Kirstie's job log: 2

Kirstie Nicols graduated in 2006 without a career plan.

American studies - what's that?

It’s been a busy week at work; suppliers to chase, paperwork to complete, meetings to attend, complaints to endure, gossip to hear…and an interview to attend.

I was relatively confident, and ready for the weird and wonderful questions that always come up (if you could be a biscuit, what type of biscuit would you be?). It appears I’ve gotten pretty good at interviews, and I was almost looking forward to the challenge. There is a common theme that has run through my interviews over the past year, and this one was no different. It goes something like; ‘American Studies. And what does that involve?’

For me, university was not an option. It was something I’d always wanted to do since I knew there was a place you could go where the words ‘before 9am’ were never uttered. So I naturally took my GCSEs and went on to take A-levels, expecting to latch on to a subject I could continue for the following three years. Therefore, it came as a bit of a shock to wake up one morning and realise I wasn’t too keen on any of my A-level choices; in fact, I wasn’t too keen on anything in particular. At the time, I didn’t have a specific career path I wanted to follow (although I knew that becoming a brain surgeon probably wasn’t for me) and I started to despair at the thought of spending three years doing something I had no enthusiasm for.

Off the beaten track

It was then that I was introduced to the world of subjects that are a little ‘off the beaten track’. Suddenly I was reading about courses that really appealed to me, and I imagined myself sitting in class intently taking down notes on the history of Cadbury’s, having intellectual arguments with fellow students over the significance of Burger King vs. McDonalds, or studying for an exam on the importance of golf course design.

Yet it was American Studies that really stood out for me; a course I had never heard of before my frantic search for a degree. I don’t know why it stood out so much; maybe it was the chance to be stimulated and enthused by inspiring lectures; maybe it was the chance to live in the sun for six months. When I found I couldn’t get the idea out of my head, I decided it was the course for me, and embarked upon three years of interesting, entertaining, and most importantly, unique education.

Strange looks

The first time I was asked to explain why exactly I decided to take a degree that involved learning about a country I have no intention of living in, I was a little thrown. I think I eventually said something along the lines of, one of the lecturers looked cute in his picture; strangely, I didn’t get the job. When I first announced to friends and relatives that I had chosen American Studies as my degree, I faced a lot of strange looks and confused faced. Many thought that it would be a waste of three years, when I could be doing something else. Now that I was getting the same treatment from prospective employers, I started to think that maybe they had been right. It was then that I decided to look at an explanation for my decision in order to put it in a positive light.

I realised that there are actually a lot of positive points to having taken a little-heard-of degree. Although not many possible employers specify that an applicant must come equipped with a degree in Bird Watching or Map Reading, for me, that was part of the attraction in the first place; I didn’t have much of an idea what I wanted to do when my time was up, so I didn’t want a degree that forced me towards a certain career…although it did rule out my chance of becoming the elusive brain surgeon. It also allowed me to experience different subjects, and tailor my course to suit me. I picked up a lot of new skills; I worked hard (I drank hard), and I became disciplined enough to get my work done (if not always in on time). I used to dread the questions about my degree, but once I’d thought about it, having studied something so far from the mainstream gave me a brilliant Unique Selling Point!

The label on my tin

My interview this week was very relaxed, and after they had asked the obligatory question and I’d given my answer, I felt comfortable enough to ask them what it was about my degree that prompted such a question. One told me that, with a mainstream course (like English, History, Law, or Languages), it pretty much does what it says on the tin, unlike mine. I was happy with that explanation until I tried to work out what it was about American Studies that made them think that maybe it wasn’t about studying America?

As it turns out, American Studies has actually been around a while (although Prospects doesn’t list it separately on their site!), and is a little closer to the beaten track than some other, newer degree options; however, it is still definitely somewhere in the wilderness. Yet, as new and more bizarre degrees are introduced to prospective students, so it seems the graduate job sector is changing. Fewer and fewer employers seem to be requesting applicants with a specific degree; although applying to a medical position armed with a 2.1 in Scuba Diving isn’t likely to be very successful. More importantly, having such an obscure degree has definitely helped me out in interviews, giving me a great talking point to break the ice. All in all, I wouldn’t be who I am now without my time learning American Studies. And I wouldn’t change me for the world.

Kirstie's job log: 1 - A year of learning

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