The struggle was real/or was it?

Last January, as a 2^nd year student, intending to take on the work placement module in 3^rd year, I decided I would start early in my search. Using Gibbs reflective learning cycle, I will attempt to show how I personally went into a mode of procrastination in my search for a placement, only to find it was right under my nose all along in a long-time friend. Gibbs’ reflective cycle encourages a clear description, analysis of a situation, and examines what one would do should the situation happen again. (Jasper, 2013)

Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle (Gibbs 1988, summarized in Jasper 2013) 

Description

So, as I mentioned I thought I would start early with my work placement search given that I knew there would be a lot of students searching for a placement at the same time. However, I found this led to me being rejected on several occasions due to most production staff still working from home. The general frustration during this time was hard to take and for a few months I stopped emailing companies altogether.  So, as the summer drew closer, I started to worry that I wouldn’t find anywhere at all and therefore not be able to complete the module. 

I was also extremely stressed over my CV, or lack of one, as firstly I hadn’t updated one in around 18 years, and secondly its contents, do I put previous 18 years in accountancy on there or not? I genuinely had no idea what I was going to do if they had of asked for one.  

As July marched in, I sat down again one day in a search for a company to ask and by chance I came across a company called Mobile Media Productions and suddenly I remembered who owned it, a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. That evening I sent him a message explaining what I needed and how I was aiming to complete the hours over the summer if possible. His reply was “you should have messaged me a few months ago, you could have done 100 hours in a fortnight”. So, we had a phone call and I explained about the degree and the paperwork etc. and he agreed there and then on the phone, no CV required. 

Feelings 

The rejections made me feel despondent in my search. I knew I wasn’t simply being flat-out rejected as many people were working from home during this time, but it was hard to keep having the same email appear in my inbox 

“Unfortunately, all our production staff are still working from home at present and we have no timeframe for their return at the minute”. (Majority of my email responses while searching for a placement in January-April 2020)

Being a mature student also didn’t help as while deep down I knew I wasn’t being rejected because of my age; I personally couldn’t keep my mind from wandering down that rabbit hole. At this stage I was beginning to wonder if I had made the right choice going to university at 40 years of age, was it all a mistake!

I thought I was being astute by starting early, which probably would have been a good thing pre covid! This left me quite frustrated, and I lacked motivation to continue contacting companies. 

When I eventually found a placement, which was to be honest, right under my nose all along, I had a mixture of feelings, I was happy and excited to be working alongside Paul as he is someone I have known for most of my life. I was also nervous and to be honest a little scared, especially when I realised the majority of his work is done over live stream, therefore leaving little room for mistakes. 

Evaluation

My positive experience from this is I eventually got a placement in which I completed complete my hours in November, I am still working there and volunteering with Armagh TV, and I have managed to secure a Saturday job with BBC through my placement training. 

Reflecting back on my part in all of this I can see how I seem to take things personally to often, realistically nearly everyone was still working from home back then, so the rejection wasn’t anything to do with my age, ability, or lack of current CV. 

I also feel I was very hard on myself at first and in a way showed myself a disrespect in terms of disbelieving my ability to both find and hold down a placement position. 

Analysis 

In order to acquire confidence as an effective practitioner you:

• let go of certainty, in an environment where you feel safe enough
• look for something when you don’t know what it is
• begin to act when you don’t really know how you should act  (Rodgers, 1969)

In reflection of how I nearly convinced myself I couldn’t secure and keep a placement I feel if I had previously read the above from Rodgers, I would have spent less time procrastinating after the first rejections and the whole process would have moved along a lot quicker than it did. If I had of continued searching for companies back in April 2020, I would have come across Paul a lot sooner. Therefore, it was my own thought negativity that impacted the process. 

Conclusion

When I look back at the time I left after the first rejections I feel I can definitely learn a lot from that and how much easier the whole process would have been if I had just stepped up and continued in my search.  

Action Plan

Going forward I feel I need to learn to think positively regarding my abilities as my negative thinking has impacted me on many occasions during my time at Queens. Working on improving my self-confidence will also allow me to make smarter and braver choices going forward. 

I will update my CV on the advice given to include the work experience and my new part time job. 

Bibliography

Jasper, M. (2013) Beginning reflective practice. Andover: Cengage Learning EMEA. Medical library RT73 JASP 

Rodgers. 1969, p. 152. As found in Bolton. G, 2002, p.15. Chapman Publishing Ltd, London.