So, to first let me set the scene. Yesterday I submitted an essay that, I currently believe, was awful! It was based on a critical care scenario in which I tried to cover too much within too limited a word count and, as a result, completely messed it up. At the moment, I feel like I know nothing about anything I have learned over the last 3.5 years. Yes, I do have personal things I am coping with and yes, the assessments have been arriving thick and fast over the last few weeks, with more to come. However, out of the more than 100 000 words I have written in my academic life, I have never felt so bad, so anxious and so apprehensive ass I did when I submitted that paper yesterday.
I still recall a paper I wrote in 2003 about some aspect of globalisation, for which I received the worst mark I have ever received during any degree – however, I feel worse now and I still passed that particular module. The reasons for my feeling so bad elude me; to date, all my assignments have been passed, and I have been doing well. Perhaps, it is because I find critical care an interesting subject and would like a career within it? Perhaps, I am feeling stressed about other things in life? Perhaps, it is because things are becoming very real right now and, in a few months, I will be ‘on the road’, if I am lucky enough to pass this degree!
The reality of the situation hit home last week when I attended a graduate engagement day for a trust I am interested in joining, and over the ensuing days as I went on to NHS Jobs to complete the application. The process of applying for a job one has wanted and worked towards for several years, is daunting, to say the least. All roads have led to this point – all the work, placements, lectures, OSCEs and all the money spent have led to this moment and everything is relying on getting that job! It is not like other degrees, which can lead to a wide variety of careers. I've been in that situation and toyed with becoming a writer, a journalist, a diplomat, or an academic. However, none of my previous degrees have caused this complex interplay between my nervous, endocrine and immune systems, which have gone into overdrive, causing so much stress. So what can I say to put others more at ease with the process? Well, not a lot!
It is nerve wracking, and I am sure it will be until I manage to get my seat on that van with the big blue flashing lights or even past that! But I can say, embrace the stress and the nerves. You've been working towards this for many years, and it will all come to pass. Just try your best not to hand in a completely awful essay and I am sure you'll survive the process. When invited to a presentation or open day by the trust you want to work for, go! It's the perfect opportunity to find out more about them, your future prospects and development, as well as about the process itself. It also demonstrates to the potential employer that you are interested in them and the role so that has to look good!
When completing the application, sell yourself! Pay attention to the essential and desirable criteria in the person specification and link it to your own qualifications, knowledge, skills or using real-world examples. You have a very short amount of space to make yourself look great and that can be tricky. So, picture yourself in the Den or in front of Lord Sugar and get out there and sell, sell sell!