A Typical Graduate's dilemma

“However, we will keep your CV on file.”

Those eight fateful words that usually come at the end of another unsuccessful job application email, I have found, often result in a two-fingered tirade at the computer screen.

The fruitless pursuit of a graduate job is something that I expect many Uni leavers are experiencing at this time of year. It really is soul-destroying when your hopes of getting that latest “dream job” are crushed into tiny pieces with not so much as a phone-call to inform of your where you went wrong, or why you were not considered suitable enough.

Reading up on the subject of graduates recently, I came across an article that said people in their 20s rarely have disposable income (certainly not enough to save up), and that house-sharing is common among people of this age group. It also said that it is not until you reach your 30s that those “dream jobs” become attainable, but I like to think that the writer is being extremely negative (or at least I hope so).

Despite worrying tales from graduates about how hard it is to get jobs, and the endless warnings  that “there are no jobs out there”, I like to think that it is possible to achieve your goals. You may not get the high-paid flashy job that you desire, but any job in today’s market, certainly one that is in your field of interest, is worth taking.

For now, the pursuit goes on and I can only hope that my search bears fruition in the coming weeks. Hopefully, some employer will have stayed true to their word and manages to find my CV after trawling through their files.  

TEAM GB: or should that be team England + Wales?

To many sports stars, the Olympic Games are considered the pinnacle of their careers.

Not so however, in terms of footballers. Especially British ones who have become so obsessed with waxing over the Premier League and Champions League that they barely remembered that the Games also present a platform on which to show their skills.

It is this frame of mind why many believe that the world’s game does not deserve a spot in the World’s games. In Britain, the Olympics have had to be brought to our shores for a re-incarnation of the Team GB football side, which last took part at the Games back in 1960. After that shock return was announced, more uncertainty was raised when two of the four nations opted to pull out (Scotland and Northern Ireland) before a waft of bigwigs at respective FA’s heavily criticised the idea.

I for one am not a massive fan of football being a part of the Games, but I’m even less in favour of cobbling a side together at the last minute, when it’s clear that all the countries in GB are clearly not united in favour.  

After the debacle over whether the team should be formed and then which nations wanted to play a part in it, we were recently informed of the players that would represent GB. The key components of the 18-man squad that was chosen by Stuart Pearce are unsurprisingly young English talent, splattered with a handful of Welsh players, the temperamental Craig Bellamy and the evergreen Ryan Giggs.

A ball has yet to be kicked by the newly-formed team and yet already head coach Stuart Pearce has come under criticism for not selecting national hero David Beckham. The decision has to be commended as it shows Psycho’s ability to make tough decisions, when it would have been so easy to bow to public pressure.

Despite being a “new” side, GB are already experiencing problems familiar to many British sides on the eve of a major tournament. Gareth Bale was recently ruled out through injury, whilst Daniel Sturridge this week was contracted with viral meningitis but says he is hopeful of being fit for London. However you get the sense that these will not be the last injury worries for Pearce ahead of the Games.

>             Oh and one other thing, whose idea was it to choose Coventry as one of six venues? Surely Leeds, Nottingham and Birmingham would have been more suitable choices compared to the home of a third division club in a city that is, with all due respect, unable to compete with the other five (London, Manchester, Newcastle, Cardiff & Glasgow)