'Reflective Report on the Process of Finding a Work Experience Placement'
The purpose of this report is to critically reflect on my experience over the past semester of securing a work placement within the creative industries and how my achievements (or lack thereof) in doing so relate to the progression of my personal career plans. In other words, herein I need to:
‘Apply job seeking skills and strategies in specific creative employment contexts’ and ‘develop a personal career strategy to provide focus for [my] eventual career destination.’
Whether I can satisfactorily deliver on those objectives remains to be seen, but I haven’t made it easy for myself by trying very hard. This apparently (on paper) laid-back approach has not, however, compromised my result in actually finding a good placement, so I suppose I could protest that at least the worthier part is, well, worthy.
[...Two thousand words later...]
In a sense, that also concludes my process of finding a work placement. My job seeking skills and strategies in specific creative employment contexts consisted of telling Helen that I was interested in taking the placement, then confirming it by email, and then turning up presentably to an informal meeting and not making an ass of myself, at which point the placement was confirmed. Plus, meanwhile, a polite email to my old art teacher for good measure. As for a personal career strategy to provide focus for my eventual career destination, I cannot bring myself to formulate any such agenda. Until I decided recently that lecturing would be a good life I had the vague, far less realistic impression of wanting to be a successful, respected and prolific practising artist who could afford a comfortable lifestyle and a dog. That or a rock star. This week I decided that maybe I could find fulfilment in a career in counselling, having just started using such a service and thinking afterwards how I would love to offer the emotional relief I felt after my first session to others, and get paid for it. Not paid much, obviously, but my conscience would be crystal clear. I have also become addicted to The West Wing in the past fortnight and I am contemplating a change of direction towards a career in thinking seventeen thoughts at once and making sharp debate of fundamental issues while walking through hallways with a cup of coffee in hand. Today I realised I could make a good proof-reader. My English teacher at school told me I had the best grammar in the sixth form. I have no qualifications to reflect this, and yet I’m aware that many of the prepositions in this essay are incorrectly placed, though I’ve left them there to spare the reader from a sentence structure that has gained an unfortunate pomposity. My point is that I have no specific idea what I want to do with my life; I have no ‘career plan’. Que sera sera. The future’s not ours to see. If I can, I want to enrich and/or improve other people’s lives (and making sure that what they read is grammatically correct does fall under that heading), and I want to get paid for it (but if I don’t I’ll probably still do it anyway). And I want it to fall into my lap as easily as this fantastic work placement at Poppleton Ousebank Primary School did. But doesn’t everyone?
- Listening to: Patrick Wolf
- Reading: One Good Turn - Kate Atkinson
- Watching: The West Wing, Battlestar Galactica
- Playing: Guitar
- Eating: Pie
- Drinking: Squash
Quoth my essay:
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Don't make a sound, shh, and listen; keep your head down, we're not safe here.
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and inside i wept. .. ...well ok. not wept.
but y'know.
i was bummed.
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lemonygreenishbrightpinkglitter
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Would you like me to lie to you now?
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