Hello Yuri (I really like your name 🙂 ), thankyou for your response. I am really sorry about your frustrations – I hope you take some comfort in the fact you are not alone, and that there are more people like both of us who want to do something with our lives and to contribute something to the world, yet we feel like we are getting nowhere with our ambitions.

To be young, unemployed and frustrated…I do have an idea of what I want to do with my life, my biggest obstacle is finding the means to fund these things…

I remember reading a article in one of the supplement magazines out of the Sunday newspapers and it was describing how we twenty-something university graduates are becoming a generation of unpaid interns.

I had a job interview last autumn and I left the interview feeling cheapened. This was for a marketing and graphic design vacancy at a relatively small business in Birmingham, UK. The manager told me he was sceptical about hiring me because I didn’t have much experience. How are we supposed to gain experience if nobody gives us a chance? Actually, I did have experience at the time – I had been volunteering at a charity shop for the best part of four years and the previous summer I was doing a work placement at a really huge company in Seville, Spain (as arranged by my university). His concern was that I hadn’t managed to hold down a paid job yet.

I was seething with rage but of course I didn’t say anything but I really wanted to tell this man “No, I haven’t been successful in finding paid work because in this day and age it is very difficult to find work, more often than not you apply for jobs online and the companies don’t even bother getting back to you; if they do it’s just to say ‘your application was unsuccessful’ or ‘you are overqualified’. I have tried applying for graduate level jobs but they still are uninterested due to my lack of experience. I have got work experience and I’m a darn good worker but what relevance is it whether I’ve been paid for those things or not? The point is, I did them.” Suffice to say, I didn’t get that particular job anyway but it didn’t bother me because I felt that this man had belittled my achievements and made me feel so small.

It’s absolutely frustrating, trying to do things in the hope of improving our lives yet we feel like we are not getting anywhere…

There have been many occasions this past year where I lie in bed awake and I am overcome with inadequacy, utter fear and dread for the future – these feelings, however intense and prolonged they may feel burn out after some time.

I wish you the best of luck with your future endeavors – you seem like somebody who is genuinely passionate about what they do and wants to make a positive contribution to society, and I hope the tables turn for you soon. As we like to say here in England, “Keep Calm and Carry On.” Just got to keep trying, I suppose.