2 Reflections on your working life
Making the transition back to work after a career break or period of unemployment can be a daunting prospect. Often, it can be quite hard to know where to begin. Week by week, this course will help you to reflect on what you have done before and identify where you want to go next. This will enable you to present yourself to potential employers in the most effective way.
Rosie, an environmental scientist, summed up how she felt at the start of her ‘returning’ journey, and how she tried to turn her negative feelings into a force for change:
Because I was coming at it from being isolated in a village with not many contacts because of various reasons … I felt kind of hopeless about the situation and all I could focus on was the gaps in my CV. And I also had this sort of feeling that everyone else was moving on while I was standing still. It’s easy to look at it negatively but my advice would be ‘Well actually, you know, turn it round and don’t talk about what you haven’t got, talk about what you have got.’
Before you can begin planning your return to STEM, it is useful to take some time to reflect on your employment history and career so far. What insights can you get from what you have experienced so far? Think about your past experiences, the choices you have made and the major events that have influenced you.