Discovering insight into my own career desires and values
Our newest member of the team, Prisca, shares her journey with collaborative future, from working with multiple small businesses through the scheme to joining us as a Community Advocate.
Three quarter shot of Prisca with fairy lights in the background
I had just completed my university course, hadn't even attended my (online) graduation yet, when I applied for the Collaborative Future programme last summer. I had started to understand that although I have a strong interest in the law, the most obvious career path in it did not feel right to me.
I wanted to explore my options further and try to find a role that would suit me better than what I had been able to experience so far.
Graduate programmes for the legal sector seemed one of the most intuitive paths to take after university. However, their recruitment reflects the incredible amount of applications they receive. Some consist of 7-step selection processes including 1000 word count application forms, psychometric testing, assessment centres and two or three interviews. This is a very lengthy process requiring an amount of time and effort that not everyone can afford to spend. In addition, throughout these steps, you do not get much feedback apart from "you were good, try again next year". The graduate jobs themselves tend to be very well paid and positively challenging but this often comes at the cost of a satisfying work-life balance.
Another reason why I decided not to apply to graduate programmes in the legal sector is that diversity seems to always fizzle away as you move towards the top. This is a strong trend which many firms and companies are trying to combat through the use of contextual recruitment practices and the establishment of various networks. However, I personally did not feel that this was enough to value diversity in the way I feel I need.
Diversity does not mean simply being able to point to a person of colour and/or with a disability in your workforce and claim your company to be progressive while not changing any of your working habits.
It is necessary to also make an effort to understand how these characteristics shape and influence the way that people feel and behave and ensure your practices take these into consideration.
Having ruled out the option of graduate programmes, I became really conscious that jobs were becoming scarce and competition for them was going to be very fierce. As I was making my first step into the world of work, I found a decimated job market where most ads requested not only a degree but also an unrealistic amount of experience. I thought it was very unlikely that I would find a paid role which would allow me to learn new skills as opposed to having to bring an array of already well refined and targeted abilities. I knew already that my strengths lay in problem-solving, analysis and research. However, I did not know what roles these skills could translate to in a practical sense.
Initially, the Collaborative Future’s recruitment process for the internship threw me off: not having to heavily rely on my CV or a cover letter felt strange after years of chasing the perfect CV formula.
With Collaborative Future, I realised that I was being given the chance to show my whole self from the very beginning, not just the polished parts of me which fit into one page.
The recruitment process does not pressure you to fit into a box of what the right candidate looks like but allows you to show how you are the right candidate by being yourself.
During my placement, I worked as a business analyst for Graphic Change, an online learning company which provides training for visual recording and graphic illustration. I did a CRM audit for them and used the results to set up a marketing framework to incentivise long term engagement of clients. I also did some varied work for Collaborative Future, from writing blog posts about my experiences to doing some legal research and starting to develop an Impact Report to be published this month. Being paid for the work I did really changed the way I saw myself as a young person gaining experience in different roles. It helped me fully recognise how I already have existing skills that can enrich others. These can be gained in various ways and do not necessarily have to stem from years of experience in a specific industry.
Through the programme, coaching sessions with Janice Gittens were also made available to me. I found these sessions invaluable as working with Janice was so different to any of the other career guidance I had ever received. We never worked on my CV and Janice never gave me advice on how to fit into pre-established boxes determined through standard job descriptions and age-old recruitment processes.
Janice helped me think about who I am and what I want, reassuring me that, even as a young person, I have the agency to choose positions that I would thrive in and mould the roles I am in to suit my personality and my strengths.
The sessions, as part of the entire placement programme, increased my confidence immensely and gave me much insight into my own desires and values career-wise.
During the internship programme, Tess introduced me to two amazing women who had both undertaken a career in the legal sphere but in very different ways.
Speaking with them gave me greater peace of mind that there are many ways and paths that one can take within a broad industry which can make them feel fulfilled.
Plus, through them I understood that jobs and careers are not set in stone. Although the English education system implicitly suggests this, people can change and continue developing throughout life without needing to determine the rest of their career before 21.
After the great experience I had as an intern, it was inevitable that I would apply for the Community Advocate role. I personally benefited from the placement programme and I wanted to contribute to further making it a valuable experience for others. I enjoyed being part of a community where I could see and be happy for others succeeding without feeling that I was somehow losing if they were winning. I felt valued in a way that I probably would not have had I not taken part. I look forward to further discovering myself and how my strengths can translate into practical and useful tasks for Collaborative Future, but also all the other members of the Collaborative Future community.