Nearly done with college and I have no clue where to go from here

ifeelabreeze

I'm aware that this is after hours.

I'm a final year Business student, hoping to come out with a 2.1, and I haven't the faintest clue what to do after all that!

I'll be the first to say that I am not a great student (not that I'm proud of that), my attendance is good and I engage in lectures but I have awful trouble maintaining focus, in a sense I've been blessed that I'm smart enough to pass without much effort but cursed to never achieve a result that's indicative of my true potential - because I can't put the head down to study.

As I'm sure most Business students would say, I've a head for Business. I'm fascinated with how companies make their money, how they're run and how they make their decisions/maintain their edge. We've lecture(rs) talking about the subject, discussing why McDonalds is so successful, or the genius behind the Starbucks' card, I love that crap.

I don't have any real interest in a career in HR or Marketing and Finance probably isn't for me (considering I scrapped by in the finance exams).. I've been trying to convince myself to do an add on in Accounting, because Big4 Audit would set me up nicely with exit opportunities, but I think I'm forgetting about the ACA/ACCA, I was never bad at accounting, but I never chose the modules simply because I find it a lot easier to just waffle and string a coherent essay together.

Sales also piqued my interest - money, and maybe I've a knack for it.

Part of me has it in my head to just go out working construction or something of the sort, learning a Business and going it my own, be it hanging ceilings or training as a plumber.

I've always had an admiration for (and probably wanted to emulate) fellas who started successful companies from the ground up, never mind Branson or Gates, the most successful man I know runs an Tech support business, another is in car transport, abattoirs, sheds you name it.

Starting my own Business or getting to a point where I'm running an existing one has always interested me, but that's for down the line, I need to look at what I want to do now day in day out, and honestly I haven't a clue

So I just haven't a clue what to go into after college, I don't know what I should be doing, no real clue where my strengths lie even, so where should I even start?

Gant21

I’d join Twitter if I were you and learn to compose short threads.

ifeelabreeze

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118638141#Comment_118638141

Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?

When me president, they see. They see.

ifeelabreeze

TL;DR - Business student, interested in how Businesses are set up, how they run, maintain advantage, smart business decisions etc. etc.

No idea what to do after college, maybe Accounting because - good prospects, maybe Sales because - good money (if I'm good at it), maybe just oing out working hands on.

Always been interested in starting my own Business or getting to a point in my career where I can run/have a say in the running of an existing Business, but that's down the road.

TL;DR of TL;DR - Graduating in May, haven't the faintest clue where to go from there.

Liberty_Bear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118638141#Comment_118638141

Would you like some pictures ?

Geuze

Try ALDI and Lidl graduate recruitment?

https://www.aldirecruitment.ie/area-manager-programme

https://jobs.lidl.ie/

fryup

buy & sell bitcoin

ifeelabreeze

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118638216#Comment_118638216

I've been looking at the likes of those but I think I'd struggle to get a look in with my results, you're coming up against lads and lassies with first class honours from UCD

Liberty_Bear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118638189#Comment_118638189

Thats the beauty of the world at the moment, the whole world is in a state of flux so nothing is defined. Can you take a year off and go do travel , work abroad perhaps gaining some experience in an industry you might not have thought of. Saw a great website called English speaking jobs. The site was full of things like bar work, call centres etc etc. That gap year could lead to new ideas, language skills, cultural experiences that you never knew. There is also EURES which is the EU jobs portal. If you have a particular country in mind then its worth hunting around the various sites of members states for a few hours for jobs - https://ec.europa.eu/eures/public/index_en

The other idea I would suggest is the route I took. Work through the civil service and then find yourself a job that you find engaging.

The wonderous thing about your degree is you might be able to horizantally move into a masters or post grad in journalism, management, etc. In fact the world is your oyster.

Another option is if you want to put your skills to good use and gain some grounding is volunteer for a year somewhere like the UNHCR, Red Crosss. choose some path that you have not found before

Gant21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118638211#Comment_118638211

I’ll take some of the dung you have to fertilise the garden.

I'm 46 and still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. But I have been working in the same job, that I love, for 23 years! Never my plan, just worked out that way.

bodhrandude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118638189#Comment_118638189

Maybe get into event management, one of the live music companies and use your business ideas with them, maybe one of the developing music festivals that will spring up again, just my two cents.

corner of hells

Army for you OP , front line infantry.

The DayDream

Wait, aldi's graduate program or whatever it's called is considered a lucrative choice for first class honours earners?

Then how come they still can't figure out how many tills to have open? and why is it every food item I actually like they eventually stop stocking it, surely that isn't a brilliant business strategy, put those eggheads in charge of that shít, sort it out

ifeelabreeze

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118638423#Comment_118638423

Aldi Area Graduate Manager Programme is a fast track to Corporate, 60k a year and a company car (they also work you to the bone).

So for them, it's not about having a cashier for every customer, it's about minimising cost, working each employee hard whilst paying them above market rates, then they do this for all the stores in their area.

Not sure about the stopping stock stuff you actually like, maybe they just do it to annoy you?

ifeelabreeze

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118638386#Comment_118638386

Alas asthma and a distain for physical exercise hinders my progress in this career path.

Mrs OBumble

McDonalds management trainee. Or Supermacs if you can't make the grade with maccas.

BorneTobyWilde

cool

Donald Trump

#onlyfans

Captain Barnacles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118638189#Comment_118638189

Stay away from America - it's the american dream for the few , the american nightmare for many...

Captain Barnacles

I hear Spain are looking to hire mamporerros

Ray Palmer

OP if you think you know how to run a business straight out of college you are hoping to be the exception. Have you ever actually managed people for any length of time? That is something many people find very difficult and your business will rely on it the most.

What work experience do you have? Your college qualification mean very little in the real world without work experience

looksee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118638423#Comment_118638423

I admire their approach to tills, flexible and uses staff to best advantage. And I'd rather have 'we are opening till 4 for you....' on loop than the horrible 'music' that most places inflict you with. I don't mind their 'subject to availability' stock approach either, I go and buy what is available then off to Supervalu to spend almost the same amount for a few items they didn't have in Aldi.

ifeelabreeze

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118639157#Comment_118639157

No absolutely not, I just have it in my head that down the line I'd like to work for myself, or work my way up in a company so that I'm in a 'similar' leadership role.

As for work experience, I've 2 years retail, I've worked construction on and off and I worked for my university on a paid placement, so I was subjected to 101 meetings with senior board members/dean's of faculty and what not, in that I also presented to 50 or so students fairly regularly.

My father fixes iPhones in his spare time and I've helped with the setting up and progression of that.

The problem more so is - I don't know what I want to do after college..

Ray Palmer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118639290#Comment_118639290

You are suffering from what many graduate suffer from which is ego. None of what you said is impressive. You were working in a play area. Graduate programs are in place in many places I worked and I deal with them once a year now for 9 years. Clueless graduates who think they know it all trying to change things they don't know.

I was asked to review a graduate plan. For some reason they were tasked at getting a stock keeping system in place and the guy in charge of them was retiring so let them do it what ever way they wanted. Had been working on it for 3 months before I was asked to review it. They had all these charts and plans for the system which basically amounted to coding a system from scratch which they hadn't even attempted just planned. It was an ungodly mess. Asked them had they even looked at freeware or even creating an access database, it was a low stock situation not a major commercial system needed. Within a day a open source system was identified and installed and then they could get on with actually entering the stock information. The guy in charge of them showed me his brief to them and it was pretty clear they weren't tasked with reinventing the wheel but picking a product and implementing it. He did try to direct them but as they were so arrogant he just left them to make a mess. Not one of them was hired permanently and these were top of their class and went through a tough recruitment process. They told me of all their plans about how they would be owners of their own businesses making a fortune in 5 years. They are not

MrMusician18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118639387#Comment_118639387

Nothing really surprising there. Universities don't really equip graduates with workplace skills - everyone that's been in the workplace a few years knows that. The failure here was the guy retiring who didn't give a **** and gave even less direction.

Ray Palmer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118639669#Comment_118639669

To an extent but he just gave up on them because they all claimed they knew better and didn't listen. One thing to give direction and another to have to control people and if you are retiring would you bother? There little faces when they were told they wasted their time and were way behind in what they had to achieve was amusing. They were nice enough just clueless and arrogant. Qualifications may get you the job but they don't mean you are capable

ifeelabreeze

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118639387#Comment_118639387

Do you not think you're putting a backstory behind a few simple comments?

You asked what my work history was, I told you, it's not something to be impressed by - I stock shelves in a supermarket!

I appreciate what you're saying, I think it's quite easy to look in from the outside and say 'that's not hard, I could do that'

But I'm under no illusion about my abilities or lack there of.

I'm simply saying - I have this notion in my head that I would like to start my own Business or get a point whereby I'm running an existing one, call it a pipe dream, but I'm also acutely aware of lack of actual, demonstrable ability - I just want to learn and I don't know where to start, hence the question.

Ray Palmer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118640012#Comment_118640012

OK it is a pipe dream and you need a dose of reality. Take the advice or don't but this is just another show of arrogance

mariaalice

Do an MBA.

McDonald's CEO made more than $10.8 million last year

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/08/mcdonalds-ceo-chris-kempczinski-made-more-than-10point8-million-in-2020.html

backwards_man

Try to get into Sales in a US multi national. Really good learning ground. If you want to run your own business some day Sales is one o the most important areas to know and will stand you well. If you are any good it can be very lucrative, and if you are not academic or like sitting at a desk all day it offers good flexibility.

Furze99

Get some experience - anywhere will do for a while. Then figure for yourself whether you are good at working under your own initiative or instinctively happier in a work situation where it's clear what your role is each day. That would determine where you might direct yourself in the future.

BaywatchHQ

I was the same and I have been mostly unemployed since university, your course sounds better than mine though. Also put depression, social anxiety and possible autism into the mix made starting a career very difficult. In my opinion a lot of university degrees should be binned, you should only go to university if you are doing a major stem degree. When I was at school it was abnormal not to go to university, you didn't comprehend doing anything else. My mother used to say if I didn't work hard I would end up on a building site. I think the average person on a building site is a lot more wealthy than I am now.

mikethecop

try politics

seems easy enough , lots of money anyway

ifeelabreeze

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118640101#Comment_118640101

What was the advice exactly? I think you're using anecdotal evidence to say that I'm going to be just as useless and as arrogant as those who've you'd dealt with in the past.

You may very well be right, because frankly a degree will just about get you in the door it does feck all else in the way of preparing you for the real world. But I don't think it's arrogant to say I'd one day like to work for myself or potentially progress into a leadership position - I'm saying I could come in and do your job 10 times better for half the cost (because I'm not an idiot and I doubt you are), I'm just looking for advice on where to start.

Simply put college has done next to nothing to prepare me for work, I've hated college, I was never one for drinking, never one for sitting about in dingy student accommodation and I feel with a couple of exceptions (that I can count on my hand), I've taken away feck all from the academic side of things. Making friends, using your own initiative, group work, dealing with issues/conflicts - generally not relying on your parents for everything, that's what I've learnt, can't see myself sitting down to apply Ansoffs Matrix any time soon.

I guess by saying I'm not arrogant is probably going to be perceived as arrogant, I'm just eager to get started - at what exactly I don't know.

agoodusername

I'd know plenty of reasonably successful business owners, and pretty much none of them have anything in common in terms of qualifications or experience before starting their own company.

One guy was a qualified accountant (an absolutely mental guy, did not conform to any of the stereotypes) and he said that it was a useful qualification for running a business, as it made him feel a bit more comfortable working on the financial side of things. So maybe a big4 or similar type qualification would be worth pursuing?

Liberty_Bear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118639387#Comment_118639387

Thats the most cynical post I head read on this in a while...I'll give an alternate point

I manage staff in the public sector. I get graduates who come in and its only their first or second job but we break the bad habits and watch them grow and thrive. I knew one person who had to be pushed to do his work and over time we encouraged him to take ownership of what he did. Empowered him with the skills and training. Created an open forum that he could feed back up and I take criticism well once its constructive. Over time he would give ideas and we listened . He trained and mentored other staff over the years for me as I trusted him. Instead of you trying to knock down those graduates why didnt you turn around and use the expertise (which I take it you have) to try and challenge them , instill trust and give them the skills to empower themselves (aka coaching).

Most people when they start a job are clueless, they are flung into the deep end .....I for one hope to never end up as cynical as this...

Lillyfae

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118640101#Comment_118640101

Ambition isn't arrogance. It wasn't really smart or fair of your company to put someone who "just gave up on them" because he was retiring anyway mentoring them. Was it you, by any chance? Smacks of a tax break and not like the company were really invested in the development of graduates. The OP doesn't sound like he fits in the pigeonhole you're trying to put him in.

chrissb8

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118639387#Comment_118639387

What I'm taking from this here is loads of red flags.

1. Graduates are just that....people who do not have professional or personal skills developed in their chosen field. Yes, they may have a bit of "Ego" or be looking to make their mark but that's where management comes in.
2. "the guy in charge of them was retiring so let them do it what ever way they wanted"....??? So you had a manager who was phoning it in and this led to a whole team of raw graduates being left to their own devices? Who have no experience or don't know how to apply their skills and knowledge in a productive manner? Anything after that is not on the graduates, again on the company.
3. "He did try to direct them" no he didn't, the guy in charge of them is in charge of it. That is a failure to assert leadership and "he just left them to make a mess". What is wrong with this place that they would rather watch someone crash and burn than give a meaningful intervention....at an I don't know....early stage in their careers when graduates are needed to be told what to do and how to do it?

Your take on graduates no way reflects on the graduates. Just your s* way of managing and actualising them reflects on you and what seems like lazy incompetent managers.

Ficheall

OP, your degree is like a ticket that let's you apply for jobs in companies that have a degree as a requirement. That's about it. Sweet eff all difference between the graduates can be discerned based on their academic qualifications alone.

Many people don't know what they want to do after college. Degree, diploma, PhD, postgrad diploma.. I still don't know what I want to do..

Do one of those part-time springboard courses for a couple of years; they're pretty trivial and it's another piece of paper for people who think those matter.

And get some work experience in alongside it - worth more than any piece of paper from a uni. Where are you based? Saw today that Galway is looking for a Cemetery Supervisor - sounded like an interesting gig..

SomeGuyCalledMi

Defo think about the entrepreneur route or at least a side hustle . It costs practically nothing to set up an online business. Learn about SEO and online advertising. Start a blog or a YouTube channel. Read books like Millionaire Fastlane and Four Hour Work Week. They're both dated and unnecessarily long but they don't cost much.

Hangdogroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118638177#Comment_118638177

Well if Gemma O Doherty thought she could be president.....

riclad

Go for a sales job with an American company , basically many jobs require a degree to get an interview, accounting is pretty boring unless you are really interested in it. Why would someone do a degree for years and then train as a plumber, that takes 3 years approx to be qualified. Tech company's pay good wages or American corporations. If you are good at sales you ll make a good wage. Most startups fail or make no profit but theres a chance a big company will buy them , in the tech sector. The point of a business degree is its an entry point to an interview with big company's or multinationals

riclad

I think many people work in business as managers, executives and they do not love their jobs , but the wages are good they can have a good lifestyle they can get a mortgage, buy a car etc I don't think everyone is suited or had the skills to run their own business or manage a startup

NSAman

Get a trade boy… electrician or plumber, you will be self employed and loaded

lawrencesummers

You probably have a few routes you can go down.

As much as you might not want to hear it a business degree isnt worth much in the real world, nobody is going to be beating a track to your door to hire you, its worth something but probably not as much as you think because they are extremely common and dont set you apart in any great way.

Where it does become valuable is when you tie additional qualifications to it, more specialist or specific.

What i would say is that you should travel, see the world and gain experience in other areas.

If i had my time again I would be off to the oil rigs or the middle east to get experience, travel and save some money.

so one option is travel, if you are a home bird then get work in some industry that can be transferrable back here like engineering, manufacturing, IT etc etc and then enroll in another course related to that field which will allow promotion and opportunity down the road.

The next alternative is to try and get an internship of graduate trainee program in some big company. They seldom come up, are hard to get but for the right person they can lead to a fasttrack in big companies.

Or you can get an entry level job here somewhere, doing admin type work and see where that takes you.

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118638273#Comment_118638273

I got sorted at 44 (figured out a plan at 41)

riclad

if its not a technical degree ,chemistry, science, a degree is just a licence to apply for jobs, that are not basic entry level like cashier or a cleaner.You dont just get a job in IT you,d need to have skilla qualification in c plus eg programming ,have completed a course in basic programming.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058233203/nearly-done-with-college-and-i-have-no-clue-where-to-go-from-here

My major was business/finance, and the way you described yourself really matched with where I was two decades ago. The thing you've got to figure out pretty quickly is whether you want to work at small-med business or go corporate. They're very different environments, and the roles within, while they might have similar titles, often will be very different depending on the industry in question. It's also important to figure out if you want a competitive environment (for promotions/raises/etc) or just do a job... only you can really answer that one.

Look for a startup business of some kind, because it will expose you to so many aspects of operating any kind of small company, which gives you some insight into the various functions within any organisation, but also the types of roles out there. Place a time limit on yourself from the beginning as to how long you stay with them, because it's very easy to get sucked into staying, when you should be exploring for yourself what you want to do.

Then switch to something corporate, and allow yourself to switch between roles/companies for a few years. Don't get bracketed into one particular role type, if there is any kind of salary ceiling. You'll need to do your own research, asking professionals for advice or insights into their roles, as opposed to relying on articles online. Once you've dabbled in a few areas, then pick a core strength/focus and build it. The important thing about business is that you can move between many job titles or roles if you have the required soft/hard skills.. but it's important to figure out what it is that really gets you going.

It's also worth considering whether you want to stay in Ireland, or live/work abroad. Dependent on the industry you end up choosing, it can be a very very different experience between staying in Ireland or doing your role in Paris, Tokyo or NY. It's worth considering that you can travel quite well on a business degree.

BurgerFace

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118638587#Comment_118638587

Yeah, waste deep in grease, flipping burgers alongside Svetlana and Mfubu, dealing with pissheads throwing their taco fries at your head and barfing on the tables. FCUK THAT!

OP sell your soul to some finance house like JP Morgan or whatnot. Work 70 hours a weeks for 10 years then throw in the towel and walk off with a few million in your early 30's. Go travel the world and then do something you really like.