{"id":9057,"date":"2021-06-07T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/careers\/?p=9057"},"modified":"2021-05-25T08:15:52","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T07:15:52","slug":"a-letter-of-exploring-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/careers\/a-letter-of-exploring-options\/","title":{"rendered":"A letter of…exploring options"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This week we have some blogs written by our Alumni as letters to our recent graduates. Allow yourself to be challenged, inspired and motivated by their messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Dear CCCU Graduates,<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I have been really struggling, trying to think of something really profound and useful for you, and well, to be honest I\u2019ve never been known for my clarity or wisdom. However, I\u2019ll do my best to give you something that\u2019ll resemble \u2018help\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now casting my eye back 5-6 years to when I graduated I remember having an overwhelming joy as education had been my life until my then<\/em> ripe age of 22 \u2013 which left me considering \u201cwhat next\u201d, where do I go from here? Get a \u201cproper\u201d job I suppose? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what is a proper job, how do you go about getting one? Where do you even look? <\/span><\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

From here it quickly dawned on me that I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and even less of an idea of how to get there. A feeling a lot of you, can probably resonate with right now. But don\u2019t worry! This is completely normal. But if this isn\u2019t you, and you have an idea of where you want to go, amazing! You\u2019re ahead of the curve, and therefore reading this might not be as helpful (sorry) but feel free to continue reading anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when you\u2019re looking for a job, I would suggest drawing up some form of list\/Venn diagram to encompass your goal or end position. From there you\u2019ll be able to backwards engineer to where you are now i.e. your starting point. For example; for those of you who are looking to start your own business, I would imagine having a success business at the end is the goal? But what is that business doing? How are you financing it? What research have you put into how you\u2019re going to make your million-dollar idea work, etc. From doing this you should have your path to your idea of success. But for those of you, who are a lot like I was and have no idea where you see yourself in X number of years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider what you enjoy. Can you make money doing that? <\/span><\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

If nothing comes to mind – then consider whether it\u2019s because you don\u2019t know that field as well as you think, or whether it\u2019s actually not a viable option, because I can almost guarantee at some level the former is true. I mean \u2013 you can record yourself playing & streaming games, and make a fortune from that! Which I would use to argue \u2018anything\u2019 is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Gary sporting the lockdown beard!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

That being said, for those of you who are maybe more pragmatic, or looking for something more \u2018safe\u2019. Remember, that what you think a job entails, and what it actually will have you doing are two very different things. For example, I work in Banking \u2013 to be specific, commercial banking. Now, on the face of it, I could imagine a lot of you reading (if you\u2019ve made it this far) probably assume my day to day is numbers, and spreadsheets. But that couldn\u2019t be further from the truth. For the most part actually, my day to day is dealing with stakeholders both within and externally to the bank, I work as part of a small diversity and inclusion council, which play a hand in a culture shift within our segment, I get to host CV building workshops, and employability talks at universities and colleges throughout Kent all while helping business and self-employed people build their own empires, and achieve their dreams \u2013 all from the comfort of my dining room table, between the hours of 9-5 Mon \u2013 Fri. It\u2019s not bad at all, hell. It\u2019s actually fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, whatever you chose to do. Be that dive strait into the world of full time employment, decide to go traveling or take a more calculate approach to your working life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember. Your career is a marathon, not a sprint. <\/span><\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re likely going to be working for 40+ years \u2013 so don\u2019t put pressure on yourself to be at your end goal in 12 months. Instead, enjoy your time finding your feet, trying different jobs and ultimately building yourself a strong foundation from which to build from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best,<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Gary Horton<\/a>, BA Business Studies & Entrepreneurship CCCU Graduate 2015, now working in banking.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

(click the name to connect with Gary on LinkedIn! Don’t forget to always add a message when you make a new connection – let Gary know you’ve read his blog and loved it, you’re graduating CCCU and pick out something from the above that has resonated with you or helped you, or ask a question!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting further support from The Careers and Enterprise Team at CCCU<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You can get ongoing careers support via the following ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n