about my well-being and concentrate on what’s important to me?
Jeremy says
Being “in marketing” could mean a huge range of very different roles. But even so, I’m slightly surprised that you should have thought the job was mainly going to entail writing copy and blogging. I suspect you may have made the common mistake of believing that marketing and advertising are more or less the same thing. They’re not. Advertising is part of marketing, but marketing embraces much, much more, not all of which will appeal to someone such as yourself whose principal interest clearly lies in creative writing.
It seems you’ve joined the marketing department of a manufacturing company, only to find that most of what’s expected of you is boring and stressful. For a job to be both must mean that you, and the job, are simply not made for each other. For both your sakes, you need to plan to get out. It’s already getting you down – and the company will soon detect your unsuitability and sense the fact that your aim in life is to do something totally different.
But before you throw it in, be sure to learn all you can about the fundamentals of marketing. You may not enjoy it, but you’ll find such knowledge of real future value, which means you won’t have to dismiss these last few working months as having been totally wasted.
Your next job should almost certainly be with an advertising or promotions company that will want to use your writing abilities more fully. Competition for such jobs is intense and you may well have to settle initially for a lower salary, but your experience in marketing, albeit limited, should help your application stand out from the others.
Readers say
• Three months! I think a bit of growing up is needed here. Some people spend decades doing a job that isn’t their dream, but they need money in the bank, so they get on with it. I think getting to grips with the real world is the issue here. Stick it out for a couple of years, then use the experience to look for jobs more to your liking. If you are really motivated to be a writer, use evenings and weekends to perfect your skill and make contacts, maybe look at evening classes, too. salamandertome
• Get out now and learn what it’s like to be hungry – it’s drive like that will make you a great writer. If you’re as good as you think then you will be noticed. If you’re not that good, go back to the tedious world you are in now. Make that change! Hugo Faster
• Be grateful you have a job with a living wage. Many people did not have your opportunities and are struggling to make ends meet. Anastasia Zoldak
I’m being snubbed by my new colleagues and wonder if it’s because I’m older
I work for a big organisation and was transferred internally a few months ago.When I first started in my new position most people seemed friendly, except for a couple who made no effort – even though I tried to engage them in conversation. I’d just get a curt reply and they’d rush off. They’re friendly to everyone else.
Now it seems most people don’t even acknowledge me. When I talk to them they seem embarrassed and I’m left worrying what has gone wrong.
It’s making me feel ill. I’m nearly 60 and have been at this company for 18 years and don’t want to leave because I will not get my full pension and I don’t think there are reasonably paid jobs out there, anyway.
I did overhear someone joking that I needed a bath-chair once.
Jeremy says
In your previous position, where you’d presumably been for the best part of those 18 years, you’d have had colleagues with whom you’d gradually and comfortably got older. Then, suddenly, you’re precipitated into an unfamiliar environment, with no old mates and probably surrounded by people much younger.
All might still have been well but for those two unfriendly creatures – and they need to be understood. In the micro-cultures that nearly all offices develop, there are usually one or two people who, by sheer force of personality, exert a disproportionate influence over the attitudes and behaviour of others – and it’s usually a malign one. These two seem typical. Fundamentally, they’re bullies and they’ll be enjoying your obvious discomfiture. The more you show it, the more you’ll be made to feel isolated.
So by far the best response, though it won’t be easy, is to behave entirely naturally to everyone. Over time – and it’s bound to take time – you’ll stop being of interest to the bullies and one by one will be accepted by all the others.
The only alternative is to ask to be transferred back to your original division. But that’s unlikely to be granted, and would mean the bullies had won.
Readers say
• Office life seems a lot harder since the recession – some places are really cut throat. Personally, I always enjoy being around older colleagues, who never seem to take things as seriously and are often above the clique-culture. It’s tough, but try not to let yourself feel isolated. At least retirement is in sight – I sometimes wonder how I will survive another 30 years of office politics! minacharm
• My advice is to get out and do something you enjoy. You’ll never be able to close the age gap because, frankly, you don’t have any knowledge that the younger employees need and your “experience” was, in their view, in prehistoric times. Richard Arguile
Do you need advice on a work issue? For Jeremy’s and readers’ help, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@theguardian.com. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or reply personally.
