Moving the goal posts

Looking back on this blog so far, I can charter the last three months of stress, tears, uncertainty, more tears...you get the picture. Today, after handing in my MA dissertation, I can honestly say that....
I'm not yet convinced it was all worth it.
Well, no, it has been worth it; I've never worked this hard at anything before in my life, and I'm really proud of what I've achieved. But let's review this, for a second. I've spent all of the savings I was going to use to backpack across America. I've had more nervous breakdowns than I care to remember and all those months frantically dissertation writing have become known as 'how Laura got fat'. But on the other hand, I've apparently proven to potential employers that I am hardworking, skilled, dedicated and well educated. (But please, no questions on anything other than Shakespeare's history plays circa 1591-99)
I have, in theory, bags of education, because I was told I needed education to get ahead. In all of those school assemblies, it was drilled into us that without qualifications, we wouldn't be worth anything; I grew up in a fairly poor area, and it was always implied that we didn't do well in school, well, we wouldn't have a future. I wanted a future, so I did well in my GCSE's and went to college. When I got to college, I got good A levels, but I was told the qualification's I'd gotten so far wouldn't even get me through the door.  Without a degree, I could never hope to aspire to a good job with an even better salary. I was told I needed a degree, so I went and got a degree.
In recent years, there has been a massive boom in the popularity of higher education. Some are blaming the recession, others are saying it's simply easier to get into uni, but whatever the reason, young people are fighting tooth and nail for university places. And with so many graduates matriculating each year, all of a sudden that magical degree that would make you stand out and get you the tops jobs suddenly isn't magical anymore. If everyone has a degree, how are you supposed to stand out?
Get another degree. It seemed like the best idea- everyone's got a bachelors, so be one better and get a masters too. It'll give you the edge. It'll set you back another £3-5000, but you'll have an extra bit of paper that says you're better than everyone else. At Aberystwyth University for example, I'm told this this year the English Department have seen their highest intake of MA students to date. More and more people are finding it necessary to stay on in higher education-until of course, employers stopped caring about how many fancy bits of paper you've got and decided that they really only want candidates who have 'experience'. Having a degree is good, and all, but all they really seem to care about is how many practical skills you can bring to the table. I know that in this economic climate companies can only afford to hire people who can do the job, and it's even better for them if that person requires as little training as possible, but it doesn't really seem fair. In fact, it's down right sneaky. The best thing for me to do now is to concentrate on getting as much work experience possible (I will gladly be the tea and coffee girl if only it means I'm allowed within 5 foot of an editing room) so if they move the goal posts again, I'll be ready for it.