Planting the seed for my career readiness tree…
A reflection of career uncertainty as well as originality within my CV
From a young age, I have always been obsessed with planning for the future, getting frustrated when my ambitions change. I have had goals of becoming a teacher, police officer, paramedic, mental health nurse…the list could go on.
I have realised that despite these changing ambitions, they all centre around one topic- PEOPLE. I know that I want a socially driven job, one that involves helping those in need.
More recently, my focus has shifted towards a career in sports psychology, a growing field of psychology lacking opportunities of experience. Consequently, I began this academic year worried about having the skills for this career and whether this would impact on my tendency to have a strict future plan in place.
Completion of the Digital Skills and Confidence Scale highlighted that I am not alone:
38% of students in my cohort did not feel confident about their career options, changing my perspective about the necessity to have a concrete career plan. I realised that IT IS OKAY to be unsure about the future.
My confidence has increased whereby I now know a change of mindset is not a setback, rather a growth towards my future career, a career in which I can access help for by the university. For example, through the careers website, I have managed to find a coaching opportunity so I can begin to work out whether this career path is still of interest to me.
The move away from a generic to an original CV…
My CV at the start of the year included concise lists of achievements and experiences, lacking specific, personal examples about why these make me a great candidate for various roles.
The CV assignment allowed me to improve my CV with help from the careers website. For example, I had previously listed my qualification in Sports Leadership without any further description. I have now included an example of specific experience:
“Responsible for working in a team and organising the County School Games for over 4,500 school children, demonstrating my excellent communication skills”
I achieved a first-class grade in this assignment, highlighting the effectiveness of an enhanced personal CV, especially in current times where finding and keeping jobs proves difficult.
I now accept that a concrete plan is subject to change but this is manageable with the strategies available, a versatile and original CV and help from the careers service.
So, what have I learnt to use in the future? My advice to undergraduates…
Get help when it is available
Reviewing career goals is not a failure
Originality is key
Worrying about certainty prolongs accepting uncertainty
These strategies have planted the seed to GROW towards being career ready for the future, a future which I am now excited rather that stressed about.
