This term’s work experience has prepared me for employment after graduation in the sense that I have a better appreciation for my abilities as an employee. A lot of the time, I am quick to doubt my abilities as an employee and feel insecure in my work environment. It can be really easy to feel pressure to be perfect as an employee. It does not matter how nice or supportive your bosses are, or how capable you are of doing what is asked of you. Sometimes, there is a small voice in your head that says, “What if you’re not doing enough?”
Well, this term has taught me that the voice can kindly shove it. This term, I have had to make a lot of adjustments in my life in order to be a successful employee. And while my supervisors did a wonderful job of checking in on me through one-on-ones and contact through Microsoft Teams, there were times where it made more sense to try and figure things out on my own before asking for help. This was new for me, since typically in a workplace environment if I did not know how to do something, I would instantly assume that I would not be able to figure it out myself and would ask my supervisors for help. Being at home made me approach these scenarios differently. When I encountered a problem I would do my best to fix it myself and work on it throughout the work week, and then bring it up in my one-on-ones if I still had not solved it. I found that I was able to accomplish a lot by being patient with myself throughout the process of trying to work through an issue. For example, when working on my project, I found that I was having issues with embedding videos into the program I was using. After spending an entire shift trying to resolve the issue on my own, I took the problem to my supervisors and learned that a software issue was causing the problem, not something I was doing. It was reassuring to know that I was on the right track and that I had done what I could to solve the problem.I actually was able to learn more that way, since I was dealing with the problem head-on instead of waiting for someone to come and fix it for me.
By solving problems this way, I was able to build up my confidence a bit as far as how I view my own capabilities. I know this will help me in employment settings after graduation because it will give me the courage to advocate for myself and to trust that I am doing the best I can. In the future, I know I will come across situations in the workplace that I will eventually need help with. But at least I know I have the skills to work through them myself and will know that I am doing enough.
Image Credit: “Duck Graduation” by Tom Borton