Career Goals

This is it!  It has been a hard slog, it has taken a long time, but it has finally come to fruition.  It is six days shy of the two-year milestone that saw me wrestle back control of my career, leaving my comfortable job in the retail sector, and taking myself out into the world on a gamble.  I had a plan to fill my CV with experience, voluntary at first, and to meet professional people who would help, advise and equip me for the world of work in press and communications.  It was a frightening experience, to leave the security of an (albeit low-paid) salary, and it took an exhausting amount of energy to constantly make contact with press managers, communication officers and news editors, to meet new people, jump in at the deep end of new working experiences, and hope like hell that I just didn’t sink.  But today; this is it, this is what the last two years have been about; today, I finally landed my permanent contract.

Me in 2012 (source: HR Made Easy Blog)

I remember settling down one morning in May 2012, sending out dozens of emails to offices across the country with offers of free work, in exchange for a learning experience.  Back came the rejections – messages apologising that there was simply no time, no workspace, not enough work...  But hidden in the 95% of “no thanks” replies, there was the odd yes that gave me encouragement.  Tony, press manager at the RSPB, an organisation close to my heart, gave me a good bit of training on writing press releases.  The Exeter Express and Echo and the Plymouth Herald let me loose on their news desks to write up some lighter stories on lifeboats, school visits, and tea cosy competitions.  Tim, the Torquay United press manager, gave me a match day with him, so I could learn the processes behind the hectic communications of a League football club.  Liz, the University of Exeter press manager, offered me some valuable days writing up research stories from across the institution.  And Andrew, Communications Manager at Mid Devon District Council, could not have been more accommodating in introducing me to the busy communications and press liaison side of local government.  This placement was particularly fruitful, leading as it did to a three-month paid position – the first time I was paid for such work, and a sure sign that I was climbing the ladder.

Phoenix House, Tiverton, home of Mid Devon District Council (Source: Mid Devon News Centre) 

Onwards and upwards.  As my short-term contract drew to a close with the Council (and I was told, had it been any other time except the austere period we are now living through, I would have been given a permanent job), I was approached by the University of Exeter to work on a temporary contract in their communications team.  Naturally I jumped at the chance, and have now been in the role for nearly a year, receiving my permanent contract of employment today.  I never thought I’d find a job I love, but I have lucked into a sector I enjoy, at an institution that is world-class, and with supportive colleagues from whom I learn much every day.  And all right on my doorstep!

 

Northcote House, University of Exeter

So what did I learn, and why did I write this blog?  The last 24 months have been really tough going – money has always been tight (voluntary work pays surprisingly poorly!), worry has been high, and there have been days where this whole project has felt aimless and impossible.  On these days, I have learned the importance of tenacity, the willingness to fight on and on and on, to never give up, to keep searching for new opportunities.  During the last two years, I have become fiercely protective of my career, in a way I never understood before, because it has taken so much effort, time, money, and sleepless nights to build up to this point.  The experience I have gained has defined me, it has changed me, and I have learned from it both professionally and personally.

But in a larger sense, this hasn’t just been about me – my beautiful girlfriend Lizzie has waited with the patience of a saint, never wavering, utterly supportive and believing in my endeavor, even in the times when I felt it was failing in me.  We have been through the austerity of this experience together, and although it took me longer than first anticipated, we know it’s all worth it.  Because we know that this isn’t just a job, and it isn’t just a contract.  It could mean a mortgage.  And that would mean a home.  With a kitchen and an oven, a garden to grow vegetables, and lounge wallpaper that excites you because you chose it yourself.  It's the pillow that your head hits at the end of the day, knowing that your hard work bought it, that it’s yours because you earned it.

Delighted, relieved, proud, ecstatic, tearful.  These are all words that could apply today.  But topping them all, the loudest of emotions, and the one I vow I’ll take with me every single day – grateful.  Grateful for the opportunity to make a change.  Grateful for the support of those around me.  Grateful that it all ended up this way.