I’m now back in London, staying with my sister while I wait to fly back to Malta. We’ve done some fun stuff, I’ve seen all her different university buildings around London now, which was interesting, and we went to the big mall near Hammersmith – Westfields is it? That was REALLY cool!

However, as much fun as I’m having staying with my sister, I’m feeling a little down and confused at what to do. I had an interview at Ernst and Young in Guernsey the other day and I came out feeling positive about how it went. But then I got the email through saying “thanks, but no thanks”. I’ve already had Deloitte and PwC say no without even interviewing me and BDO say they are full for this year. So basically I have three options:

1. Go to Jersey and see if I can get a job there
2. Stay in Malta and try to get a job there
3. Start doing the exams on my own and re-apply to Guernsey firms again for 2011 entry

Now the down sides of each of my 3 options:

1. If I’m honest, I’ not sure if I want to live in Jersey – I’m 6 years away from local status in Guernsey, in Jersey I’m back to square 1. Plus Guernsey is SSOOOOOO much nicer than Jersey.
2. Staying in Malta means I’ll have to live at home with my parents for longer, which, don’t get me wrong, I love them to bits, but I’m fed up with it – I wanted to leave home and make my own life – I don’t feel I can do that in Malta. Although 1 positive is the great diving!!
3. I can’t afford to move back to Gsy until I have a full time, well-paying job. So I would have to stay in Malta while I do my studying and get a part time job to carry myself through to next year. And I’ll be nearly 25 before I start at a firm, and with the 3 year requirement for ACCA membership, I wouldn’t qualify until I’m nearly 28.

I think I know why no-one wants to give me a job – they think that because I have tried so many things over the last few years, and shown commitment to none of them, that I probably won’t show commitment to this and that I’ll either want to drop out in 6 months time, or they will have to kick me out. They so don’t know how wrong they are. Unfortunately, all this rejection is helping me to loose what self-confidence I do have. I’m having the same thoughts I used to get when I felt like I have nowhere to go and nothing to do – run away and join the Army – I don’t even care about commissioning right now – just get in the Army so I can start to build some sort of life. In the Army, I’ll be paid, I’ll make friends and I’ll have somewhere to live. From there I can move on to where I want. Right now I feel like I have no foothold on anything that will get me anywhere.

Of course, I could always go back to uni – I have been offered a place at Plymouth to study Ocean Exploration. It’s an interesting subject, and it would keep me distracted for 3 years, but where will it get me at the end? Get a nice big student debt so that I can come out at 27 and still be unemployable. Plus I’m not so sure I want to go back into the student life of baked beans and pasta (not together obviously!).

So where does that leave me? Right back at the beginning!

– I DON’T want to go back to uni (however interesting the subject matter is!)
– I DON’T want to join the Army…or the Navy or the RAF!

Accountancy definitely gives me everything I want and need from life:

1. I get a career that I can either keep in practice or take into any industry in any country in the world.
2. Although it is a desk job, the area of accountancy I’m interested in would take me to clients offices and I would learn about loads of different types of business – which is an interest of mine.
3. It is well paid – that means I can do the adventurous stuff that I love in my spare time; I can go scuba diving, rock climbing and kayaking; I can learn how to sail a yacht and fly a helicopter.

I guess of my 3 options, in order of preference it would go – 2,3,1.

I would rather stay in Malta over going to Jersey or waiting a year and re-applying in Guernsey. I might find it hard living with my parents, but if I’m out most of the day every day, then I’ll only be sometimes eating and sleeping there. Plus it would help them as they are both away a lot (the doglets need looking after – 1 needs medication every 12 hours…). And the weather is good and the diving is amazing! And I could use the opportunity to learn Italian – with the proximity to Italy, I’d be stupid not to take the opportunity!

If I went back to the Channel Islands, I would rather Guernsey over Jersey any day, even if I had to wait another year…

So, I guess there are a lot of positives for staying in Malta and I wouldn’t have to stay with my parents for long – once I’m earning, I’ll be able to move out into my own place. I just need some time to save up some money, so I have some saved for deposit and emergencies.

Feeling much more positive about my decisions now, so will stop boring you and get back to preparing to apply to the Malta firms! Thank you for being an ear!!

This entry was posted on March 19, 2010 at 2:51 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Personal Thoughts by Elyse No Comments Yet