When I saw the Your Future Plan Week pop up on the portal, I wasn’t sure what it involved and I was more excited about a week off lectures. However, I took time to read about what the workshops and talks were about and they actually sounded very interesting. I then booked myself onto the events that I thought would benefit me and also those that were something I had never done before. I wanted to get as much out of this week as possible, seeing as all the events were free and easy to get to.

I was expecting to be inspired by others and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. I found all the talks by employers very interesting and inspiring. It was great to hear how these people had a dream of how they wanted their careers to be, and took any opportunities given to them to pursue this dream and become successful business people. They inspired me to believe in myself and to have faith that my career could go in the same direction as theirs. I was hoping to finish the week with new ideas to make myself more employable in the future and extra-curricular activities to take part in outside of my degree, for example internships and personal branding. I ended up going to the events on my own, so I was hoping to increase my confidence. I was very worried that I wouldn’t know anybody else going or that I would be left on my own the whole week, however I got chatting to the people I sat with and by the end of the week I had made some new friends and had the confidence to turn up on my own and not worry what people thought. Also, the Future Plan team were really welcoming and were always around for a chat or to help if I got lost.

From the talks, I learnt many techniques to become more employable after I leave University. From one of the note speakers Steve Head, I learnt about focussing on the good things, and not on the things that could go wrong and being the best confident version of you. From Paul Goring, I learnt about personal branding and maximising my uniqueness to make myself stand out from others. I also attended workshops on Note Taking and Report Writing which have now made me more confident to write my assignments and I have learnt new techniques to improve my learning.

My favourite talk was by Bianca Miller Cole (The Apprentice). She was a really great speaker, engaging from the start to the end. It was great to hear about how she had an idea for a business, went on The Apprentice, didn’t win but still had faith that the business would work and now it is an international business. I learnt from her that anything is possible, and that even if there are barriers in life, don’t let them stop you and keep working towards your goals.

Since the Your Future Plan Week, I have felt motivated to improve my employability. I have set up a LinkedIn profile (which we were told about) to make it easier for employers to see my past experiences and qualifications. I have also sorted out extra work experience relevant to my course, to broaden my experience and to expand my CV. I have considered completing an internship and have given my contact details to a few providers in the Gloucestershire area. The events I went to were added to the hours I have worked in my part time job to help me complete my Gloucestershire Employability Bronze Award, which is another great thing to have on my CV.

I know that some students really aren’t interested in this type of thing, but I would recommend it to anyone at the University of Gloucestershire. The talks were so inspiring and I have learnt new techniques that will help me with my studies and getting jobs in the future. I believe that all students should take part in Future Plan events because they are there to help us and are completely free. Even if you are worried about going on your own, other people are in the same boat and if you get talking to people, you can make new friends who can inspire you. I am so glad that I took part in the whole week and look forward to going to more events over the next few years of my degree. I hope that more students take part in the events next time and will be inspired for the future as much as I am.

Megan Cave, BA (Hons) Hotel Resort and Tourism Management (Level 4)

View Your Future Plan Week: 23-27 January 2017 - Event providers' content including PowerPoint slides.