I am a millennial. Back in 2007 I was taking my first baby steps into the real world, and found myself seeking employment in the biggest recession since the early 1990s.
After numerous (and I mean numerous) of unanswered emails and job applications, I ran away to sea and had a thoroughly great time enjoying the highs and lows of waking up in a new place everyday and exploring what the world had to offer. I loved it. The people I met, the places I visited, the adventures I had. But as with everything it came to an end and reality hits.
Reality being that I needed to get on with real life. A life where you start the rest of your life rather than delaying it for a bit. But an unfortunate reality being that the jobs market hadn’t greatly improved for a recent graduate returning to the UK.
After (again) numerous applications, six months into my search a fantastic guy took me under his wing. He could see that I had something to offer – I didn’t have the experience he was looking for and gave the job to someone else – but he gave me the chance to build my portfolio on actual real life briefs rather than the arty made up ones of a university project – and this was the crucial start to what I have become today.
Fast forward a few months I got a call about a job application, they wanted to meet me. I went along armed with my new materials and something magical happened. Although I didn’t have what my interviewer wanted in my portfolio, she could see that I had the software knowledge, energy and enthusiasm which could be shaped to suit the needs of the marketing team.
Without this woman and her belief I would be nothing.
Since that moment in July 2011 I have lived and worked around the world. I’ve worked with hundreds of people and delivered hundreds (probably thousands) of briefs across a whole range of industries, and I have never forgotten how important her help has been along the way.
So what is the point of this blog post I hear you cry?!
It is a message of support to all those affected by the recession we all now face with the Coronavirus and subsequent shutdown of major industries. I recognise and know what they are going through. It feels like an uphill battle, but it takes just one person to believe in you and to help you make that step on the ladder and I want to do the same for the new graduates out there that my boss did for me.
If I have worked with you in the past and have a LinkedIn post you would like me to share, a contact you would like me to make or just an extra pair of eyes looking out – please let me know and I will do what I can to help you set off on your way 🙂
Keep at it, believe in yourself and something unexpected yet wonderful will come when you thought there was nothing, I can guarantee it.