Finally, relief, excitement, joy, are only a few words to describe how I am feeling. After 8 months of searching, over 150 job applications, interviews face to face and on zoom and creating a wide range of contacts, I have been offered a job! Not just any job, a job I believe to be perfect for me, something I have been searching high and low for, it has taken patience and time but finally all the hard work has paid off and I am ready to move on to the next chapter.
Honestly it has been the hardest few months of my life, I don’t normally talk about these kinds of things in my blogs, but I will if I feel it may help someone else out there who might be struggling. Not being able to find a job has been hard enough, it creates a lot of self-doubt and questioning if you are good enough for the jobs you are applying for, it can become draining searching job sites day in and day out when there is very little reward coming out of it. You can feel like you are stuck in a rut, and with losing one of the most important people in the world to me during this time, having one of my horses being really ill and the last UK lockdown in general, it has been really tough. My main source of motivation through this was my desire to improve on what I already have, I am always looking to gain more experience and learn as much as I can about what I love doing, whether that be photography, videography or graphic design. I set myself projects to do, I looked for inspiration online, I shot some video, brushed up on some video editing (video below), experimented with different camera lens and even started writing these blogs. I know putting the work in to improve my skills helped me feel better in myself and my skills day to day and gave me more confidence in my ability to get a job offer.
I am so grateful to Emma and the Paisley team for inviting me to be a part of their amazing business. I could only describe it as the perfect job, using my social media marketing skills and graphic design experience I gained while at university, along with photography and videography is everything I was looking for. I worked really hard at university to gain a wide variety of skills and experience in areas of digital media that I had previously never done before, I always strive to do the best work I can and produce the best content for others, and I am over the moon that I will be able to do this for Paisley Flour Catering.
If you are like me and have a very creative mind-set, I have been able to get through the last few months by working on things that I enjoy doing, creating projects for yourself to do defiantly helps you to keep your mind off things that might not be great in your life, also it helps you to expand your portfolio of work which will only benefit you in the long run. If you are unsure on where to start then look for inspiration online, Pinterest, YouTube and even TikTok, depending on what kind of content you wish to create, I am often inspired by others work and ideas and wish to try them out myself with my own creative spin on it. Keeping your mind working and progressing or brushing up on your skills can really help you feel motivated and like you are accomplishing something in a time when we are very restricted on what we are allowed to do. These photos with Midnight (horse) and the flowers I took on my phone, very opportunist photographs, I just wanted to try something different with my portrait shots and had the idea at a time I didn't have my camera with me.
I have to say that I couldn’t have done any of this without the support from those around me, my family have been my main source of support, allowing me the time and patience to look for the right job that is perfect for me and not rush into anything, but also helping me to believe in myself. I also applied for a mentorship with CIPD, where I have had amazing help with my CV and interview prep over the last three months, this is something I would highly recommend to someone who may be in a similar situation to me and has left university or college and not had the support from them with career, CV or portfolio advice or hasn’t had interview experience before, you should sign up and get free support as it has helped me get to this point now. I have to add a special mention to my mom, who is my biggest supporter, she has been there for me through all of this and made me feel like a normal person, stressing to me that it was not me or my work or anything in particular I was doing wrong when not being successful in all these jobs I had applied for but it is the high demand of those who are looking, employers looking for someone with years of working experience. She always said to me, ‘the right one will come along eventually.’
I am so excited and grateful to start this next chapter of my life, doing something I love doing, with amazing people and being a part of a local business. It means the world to me that I have been given this opportunity and just thinking about what my family and me have been through the last few months, it gives me hope that things can look better and a little bit brighter and to anyone out there that might be struggling or having days that they feel like all of the work you put in is for nothing, that is not true! You have to keep persevering and being yourself and soon someone will offer you that little bit of hope and show you that everything we go through in life Is for a reason.
PS. This one is for your Grandad, I know you would be proud of me. <3
תגובות