“This course led me to my dream job!”

What was the reason you sought for career guidance?

I’d been unemployed for a while after I finished my master’s degree. There weren’t that many positions in service design that were out there, and many of them required several years of professional experience, which I didn’t have right from my graduation.

When I was introduced to the content of the course, I felt both relieved and overwhelmed. Going from lonely days filled with applications and rejections, to suddenly having a structured everyday life with guidance, professional replenishment and supportive mentors were incredibly motivating.

What’s the most non-traditional or “different thinking” thing you learned?

Writing and presenting my own success stories was new. And the idea of “selling” yourself. How to cope with job interviews, how to present yourself in a positively reflective way, how to write good applications and CVs and the like. It’s essential knowledge that everyone’d know. There’s a lot of this that I wish was part of teaching at upper secondary school.

How did the knowledge and methods you gained influence your further professional life? 

The most important thing was that it helped me get the job I have today. The methods and mindset I learned strengthened me in the application and interview process. An important part of the course was the social part. Being in a group of people with different experiences and goals. A group where everyone supported each other, was interested in how interviews went, celebrated each other’s victories and shared experiences and stories. Both course participants and supervisors were incredibly important to me in reawakening my motivation and hope that I’d get a job as a service designer.

The week right after I finished the course, I secured a job as a service designer, and in good health and mental condition, which was what I dreamed of working in.

What have you benefited the most from afterwards?

I’m more reflective about my own abilities and the usefulness of collecting success stories.