In Search of Self Worth: The Journey of an oblivious young girl from the middle of nowhere into the Corridors of Power

I'm a Senior Policy Advisor in the UK Government today, and this is a deep dive into how it all began.

Starting a career is quite a challenge and there is hardly anybody who didn't get off to a rocky start!

I do vividly remember the sharp pit in my stomach as I left university a few years ago without a clue about what would become of me.

I knew I had to get a job, as soon as I possibly could, but what and how, I didn't know. 

Being studious at university paid off as excellent grades but it still took me 8 months to get an internship and a total of 18 months to find my first job. 

Most of us would know that it is daunting to say the least! 483 rejections at which point I stopped counting and the fact that I happen to live with multiple disabilities didn't help either. 

If anything, it only added to the agony by automatically ruling me out of the jobs that require physical agility. I use a wheelchair and can't drive so I had to look for jobs within a certain catchment area and/or relocate for the job which I was prepared to do but skill jobs were hard to come by, particularly for those without prior experience. 

How could I forget having to explain to a million people that the workplace adjustments that I needed to carry out my job effectively were indeed reasonable that too when people had to take a leap of faith on me!

Of course, the world of work has since evolved, and we are in a much better place today in terms of being disability confident employers and supporting reasonable adjustments as best as we can.

However, the culmination of these things had also inner battles during that period including feeling worthless, baffled and extremely vulnerable. 

I was grappling with shattered self-worth, anger, resentment and a sense of failure that was gripping me every minute. All this, inspite of having a degree with a distinction!

It was at this point I came across the Civil Service Fast Stream and decided to give myself a chance which happened to be the right thing for me. Lo and behold! Here I am, a career Civil Servant. 

One of the things that I wish I knew earlier is that a degree and your grades alone can't get you a job. Even more so, when you come from non-STEM backgrounds. 

Yes, I was an arts/humanities student who studied International Relations/Politics and devoted 8 years of my academic life to learning and honing my research methods, however, the thing that I obviously missed in the process is nurturing a tangible skill set that I'd bring to a job.

In essence, I had the knowledge that I needed but lacked the strategy/toolkit to implement it on the job and those tools are the skills that organisations are looking for.

This is a huge gap in formal education and to be honest, the area of study and work are often chalk and cheese which is why we need apprenticeships and youth employment programmes to support both the employees and the employers.

I have line managed several colleagues who are on apprenticeships/employment courses, who get pick and choose, build their unique skill set which makes me wish that I'd integrated my school/college education with some form of work experience.

I have indeed achieved great success in my career but then, the journey would've been a lot easier if I had the right toolkit/skillset early on.

A few things I'd say to my younger self:

• Starting exploring your options early on. Actively seek guidance. Engage with Sponsors, Mentors and Coaches ideally from your school/college days. 
• It is perfectly normal to venture into the unknown, make a mistake and own up to it. 
• Never let a job/course description put you off from giving it a short. Sometimes, the process itself can be a learning experience. Actively seek feedback for every application/interview irrespective of the outcome.
• Shout if you need support. Everybody does, at some point. Workplace adjustments exist to be exercised. People do different things and there is nothing out of place in doing things differently. If anything, that's an example of thinking out of the box. 

 

Rasika Meena Kaushik

Civil Servant | Non Profit Board Member and Strategic Advisor (Sub Committees) | Freeman - The Worshipful Company of Needlemakers and The Worshipful Company of Fletchers | Mentor | Disability Champion

You can find out more and connect with Rasika on LinkedIn.