For a lucky bunch of us, that inevitable time in our university degree has come around. We’re either applying for graduate jobs like crazy, or watching our friends apply for graduate jobs like crazy.

If you’re one of the ones holding back from the graduate job path but watching your friends apply is starting to make you freak out, then don’t. Grad jobs shouldn’t be the be all and end all of a successful start to an employed adult life.

Here’s why.

Grad Jobs Can Be Extremely Limiting

If you want to be an accountant and you get a graduate job at an accounting firm then power to you.

But if you’re not 100 per cent sure what you want to do with your life then applying for grad jobs can really limit your options. If diversity is something you’re after, then an alternative path is the one for you.

Hanging out in hospo for a year or two may pay its worth in gold if it gives you the freedom to find the right path.

Scary Is Better Than Boring

My very good friend recently scored a graduate job at an accounting firm for 2018. This is how our conversation at a wine bar went:

“That’s so exciting! I’m so proud!”

“Yeah, it seems pretty boring though. Long hours too.”

“So you’re not looking forward to it?”

“No.”

My heart broke for my poor friend who’s about to enter a job she worked her arse off for but doesn’t want. If you’re going for a graduate position because you’re scared, I’m sorry but scary beats boring any day. The fun is in the hustle.

It Might Not Be Your Cup Of Tea

Power to the young ones going into grad positions across Australia but there’s no denying it isn’t for everyone. Some people want to climb the corporate ladder and some people want to freelance until they jump to their dream job.

There’s true strength in knowing what path is for you, and staying confident in yourself and your ambitions.

The Struggle To Find A Job Is A Rite Of Passage

For those who want a diverse and interesting career life, then the journey at the start is a rite of passage.

If Amy Poehler and Tina Fey got graduate jobs then their lives might not have paved out quite so amazingly ­– and we might not have Parks And Recreation or 30 Rock.

Crying on the floor surrounded by unpaid bills as the hummus dwindles in the fridge is a memory you’ll end up cherishing forever. Especially when you’re 50, sitting your old arse on a leather couch, drinking wine that costs more than $8 a bottle and reflecting on the good ol’ days.

Marnie Vinall is a Marketing and Media Communications student at Monash University. She loves reading, writing and her huge collection of plant friends.

(Lead image: Parks And Recreation/NBC)