One of our Youth Ambassadors found that a retail summer job helped him have a more positive outlook that expanded his career confidence.
Trying to break free from the dullness of unemployment and find a summer job whilst studying is one way of broadening outlook on life, and it is definitely relevant for many young people.
This is exactly what happened to me. One summer before starting my English degree, I struggled to get even temporary employment. It was just day after day of giving out my CV, hoping for a job in an environment where seemingly none existed, and being disappointed as a result.
This period of nothingness for me was only until I began my degree, but it’s not the case for those who either didn’t get the grades or chose to go out to work rather than take the study route. It led to my horizons being severely impaired, to say the least, but it gave me the ability to understand that demotivation of unemployment.
It was the next summer before I finally found a ray of hope! A shop wanted me for an interview. It felt like nothing short of a miracle, but a small one compared to actually getting the job.
Once I began, a brutal fact of life stood before me: getting the job is the easy part.
Going into the shop every day felt like walking into a battlefield, in which I could only survive by being as strong as possible. In a world with tough superiors and less-than-pleasant customers, my personal outlook on life was marred by questions of whether I could actually do it. But as each day passed and I successfully journeyed through those obstacles, my confidence grew immeasurably.
Being a part of the retail industry really expanded my horizons.
I now believe all things are possible. Not only do I now have an understanding of what having a job is like, but, more importantly, I have been awakened to what I can achieve as a person, improving my self-esteem.
Finding a job can sometimes seem like an impossible task, and a working life can be arduous. However, both experiences can broaden the horizons. My own outlook was highly developed through having a job, and if it can work for me, I have no doubt that it can work for everyone.
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