Month 7 - Facing setbacks and squiggly career paths

You are now at month seven of your Thrive mentoring partnership, this talking point will focus on persevering in your search for experience and squiggly career paths.

Keeping going in your search for experience

Securing work experience opportunities can take time, and it can be tough to keep going if you face rejections. Your mentor will have their own experiences with this, perhaps ask them for their advice, guidance, and if they have any coping mechanisms that may support you.

Facing setbacks when applying for work experience can be an opportunity to develop and refine your applications further by taking the time to seek feedback and apply this to further applications. Working with your mentor to apply those changes and talk through the process can help you to move forward.

Alternatively, you may be thinking of gaining different experiences after graduation, such as further study or taking time out. Our careers pages features useful information on alternative options for you.

Squiggly career paths

If you are struggling with the idea of committing to a certain career path, remember that many careers take different directions overtime and this is completely normal! The more people you speak to, the more you find people arrived at where they are today through exploring different opportunities. Seek guidance from your mentor to see how they arrived at where they are today, do they have any advice for you on how to navigate these challenges?

Entering into a graduate role straight away from finishing university is not the reality for many people. Alongside speaking with your mentor,  can help you explore this topic more.

Remember you can access all 10 talking points to feel free to look through them all, find topics that interest you most or mix up the order however suits you and your mentor.