I don’t mean the reality show The Apprentice. I mean me, the apprentice. I’m taking part in a career coaching course that happens online. For now, at least. The last week of the course is going to be live. The course is 5 weeks, and it started this Monday. It’s an early morning for me. It begins at 9 am. It’s about job search and all that. For example, how to find hidden jobs and write resumes. There are assignments to do. The course is online from 9 to 12 am, and the rest of the day, you work on the tasks by yourself. You can do them when you want. There is a lot of thinking. It’s about what you do best. Then there are 2 weeks of getting to know a job in a company of your choice. I’ve already contacted one. I didn’t get anything the last time I went to career coaching, so I hope I find one this time. It doesn’t need to be something you studied. It can be from a field you don’t know. I would prefer it if it could be something I’ve done before.
This course is not only about job search and careers. It’s also about getting to know yourself better. In a way, it’s life coaching at the same time. Maybe it’s a bit too optimistic at times to think you get to the place you want with the tips. Things don’t always go the way you’ve planned. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up. You should think primarily about your strengths and what you’re good at. Things you can’t do, you can learn. If you’re interested in it. You shouldn’t do it if you don’t care about it. Some might think I’ve given up my dreams. But it only takes a bit longer. What is the hurry anyway? I take one step at a time. Tomorrow is another day.
A job mentor is someone who helps you with job search and with resumes. You also call them career mentors. As an unemployed, you get to go to different job search courses and you can also get a personal mentor if you like. How fun and you get closer to that job you want. buzzer Wrong, you only get something to do during the day. Maybe you get tips about job search but it won’t help you get a job. It gives the mentor a job. Maybe someone has succeeded to find a job by using these mentors but usually, they’re a waste of time. I should know. I’m been in a lot of different job search courses. But I’m not bitter. There has been something positive too. So this is what a job mentor has given me.
I’ve had two different mentors. One was twice. The first one was in 2008 or 2009. I didn’t have any examination at the time. We searched for internships but we didn’t find anything. Photography was very important to me at the time. The mentor suggested if I would apply for education instead. I was reluctant at first because I didn’t want to study for too many years. She (the mentor) found an education where photography wasn’t the main thing but it had it. It was a 2-year education. It felt really long but after thinking about it, I decided to apply for it. It was an undergraduate degree in visual expression. It was a basic graphic design and it also had photography. Before I applied I went to that school for a week to see how it was to study there. I think that helped me to get in. So after two years, I graduated. When I think back, I wish I would have continued with graphic design after that. I would have much more experience now. Photography was just so stuck in my mind so I didn’t think about any other options. You live and learn.
The second mentor really tried to help to find me at least an internship but again, no one wanted to take an intern. We looked on the internet about different companies and contacted them. Or the mentor did because I hate calling. Either way, no chance anywhere. It’s not the mentor’s fault companies doesn’t want to give a chance. They only want people with job experiences and not someone they think they have to babysit. The only achievement I got from this mentor was an internship in one of my local newspaper as a photographer. But it was only 2 weeks which was ridiculous. That’s actually my last internship so far. At least I got some of my photos published. I had this mentor twice because the jobcentre suggested it. I don’t find this kind of services useful when it comes to job search. In some things, they can be useful but it hasn’t helped my case that much. The same with job search courses where other people attend.
And boy, have I been on those courses. I’ve been to career coaching and job search training. You can find all kinds of tips online and study it by yourself. In the end, it still won’t get you a job. There are too many unemployees and not enough jobs. You need job experience in your resume. It doesn’t mean what you’ve studied. Then you also need to be good at job interviews. Job search is just so complicated so no wonder people get depressed. Nothing is never good enough. My good results from these mentors and courses are two educations. Latest was the web design course in 2016-2017. All of these have been my choices and that’s how it should be. I’ve done at least something and not just be. Many people have been on job search courses and had mentors but felt disappointed. They only think about the negative. I try to find something good about it. Some things wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t attended any of those courses. It didn’t help to get me a job but at least I’ve grown as a person. Maybe that will pay off one day.
Today the career coaching course was over. In a way I did learn a lot of about job search but there’s also things I already knew from a preview job search course I’ve attended before. The most depressive thing was to look for a job practise when the places I went to ask was a ‘No’ everywhere. So I didn’t get any. I felt really down. All kind of negative things came to mind. One of them was I’m useless and a coward that won’t get anything done. The worst thing was to get in touch with companies. Calling a stranger is hell. Also going to new places terrified me. It took a few days to pick up the nerve. I hated the whole process. The career coach got me a place in a creative cooperative branch and I had to contact them myself. To make a long story short. I got an appointment there and went. It was only for a couple of hours but I got some new info about how a cooperative works and what they do. I was mainly interested in photography but they were busy elsewhere. I still got to know about clothes designing which was also interesting. The girls (most of them are) there were really nice. I felt really relaxed and I wasn’t nervous about asking questions. A cooperative could be an option if I don’t find work elsewhere.
So what am I going to do next? I don’t really know what I’m doing even if it says so in the photo of my T-shirt. During this course I was looking for a job and studying wasn’t on my agenda. I’ve studied so much before and it was getting boring. There’s also a lot of other dilemmas about starting with study things again. Like financial and travelling arrangements. I’ve looked through different educations just to see what’s out there. I came across a web- designer vocational examination. The school is in a small town in Western Finland which means I have to live in a dorm. I hated that when I studied. The education takes 9 months. It’s not even sure I get into the school so it’s too early to worry about that. There’s a same kind of schooling in my city but it’s longer and it doesn’t have photography like this one. It also starts next year when this begins in August 2016. It’s kind of easy to apply. There are no assignments. You only need to fill a form online and then they interview the applicants. Easy-peasy. I thought I would expand my skills. Since I’ve already studied some of the subjects they teach there, it won’t be too difficult.
My other mission is to get an internship. It could be one of the companies I went to when looking for a job practise. I won’t mention any names. I can tell you it’s a digital marketing agency. You can send them an open application via email. Maybe they only take students though. But it’s worth a try. If you don’t try, you’ll never know. I know what kind of things you should write in applications like that but how to put them in words to convince them, that’s another story. I don’t exactly have experience in marketing even though it has been part of my studies. Of course there other companies where they also have some kind of photography. Advertisement agencies, graphic design etc.
Getting an internship in a photography studio seems impossible. There’s not many in my city. If you ask one and they say ‘no can do’ then they all say that. I’m not really into that studio stuff anyway. Portrait photography? Wedding? Pets? It seems that’s the photography most people do and honestly, that’s boring. But in a studio you learn the technical stuff so not everything is bad.
I’ve learned photography won’t be my main profession and maybe not at all. I’m not very ambitions and the competition out there is so stressful. I don’t think I’m even that good to become a pro. Besides I can so many different things and it feels like I’ll miss those things if I only concentrate one thing. I still want to do photography but other things too. If this really were a perfect world, I would travel around the continent and become friends with every person I like. But this is real life and to become a complete human being, you need to have goals in life. Mine comes in small doses. Dream big, they say. But I just dream.
In my world 