I've been invited to speak at a conference for A level students who are starting to think about their university choices. The organisers have asked me to speak about how my degrees relate to my portfolio career. What will I tell them?
My BA, MA and MPhil were all done under the auspices of English Literature. In fact my MA and MPhil were actually quite multi-disciplinary in nature, touching on English Literature, Cultural Studies, Science, History and Citizenship. Without a doubt they have helped me to build a portfolio career. English was a great subject to get me started off in my first job in publishing, which in turn funded my MA. My MPhil led me quite indirectly to eight years working in citizenship education. This was purely because I decided to take a job that started as a part-time role which would give me some time to do my research. It's also been my passport to a Visiting Lecturer post teaching English Literature to undergraduates which forms part of my portfolio career today. I now run my own business and feel that my education has played a big role in developing the aptitude and confidence necessary to make a go of it.
In reality the subject of my degrees, although very related to the communications side of my work, could almost be considered irrelevant in some ways. What any degree should do is promote independent, critical thinking, adaptability and high standards. The undergraduates I currently teach will have to make their way in the world in tough economic times. They will need to compete with high numbers of university-educated peers and find ways to make a living in a fast-moving, information-overloaded world. The face and value of knowledge is changing. The rate at which knowledge is acquired and applied has quickened as the human race has evolved. As such, learning about how to keep pace is just as important as learning facts and figures, which change and are contested quicker than ever before.
Marketing and managing my business requires a set of skills which encompass some that are entirely different from the skills needed for the actual services my business offers. Throughout my life I've had teachers, family and colleagues describe me as 'a good all-rounder'. Without a doubt having a broad skills set has given me choices and enabled me to create a portfolio career. I'm not sure how well I'll communicate this to the poor A level students who'll have to sit and listen to me at this conference. However, I'll certainly be extolling the virtues of an open-minded approach to subject-specific learning and working out how to apply it as widely as possible to create opportunities and options.
My BA, MA and MPhil were all done under the auspices of English Literature. In fact my MA and MPhil were actually quite multi-disciplinary in nature, touching on English Literature, Cultural Studies, Science, History and Citizenship. Without a doubt they have helped me to build a portfolio career. English was a great subject to get me started off in my first job in publishing, which in turn funded my MA. My MPhil led me quite indirectly to eight years working in citizenship education. This was purely because I decided to take a job that started as a part-time role which would give me some time to do my research. It's also been my passport to a Visiting Lecturer post teaching English Literature to undergraduates which forms part of my portfolio career today. I now run my own business and feel that my education has played a big role in developing the aptitude and confidence necessary to make a go of it.
In reality the subject of my degrees, although very related to the communications side of my work, could almost be considered irrelevant in some ways. What any degree should do is promote independent, critical thinking, adaptability and high standards. The undergraduates I currently teach will have to make their way in the world in tough economic times. They will need to compete with high numbers of university-educated peers and find ways to make a living in a fast-moving, information-overloaded world. The face and value of knowledge is changing. The rate at which knowledge is acquired and applied has quickened as the human race has evolved. As such, learning about how to keep pace is just as important as learning facts and figures, which change and are contested quicker than ever before.
Marketing and managing my business requires a set of skills which encompass some that are entirely different from the skills needed for the actual services my business offers. Throughout my life I've had teachers, family and colleagues describe me as 'a good all-rounder'. Without a doubt having a broad skills set has given me choices and enabled me to create a portfolio career. I'm not sure how well I'll communicate this to the poor A level students who'll have to sit and listen to me at this conference. However, I'll certainly be extolling the virtues of an open-minded approach to subject-specific learning and working out how to apply it as widely as possible to create opportunities and options.
An informative hub, must say. Keep writing.
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