What Not To Say To A Recent University Graduate

Graduation day is one of the most memorable days in a person’s life! Your hard work, or more accurately speaking the blood, sweat and tears you have put into getting your degree has finally been acknowledged and you get to walk up that podium to collect your newfound prized position- your degree certificate! However, although the sheer relief of finally being able to call yourself a graduate from so and so is one of the best feelings ever, it has some pitfalls- especially right after the day comes to an end. Here are a set of common statements/ questions almost every recent university graduate has heard and most importantly why they have been deemed as being intolerable lines no one should utter to a recent university graduate…

1. “Have you found a job yet?”

This one gets me all the time! I simply cannot fathom why people feel the need to ask me this question as soon as I graduate! I mean, I thought everyone knows about the tragic state of today’s economy, let alone the fact that it is utterly impossible to find a professional, high paid job within the first months of graduating. Although this is the dream, it is simply not a reality! So, with this being said asking a recent graduate this completely ignorant question not only confuses the graduate but makes them highly irritated as well! We graduates need time to process the end of our golden years and we certainly don’t need people reminding us it’s time to officially be an adult!

2. “Why don’t you get a paid internship?”

Following on from the first statement, it is quite common that a recent university graduate get internships during and after graduation as a hell of a lot experience is needed for you to even be considered in any professional role. Even though there are some paid internships out there, the majority of them are unpaid as employers love to feed upon the desperate, eager graduate who “just wants a chance to prove themselves”. With this being said, employers know recent university graduate will be willing to take whatever they can get in order to gain more experience and work for a professional organisation in order to boost their chances of getting an actual job after they have finished their internship. So, in this case graduates are therefore willing to work for free. With this comes the agonising question of “why don’t you get a paid internship?” in which people believe you actually get a choice of whether you want to get paid for your work or not! As mentioned before, the vast amount of internships available are unpaid as it’s a teaching experience that is provided for you to learn and grow as a ‘potential employee’. It is not a fully-fledged job! Overall, asking something this question is completely redundant as internships are highly competitive and most want you to work for free… leaving the odds for you to get a paid position highly unlikely.

3. “You have graduated, guess you’re free to relax now!”

Although you get some people who keep inquiring about your job status, on the opposite end of the spectrum you get people who actually want you to be unemployed, and say things like “congrats you have graduated, now it’s time to have a much needed break!” Although a part of me loves this idea of having time to chill out and just do nothing else besides from eat, sleep and breathe, it does have an adverse effect of freaking me out at the same time! I cannot help but to want to take the individual who has said this to me by the shoulders and shake them uncontrollably whilst shouting “Are you kidding me! I can’t relax… I need to find a job in order to eat!” I know what you’re thinking, it’s annoying when you get asked about getting a job and it’s just as equally annoying when you get the assumption that you should be on a holiday somewhere! I guess its right to say that we as human beings are never satisfied!

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4. “Why don’t you become a teacher?”

I know this one might seem like a peculiar one but you’d be surprised by how many times I have gotten asked this question. I guess with being an English Literature major people think that I am qualified to actually teach the English language. However, this is not the case… English Literature is not to be confused with English LANGUAGE. Although I find this question highly amusing, it is incredibly trying to explain the difference between these two subjects to the people who think they are 100% interchangeable! So I ask these people, for the stake of all the English Lit recent university graduate people out there, please avoid asking this question!

5. “How do you feel about moving back home?”

Lastly, here comes one of the most painful questions you could ask a recent graduate. This question may seem innocent at first glance, but there are a number of underlying meanings to it. So, for instance if you ask a graduate how they feel about moving back home, you are really asking them “so how does it feel to be stripped away from your freedom?” and also “how does it feel to be back to square one again?” With this being said, remember that this question may seem harmless at first, but it actually has the most soul crushing connotations which will be sure to make every recent graduate want to cry!

Are you a recent university graduate that’s experienced these questions? Let us know in the comment section below!

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