Disclaimer: The views expressed by our interviewees are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of GradSimple. We only edit these responses for clarity. All opinions remain those of the interviewee.
- Year Of Graduation: 2022 (bachelor’s), 2024 (master’s)
- College/University: University of London (bachelor’s), Queen Mary University (master’s)
- Major: Computer Science (bachelor’s), Artificial Intelligence (master’s)
What do you do for a living, or how are you supporting yourself right now?
I don’t have a job right now because I took a gap year, which ended recently. I ran out of money, and I’m with my parents now just looking for a job, and I’m kind of desperate at this point. If I don’t find a job in my field, I’ll just look for any kind of typical job, like, I don’t know, a restaurant or something. There’s a lot of pressure, to be honest.
Currently, my days are a bit chaotic. I lack structure. I feel like when I have studies or work, I’m much more productive and I do more things. Now, I have a lot of time, but I’m not productive, and the longer I’m in this situation, the more my days look like a complete mess. Sometimes I’m just in front of the computer all day, applying and doing case studies for recruitment processes, and sometimes I just can’t get myself to do anything.
Can you tell me about your experience finding a job after graduation? Are you happy with where your journey has led you so far?
At first, I planned to take a gap year to travel. That’s where all my savings went. I went with my boyfriend, and we went hitchhiking from Poland through Europe. It was a pretty amazing four or five months. I graduated in September, and then we started preparing for the trip. We left in October, and came back somewhere around February.
At first, after coming back, I wanted to give myself two or three months to just explore my options. I did some weird things, like trying to do piercings and just experimenting, but I came to the conclusion that I actually want to work in IT, in AI, in that area.
I started polishing my resume and looking for what jobs were available, and I started applying in June or July.
Why did you choose your undergrad major? Do you feel your time spent in college was valuable? Why or why not?
I was always good at things like math and physics. I was looking for a tech undergraduate program and thought about computer science because it seemed like a field that’s interesting and constantly changing. It felt like the kind of area where you need to keep learning.
I really liked it. I really liked programming, and I actually worked as a quality assurance engineer, basically a tester, so I have a little bit of experience in it. I liked it, but it lacked something for me. When I had an AI specialization in my last year, it was much more interesting because it’s still programming, but with intelligent algorithms that learn for themselves. It’s more interactive, I guess. So it was very interesting for me, and that’s how I decided to go for my master’s.
I think it was very valuable, not only for the knowledge I gained, but also for going to a different country, learning English, and meeting people from different places.
What was your experience in graduate school? Did you enjoy pursuing a masters degree?
It really burnt me out, to be honest. I think the first semester was the most difficult one because, for some reason, during my computer science studies, we didn’t really have advanced mathematics. Even though I was pretty good at math before, when I started my master’s degree, there was a huge gap, and I was completely lost. I had to do a lot of work on my own, and I was working Monday to Sunday just to pass. That was completely new to me, and I wasn’t sure if I was even going to make it.
After a few months, it got better, I think. There were a few months that felt pretty stable, and it was nice, and I started to really enjoy it. Then the dissertation came, and I was kind of left alone to pick the subject. I struggled to decide on one thing and chose pretty late. I picked a subject that didn’t really resonate with me, and because of that, it started to stress me out a lot.
There were also a lot of organizational things around my dissertation that I had to handle. I had to organize a sort of study with people, and it was very difficult to coordinate with my university. There was this deadline ahead, and I didn’t know if I was going to make it. I think if I’d had a better dissertation subject, or if I had communicated with my supervisor more, it would’ve been a better experience.
What does purpose mean to you? Do you think you’re living a purpose-driven life?
I’m always striving to challenge myself, and through that, I think my purpose is trying to understand myself and understand the world. The more I grow as a person, the happier I am. I see a career as a good way to grow as a person as well, but I think in the past, I focused on it too much. For example, this gap year was a good way for me to explore other dimensions of life.
What’s your biggest struggle right now? What led to it, and how are you moving forward?
I’m not sure exactly what I want to do, because I’ve been following my interests and never had a specific career in mind. Every week, it’s like I have a different perfect career idea in my head. For example, when I reached out to do this interview, I said I would love to do computer vision, but I can’t find anything in that area, so I have to look for something else. This week, I’m thinking maybe being a data analyst is my dream job. Maybe that’s what I should do. And, you know, it just keeps changing all the time. There’s no consistency.
What do you want to spend more time working on, either personally or professionally? What’s stopping you?
That’s a difficult question, because I have a lot of time, so I can do anything. The only thing stopping me is me. If I’m not productive, it’s only my fault. But I’m trying my best to keep learning the things that are related to the AI field and to keep applying. I just wish I would do more, I wish I were more productive.
How do you define being a successful person?
I think it’s different for everyone. For some people, it’s moving to the woods and living outside of society. For others, it’s a corporate job, or a business. For me, yeah, I’m not sure. That’s my problem. I’m not sure what I want. Sometimes I think I’d like to start a business or do freelancing in the future. Sometimes I think I’d like to work a corporate job. And sometimes…I just don’t know.
If we traveled three years into the future of your life, what do you want to achieve? What would you hope has changed?
I hope at this point I’ll have a job, and I’ll finally feel like, “Okay, this is it, and I want to keep advancing in this career.” No more doubts, and no more overthinking.
I’d also like to live with my partner, not with my parents. Right now, I’m living with my parents because I don’t have money, but I’d love to live with my partner.
What’s the biggest lesson or piece of advice you wish you’d known earlier?
I think I would really, really encourage myself, and everyone, to try and keep a good work-life balance. I think it would’ve been much better if I hadn’t burned out at the end.
It’s also important to experiment with different internships and opportunities, because I tried quality assurance, and I pretty quickly saw it wasn’t for me. Maybe then, at the end of my computer science studies, I would’ve had much more clarity and maybe already had a specific career or job in mind.
P.S. Wanna see more personal interviews? Subscribe to GradSimple and get the good stuff delivered straight to your inbox, once a week!
