Degree Classification and new Job

I haven’t been on a train with my laptop for the last few weeks, hence the lack of a blog. That’s not to say I haven’t been travelling around the county, because I seem to have been everywhere recently and have loads to write about. Essentially this blog will cover the most important result and biggest decision of my life so far. Namely the fact I received my degree classification and I made a decision about getting a job and career.
Without dragging it out I am officially now Sam Thompson BEng having received a 2.ii in my Computer Systems Engineering course from the University of Manchester. I would be lying if I said I was totally thrilled with the result. I feel a 2.ii to be somewhat of an average degree and I feel I haven’t quite done myself justice. Makes you think back to all those times you could have put in that little bit more effort. Still I am very happy that I have achieved a degree and feel to have made my parents proud which means a great deal to me. That’s life changing news, item number 1.
Immediately after finishing my exams and before I had even got my degree classification I had started the graduate job search. I had been warned by many people to expect a hard and long slog to finding any jobs never mind one I wanted to do. After spending a week on the CV only to scrap it and start again I eventually got down to applying to any jobs I fancied in the papers and on the net. Getting to the point, as of 3rd September (pending signing of forms and contracts,) I’ll be working for Fidessa down in Woking, Surrey. That’s life changing news, item number 2.
Maybe I’m lucky, but out of 8 applications, I received 3 rejections, 3 Interviews leading to 2 job offers and a possible third. The other 2 jobs haven’t stopped taking applicants yet. Who said it’s hard to get a job? Of the 3 jobs only 2 really ever grabbed my interest. The offer from Experian as a Server Technician was too much of a manual job and wouldn’t have provided much brain activity or career prospects. The pay was also 2/3rds of what I was being offered elsewhere. The other two jobs, Bell Fruit Games and Fidessa offered me much more career prospects and were both good careers. I chose Fidessa simply because the jobs were very different, one being a programming job and the other technical support. I just couldn’t see myself being a programmer and enjoying my life.
Anyway I’m torn at the moment if it was a good idea to move so far south. I think it was probably a good career move but could be a bit of a tough move psychologically. I have such good friends and support in Nottingham and having missed it so much when I was in Manchester I can’t help but feel I might get a little lonely for a few months. I think I’ll try and overcome it by going onto the flat share websites and just finding a big house with loads of other young professionals and build friendships from there. Either that or just work so hard I don’t notice I have no social life.
Until the 3rd September I will mostly be working at stealth earning a bit of pocket money and paying off the rent to the parents. I also plan on moving into the house with the guys for the few weeks I am in Nottingham before moving to Woking.
It gets a little bit more complicated in the next few weeks though since I need to juggle moving from Manchester to Nottingham and then from Nottingham to Woking. That includes finding somewhere to live that is completely foreign to me and that takes 5 hours to get to. A 10 hour round trip somewhat rules out day trips and hotels aren’t cheap in London. Combine that with 2 holidays during August and it looks like I could be under quite a lot of pressure in the next few weeks. Ohh and I also have my driving test which is another thing for me to fit in. Ohh and I miss my girlfriend.
Till next time.
Sam out

Posted by Sam Posted in: General No Comments » July 2007