What advice would you have for a younger you?

What advice would you have for a younger you? We’ve asked all our staff to answer that question!

Melissa

Study hard – it’s important to get great academic qualifications and then your career is your choice!

Consider University – I didn’t go, and I sometimes wish I had, although it’s certainly not the only route to employment.

Work Hard – it really does reward you if you give your job your all.

Do a Job that Makes You Happy – you spend most of your waking hours at work, so make sure you’re happy there!

Nadine

At school, we were offered lots of extra lessons to give a kick start to your career. At the time I did not know these lessons would be valuable in teaching me about writing CVs, interview skills, different places of work options on the island and how to act in the workplace etc. When leaving school and starting the job search I had a few knock backs and soon realised that my interview skills had come from practising and that there was much more to job searching that first met the eye. It was a hard lesson to learn and I do feel I would have benefited from going to the optional lessons and learning about the recruitment process which would have resulted in me getting a job much quicker than I did. So my advice would grab every opportunity with both hands and don’t be the one that misses out.

Becky

I would say don’t be scared! Don’t let one bad interview deter you, remember also interviews aren’t just for their employer it’s also for you to ask questions too. Don’t be scared to speak up if you don’t understand something in an interview.

Keep learning you shouldn’t just stop because you’ve left school, whether it’s an undertaking a professional certificate or a day course the more you learn the better you will be informed.

Also, don’t stay in a job you hate just because it’s a job!

Anna

Work hard at secondary school, it’s a very short period of your life, but will determine your higher education, and ultimately your career path.

Do your research, get as much work experience, and a variety of employment as you can, to help you decide what employment field you might like to go in, and areas that you excel in, and where your strengths are.

Liga

Don’t be afraid to go for the dream job, even if it is not the most’ ’sensible’’ choice or pays the most.

If you love your job everything else will fall into the right places and the important thing is, you will be getting up in the morning with a smile.

Lisa 

Find someone who is genuinely interested in helping you with a career choice, this doesn’t have to be a parent/carer but should be someone who knows you quite well. Ask them what they think you would be good at and see if they help you to find out more information. Think really hard about what you enjoy in life – solving mathematical puzzles/helping young children/aviation - and try to build your career choice around these things.