My take on work experience

Work Experience can be a worry

Image by Anaya Katlego from Unsplash

It is probably one of the most burning questions you are asked: What kind of work are you interested in?

I have had trouble deciding what I want to do for the majority of my life. Perhaps this is why I have termed myself a generalist. Don't get me wrong, I actually think being a generalist is a pretty useful thing.

Perhaps you are one of the lucky ones that knows their own passions and has a clear sense of your career direction, so I guess there is no need to read further. But perhaps, you feel almost entirely clueless when it comes to choosing a profession, or perhaps you know someone who is struggling to find career direction and motivation.

From experience, I believe no matter what your age, if you let go of the whole career direction thing for a while it will free you up mentally. I suggest you start to gain work experience. It doesn't matter if it's paid or unpaid, because the biggest mistake you can make is to stagnate.

Whenever you set your intention to seek direction the universe usually deliver; you just have to be open. Being open really means being positive and that's not always easy, so in order to help brush off those negative thoughts try using an affirmation to get you started.

Positive affirmations

Positive affirmation will bring you focus. The best way to use a positive affirmation is to say the sentence to yourself first thing in the morning and to repeat it throughout the day. I have also read that people face themselves in the mirror and say their affirmation back to themselves for good measure.

Here are some examples to get you started.

This is one of my all time favourites - "I feel happy and positive and will make good decisions today."

Here's another one -"My decisions will determine my destiny, NOT my circumstances."

Image by Olawale Munna from Unsplash

I like this image above because it's an image of a big smile and that is how I feel now I have let go of my stumbling block. You know, that old gem of a question, what do you want to do for a job?

By the end of my time at university and many hours with the careers advice department I still found it really hard to pinpoint what I wanted to do. Nevertheless I stuck to my affirmations and started offering my new skills as a volunteer to gain some work experience. It was one of the best things I could do while I was looking and applying for jobs online during the Covid-19 pandemic. I set up my own project and began networking in my town and in my neighbourhood. I'm currently working for a disability charity gaining work experience(s) and again the magic is happening for me. I can see what I value, where I fit and why I get up in the morning.

The reason I'm so passionate about work experience is that you will be absolutely amazed by your contribution once you start some work experience. Whether you start working in retail, a restaurant chain or you start your own business it really does not matter because the magic happens once you are involved with something. What I mean by this is that you will begin to belive in yourself and feel valued. In addition you will notice what floats your boat!

There are so many job options and I would say if you feel you have any mental or physical barriers to finding work experience then first of all start making a list of people who you think might be able to help you and begin to network with them.

Networking

Start building your network of people. Try making a list of people you know. Put aside your doubts and start a list of contacts. Charities in your area are also a good place to start.

Secondly, start looking out for work experience, paid or unpaid. It really is up to you. Once you have your network, be bold and speak to them and tell them your looking for work experience opportunities or tell them you are looking for a someone to bounce ideas around with.

Just before you go I just want to say thank you for sticking with this topic and if you would like to read more about making career plans I will be writing a blog about a career plan workshop I attended during lockdown which followed a kind of wheel of action which anyone can apply throughout their career and was really interesting.

Good luck with your endeavours and remember you got this!

Jo Mary Hall