4 The journey never ends – the role of continuous learning

Welcome to the Careers Zone podcast, where each episode we spend some time focusing on something that’s on students minds right now. I’m your host, Rachel, employability and careers consultant with the University of Exeter. You can catch up on all of our episodes by doing all of those subscribing and following things. We’re on Spotify and iTunes. So in this episode we will be exploring how to use challenges in your life to your advantage on applications and in interviews. All of us have been through tough times. Maybe something unexpected happened in your personal life at university or in the workplace. Maybe a goal or achievement that you had your heart set on didn’t happen. Maybe health issues or other factors outside of your control disrupted your plans. Well, it might be cliche to say that these things can make you stronger, that they can certainly make us a stronger candidate for any job. It’s not that employers want to hear sob stories about how hard your life has been. They don’t want to hear that you seem to be unlucky or incompetent, lurching from one disaster to the next, nor that you’re stuck in the past moaning about what might have been. But let’s think about some of the qualities and skills employers do look for. Resilience, determination, persistence, adaptability and problem solving. Showing how you face difficulties and what you’ve learned along the way is of great interest to potential employers. It gives them confidence that you can face inevitable setbacks in the workplace if you can’t immediately recall challenges that you’ve overcome. Take some time to reflect. You may remember what was very difficult at the time, even if it now seems far less significant if your life has been extremely blessed. Think about challenging situation you’ve helped someone else get through. Or your greatest achievements. A challenge can be something that you’ve set yourself. Not just unexpected disasters. If you’re proud of an achievement, then the chances are it came with a challenge, with hard work and setbacks. An application form or interviewer may ask, When have you failed? When is something not gone to plan? Well, maybe more positively. When have you overcome adversity? All of these are opportunities to demonstrate your grit, determination and problem solving. Possibly also your self-awareness, creativity, and clear thinking. There are a few more examples that might help at this point. Have you suffered an injury or illness setting back your plans to be selected for a sports team but you managed it anyway? Have you felt anger and a sense of injustice at failing an assignment? Then swallow your pride to seek advice, take on feedback and try a different approach to your work. Did circumstances mean that you couldn’t take up a great internship, but you made the most of another job and you kept the contacts you made in your preferred business sector? Or maybe you struggled with culture shock when living outside your home country, but took positive steps to improve your mental wellbeing and to integrate into the local community. These are just examples. Think across all parts of your life. It doesn’t have to be directly related to a challenge you’ll face at work. It’s more about the mindset, behaviours and skills you utilised to deal with the situation. Also, don’t worry about the scale of the problem. It’s not a competition of who’s had the toughest time and isn’t a competition for the best outcome either. Like the best marathon time challenges are personal to each individual. What we struggle with most varies. For example, two people could have had the same accident or illness, and yet their experiences and responses may be very different. Some challenges are common, such as those relating to world events or study pressures so will have been faced by every other applicant. You can still use those if you started at a disadvantage or if your coping strategies were a bit more creative, positive or effective than others. Otherwise, your biggest advantage is something others have struggled with. But any examples through the STAR model: Situation, Task, Action Result. Is the situation straightforward to explain? Is it clear what you needed or wanted to achieve, improve or cope with? And why was this a challenge? Can you articulate what skills, strategies and aspects of your character you made use of and what was the result? Even if the result wasn’t amazing, it could still be a great example. If you show that you grew from that challenging experience. Thank you for listening to this episode. It was written by Laura Lawrence and recorded by Rachel Lane. This was the crazy podcast brought to you by the University of Exeter Careers Zone. Check our iTunes, Spotify to keep up with all of our regular releases. And if you’d like us to cover something else in another episode, just send us a message. Hashtag Careers and podcast at your We careers on Twitter or at you our careers zone or at your Cornwall career zone on Instagram. And we’ll follow up in one of the next steps.