Laurence Green is a budding music journalist who blogs at Totally Livid. You can find him on Twitter as @LaurenceTGreen
When contemplating dreams and aspirations in the cut and thrust world of job-seeking and future career prospects, my first thoughts go not to the instant thrill of this coming festive season, but look ahead to what might lie in wait in years to come. When I think about my working life, I always like to imagine where I'll be in five years time, when I've had time hopefully to settle down and find my niche in an enjoyable, fulfilling workplace. Because enjoyment is what it boils down to for me. Some people can plough themselves into a financially lucrative career path, smiling as they cash another payslip with a long line of zeros; but where's the substance, the heart and soul of the job? Spending time with family and friends over the Christmas holidays makes you realise that life is more than just making ends meet from month to month. So, my ultimate job aspiration: to forge a career that doesn't feel like the purpose is purely 'work'. You spend so much of your life in the workplace; doesn't it make sense to make sure it's something you enjoy?
Charlotte Lytton is a third year English literature and philosophy student at the University of Birmingham and a blogger. Charlotte tweets as @charlottelytton
All I want for Christmas is...more on-the-job training
Like a huge number of soon-to-be graduates, I have been cautiously dipping my toe into the internship application pool since I began my final year. But sadly, that pool has been pretty much empty as far as journalism is concerned, with only two newspapers offering graduate schemes for aspiring writers. If getting staff writing jobs at entry level wasn't so unheard of, the lack of internships would be far less important, but how on earth can untrained wannabe journalists get a leg up in the industry? No one seems to want to employ someone without a qualification, and yet they aren't willing to put in the time to train you up. I recently toyed with the idea of finding a graduate scheme on a New York rag, but the majority of these had closed by the time I looked. If I knew that a number of British papers were intending to run schemes for 2012 intake, at least my mind would be put at rest to some extent, but it is the lack of clarity that is most worrying. Do I really need to move across the pond to get some on-the-job training? There is a wealth of young talent in the British journalism industry, but it seems that this is going unnoticed due to the huge dearth in graduate schemes for them.
Mahdi Shariff is a chemistry and management undergraduate at the University of Warwick and founder of The Insiders – a student careers blog. He tweets at @MahdiShariff
With the opportunities for work becoming ever more competitive and the scope for choice of a job-seeking graduate becoming ever more limited; all I want for Christmas is a job that enables me to pursue my long-term goals.
As long as the role provides me with technical skills, professional experience, or access to a network - which helps me to achieve my aspirations of becoming a successful entrepreneur - I'd be happy.
With one tiny hint of irony, with schemes to support graduate entrepreneurship like Entrepreneur First, the wealth of online resources to learn new skills for free, or the breadth of chances to work with start-ups available through sites like Enternships, maybe being a jobless graduate might be a gift in disguise after all.
Sherwin Coelho is a multimedia journalist who recently graduated from Bournemouth University. Sherwin blogs at After Dark Musings and tweets as @sherwincoelho
Dear Santa,
I guess you already know what I want for Christmas because it's the exact same thing I've been wanting for the past four months. OK, let me make things simpler for you. I know it's every UK journalist's dream to work at organisations such as the BBC, Guardian, Channel 4, Sky or ITV. I'd be lying if I said that was not my dream job as well. But I do understand that the job market is tight, competition is fierce, cuts are prominent and the economy is in a state of constant flux.
So all I want for Christmas/new year/afterwards is a job where I can utilise one or more of the skills I have learned on my multimedia journalism master's degree. Considering I've learnt a whole gamut of things, that should make things much simpler for you, no? Writing, editing, broadcast, production, social media, I'm a multi-tasker who's willing to learn, put in the extra mile and make a difference for whichever company I'm working for, even if it's a start-up. All I'm asking is for a job that will hone my creative skills and help me put my talents to good use.
Katie Byrne graduated with a 2:1 from the University of Essex in July. She is currently studying for an NCTJ diploma and is pursuing a career in journalism. She also runs The Young Creatives, a website promoting the creative talents of those aged 25 and under and tweets as @Katie_B123
Christmas 2011 - my first Yuletide as a graduate in the 'real world'. Naturally (or embarrassingly, depending on how you wish to view it) my wish-list is as long as ever - but rather than the usual roll call of DVDs and slipper socks, this year's is a little more focused. I would like...
A job
Yep, I'm going to say it. I would like a job, please. I've got experience, I've done internships, I have the sainted degree, I'm undergoing additional qualifications - so an actual job, with actual responsibilities and wages would be just lovely.
A good shorthand class
I'm currently learning shorthand (well, I'm not sure I'm even at the learning stage yet - I'm still flicking through the text book and gazing in horror at the rows of symbols) and would like to find sign-up details for a good class in my stocking, please. As much as I try to persuade myself that drilling the shorthand alphabet 50 times a day is useful, I still have yet to learn any actual words. And I've been doing it for two months.
A decent contacts book
As a stationery junkie - yes, really - I am very keen to find the perfect contacts/address book. I'm talking leather-bound, gold leaf-edged pages, maybe my initials embossed on the front. My current contacts book is pocket-sized and is decorated with elephants. I fear this is not quite the thing of power that it is meant to be.
Rosie Percy is a graduate and aspiring writer. She writes for Guardian Careers about searching for a career break and graduate employment. She tweets as @RosiePercy
Wizzard wish that they could relive the festive season every day and all Mariah Carey wants is you, but this year there's only one thing on my Christmas list; a career. Eighteen months after graduating my hope for a role that uses my skills and challenges my potential shines brighter that any amount of fairy lights. After finding myself confined to filing duties and with little luck so far in my job hunt, I am in need of nothing short of a Christmas miracle. However, unfortunately I hear that the Christmas ghosts of past, present and future are rather unreliable, and that haunting a potential employer is somewhat frowned upon. I must turn to a more solid source; Father Christmas. So here I am, the graduate Tiny Tim of 2011, wishing that this Christmas Dancer, Prancer and Blitzen deliver a sparkling new career for me to unwrap. I suppose it's only fair, I have been really good this year after all.
Steff Lever is an English student, budding publishing professional and author of Diary of a Publishing Intern blog. Steff tweets as @steff_lever
On the first day of Christmas, I find the perfect career vacancy and I compile my cover letter. On the second day, I update my CV to fit the role. On the third day, I fulfil all the application requirements - and enclose a mince pie. The following day, I add the final festive touches by wrapping up my application with a merry red ribbon. On the fifth day, I address my application to Santa Claus. I have no choice but to wait in anticipation. On the penultimate day of Christmas, the head elf and Mrs Claus deliberate to make the final decision. Then, on the twelfth day of Christmas, underneath the Christmas tree sits a letter from the one and only, officially offering me the position of Santa's publicist.
All I want for Christmas is the perfect career.
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