The perpetual student graduates again….and again…
Yes that would be me. Not content with two undergraduate degrees, I’ve gone and got myself a few more letters to add to the end of my name. I can just imagine my headstone reading “here lies Kay…..exhausted physically, stimulated mentally and in debt up to her eyeballs in student fees” followed by a whole list of letters which have little to no meaning to anyone except myself and maybe other people in the industry. *hehe*
Those letters represent a lot of hard work, stress and who knows how much money - I stopped keeping track a long time ago but suffice to say, I will be paying back the government for quite a while yet. Yet they aren’t making it any easier to get me where I want to be. Time and time again I hear the same thing - great on paper but where is my practical experience? It is incredibly frustrating, not to mention disappointing. I know I can do the job and I know that whatever I don’t know now, I will learn very quickly.
Practical experience in a role is important, this I realise, but learning on the job is par for the course of almost any role. In all honesty, sometimes I think that this is the best way to learn how to perform your job properly. I think of all the time that I have spent working in health care and probably about 5% of the knowledge I have now, I learned before I started working in acute care. The rest of it came with time on the job, learning from my colleagues and as situations occurred.
Just as well I am stubborn as an ox because I won’t be deterred. Some things in life are worth fighting for and for me, this is one of them. I WILL get there, no matter how long it takes. All I’m asking for is a chance to prove myself….the rest of the road, I’ll pave for myself. 
November 29th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Absolutely inspiring Kay. Agreed, you learn so much on the job and from colleagues!
If I were a boss, I’d certainly want such a driven person in my employ! If one has the readily identifiable attributes to handle a role, the ensuing practical up-skilling is merely a slight cost in the recruiting process (and an acceptable cost at that!!). In the end they’ll have a great employee - a true asset!
November 30th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
So does that mean you got your results back! Don’t need to ask how you did, I am sure it was fabulous.
I really hope 2008 brings you some exciting stuff on the job front, you have worked really hard and deserve it