Time flies, it's been a while since I uploaded a post last time. Wow, almost 1 year! Can't believe I still remember this blog!
Anyway, I entered British graduate school last autumn and the spring term is almost finished. It means my master's student life in the UK is almost finished. When the spring term finishes, the rest of the module is just writing a dissertation, and no reason to keep staying in the UK.
I have been spending mentally busy days recently because I need to write an outline of my dissertation until this coming Monday, make a proposal for the dissertation, and write some term essays. In addition, I am a job hunter, I need to find a decent job within a couple of months for my brilliant future.
However, job hunting is really problematic because jobs that I am keen to get a position are professional and normally there is a 1-2 years contract only. For example, I'm interested in international development, that's why I'm studying development in the UK, but development covers a lot of subjects such as food, governance, peacebuilding, and infrastructure. Many master's students in development study development plus something like gender and development, sustainability and development, and business and development. I am studying business and development, and want to get a business-related position in private sector development. There are agro-business, marketing, tourism, finance, industrial thing, and infrastructure departments in that specific segment. In addition, the positions are vacant, so there are not always vacancies basically. Of course, they are super competitive. It is very difficult to make a career plan in this situation. It has to be somewhat fluid and hugely rely on luck. For example, I want to work in a development bank near future, so I want to get some financial experience which I don't have currently next career. I applied for some investment positions in private sector development and my applications were rejected. I don't know the real reason but probably because those positions are a bit beyond my ability. I have been promoted by getting a position beyond my ability, this strategy which applying for a position a bit beyond my ability is not wrong, just needs more application. But, yes, apparently I lost the opportunity to get some financial experience to work at a development bank near future. It means I need to rethink my career plan.
Another problem is the location where I work. The vast majority of development jobs are located in offices in developing countries. Probably many people can live in middle-income countries like Thailand, but how about Ethiopia? Bangladesh? I can, of course. But how about my partner? What about our family planning for the next 2 years? Can we have a child in developing countries, I mean in the low-level public health condition. Does my partner accept those conditions which never face in her country?
I haven't cared work-life balance ever because to me, it happened in one country only in the past roughly 10 years. However, a development job is something different because I need to move a lot, almost every 2 years to a different country and new workplace. what a rootless life.
I love to travel. One of the reasons I want to work in the development sector is I can visit a lot of countries without my money. I still have the same feeling and I'm curious enough, but how about 5 years later? 10 years later? Can I keep having the same feeling even if my life stage changes?
I think I'm at a turning point in my life.
