Under Pressure (Pushing Down On Me)

Securing a work placement – what a joyful experience. From the stress of waiting on responses from employers, the rejections, and my personal favourite, the ‘oh, what if I do not get a placement in time?’ narrative constantly running through your mind like a broken record that just does not want to stop. Fun, right?

These feelings can ultimately be felt by many when they are trying to attain a work placement. However, even though these experiences can be challenging, they are also needed. I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to secure a work placement through my work-based learning module offered at Queen’s University Belfast. This blog will explore these experiences using Gibb’s reflective cycle, exploring the challenges that came with securing a placement, along with the lessons learnt during this process. [1]

So… what happened?

As I plan to go into teaching after I graduate, I wanted to gain some relevant work experience as it is supposed to “prepare students for work and allow them to develop general business awareness” (UCAS, 2019) [2]. To gain this experience, I would have to secure a placement. In the beginning of my applications in August, I only applied to secondary schools, as I believed that a secondary school was the only place I could get relevant work experience for teaching. It took a lengthy amount of time for employers to reply, and, as placements were not guaranteed, I faced rejections from several schools. In the end, I applied to do work experience at the South Eastern Regional College after deciding that any type of experience was better than none. Thankfully, I managed to secure my placement at SERC.

Facing the Great War of feelings: what type of feelings did I experience?

As you can imagine, I was very stressed out and anxious. I did not know if I was going to secure a placement in time. If I could not, I would miss out on valuable work experience that I desperately needed to become a teacher, which had been my dream career since I was a child. Additionally, I felt dejected. Deep down, I worried that I was not good enough for any of these placements, and the fact that I kept getting rejected was a sign. However, when I was finally accepted at SERC, I was relieved and excited.

The good, the bad, and the ugly: what was good and what was bad about this experience?

This process taught me that I could work in stressful situations, as I was able to eventually secure a placement at SERC. Additionally, as I was dealing with rejections, it meant I became better at facing them as time went on. As Kevin Feige says, “rejection is a common occurrence. Learning that early and often will help you build up the tolerance and resistance to keep going and keep trying” [3]. However, I did not leave myself enough time to complete this task, which meant that the process for securing a placement became stressful. Additionally, I failed to keep my options open in the beginning which meant that more pressure was placed on me to secure a placement.

Making sense of the situation

This process taught me that you should always leave yourself plenty of time to complete tasks. According to Dr Karl Albrecht, who completed a theory on the different types of stress, “time stress can quickly make you feel unhappy, trapped, or even hopeless” [4]. Ultimately, this explains why I felt stressed and quite hopeless within the situation, as I was not leaving myself enough time to secure a placement. Furthermore, the process could have gone smoother if I had kept my options open. Going into this process, I believed that I had to secure a placement in a secondary school. However, this added more pressure, as it meant that I was not keeping my options open, and I was going in with the idea that only certain type of experiences were valuable. However, even in the face of rejection, I was able to secure a placement, and this was definitely due to the fact that I was eager to get experience so I could be another step closer to achieving my dream.

Taking accountability: what else could I have done?

Instead of leaving things until August, I should have started to contact schools in May or June. That way, I would not have felt so pressured for time, and therefore would not have worried as much about securing a placement. Additionally, instead of simply limiting myself to secondary schools, I should have done a better job at researching how other institutions, such as colleges, could provide me with valuable experience. This would have given me more options, and I would not have been as worried.

“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves” – my future plan of action

In the future, I will leave as much time as possible to organise a placement. This way, I will not feel as stressed when it comes to organising work experience. Additionally, I will keep my options open, and consider how, even if the institution is not a secondary school, it can still provide me with valuable experience about the education sector.

References

[1] The University of Edinburgh. (2020) Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle. Available at Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle | The University of Edinburgh. (Accessed: 28th November 2022).

[2] UCAS. (2019). Is Work Experience Important? Available at https://www.ucas.com/connect/blogs/work-experience-important. (Accessed: 29th November 2022).

[3] Quote. org (2017). Kevin Fiege Quotes. Available at Kevin Feige – Inspiring quotes at Quote.org

[4] Mind Tools (2020). Albrecht’s Four Types of Stress. Available at Albrecht’s Four Types of Stress – Managing Common Pressures (mindtools.com) (Accessed 29th November 2022).

Sources

Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. London: Further Education Unit.

UCAS. (2019). Is Work Experience Important? (Accessed: 29^th November 2022).

Mind Tools (2020). Albrecht’s Four Types of Stress. (Accessed: 30th November 2022).

Quote. org (2017). Kevin Fiege Quotes. (Accessed 30th November 2022).