7 Pulling your thoughts together
In these first two weeks you have been encouraged to take a step back and to think about how you have got to where you are today. You have given some thought to what interests you, what constraints you need to manage within, and what skills you have developed.
As you have worked through all the activities, you may have had new ideas about the kinds of work you would like to do, ideas about how to do your existing work in new ways, and thoughts about how to make your work better suit your life circumstances.
This next activity allows you to capture some of the conclusions you have come to at this point.
Activity 7 My first reflective review
You may well change your views and plans as you progress through the course, but for now, remind yourself of what felt important when you began it.
Read through the results of your work and any notes you have made in your notebook so far. Then write down your answers in your notebook in response to the following questions. Some of the questions draw directly on the activities you have done during these first two weeks. For others, you will need to reflect on new areas and to add them to your thinking.
- What am I good at?
Write down the abilities that you would most like to use.
- What are my main work values?
Write down the values you would like to fulfil.
- What would I like to do?
Write down the occupations or job areas you would like to work in.
- How would I like to work with people? What kind of environment?
Write down the kind of contact you would like to have with people, and the kind of environment you would like.
- What other aspects are important to me?
Write down any other factors that are important to you, such as location, travel, hours, etc.
- What changes would I like to make?
Write down some changes you would like to make in your work life.
(Adapted from Career planning and job-seeking workbook, The Open University,2014.)
Comment
This activity should have given you a really good overview of the thoughts you have been developing over the first two weeks of the course. Maybe you have surprised yourself or this has just given you opportunity to put into words the thoughts that you’ve been having for a while. Either way, this is a really great start to your own career planning process.
Your final task for Week 2 is to complete the end-of-week quiz.