Reality Bites

The reality that we’re entering our final semester has finally hit home, there is only a few months left on the course, but they’re an important few months. I’m really looking forward to finishing the course now and being able to put everything that I have learnt into practise in the outside world.

One of the most important parts of the next few months is the SMLP (Self Managed Learning Plan), where I chose a skill and manage my learning throughout the assignment. I’m quite nervous about this, I’ve never self-taught myself anything in the past but hopefully the resources that I’ve identified will aid me in the learning process.

The skill that I have chosen to learn is PHP. PHP is a skill mentioned more and more on job specifications as a required element of an applicant, so knowing this skill will increase my chances of employment after the course.

The creation of my portfolio is another very important stage of the next few months. My portfolio is the key tool to gaining employment and will be a showcase of my skills to show employers. Because of this, my portfolio needs to be adaptable. I’m nervous about doing this, as designing something for myself is my weakness, I’m never happy with anything I design for myself – or I get bored with the design very quickly – which is something I need to snap out of.

My biggest fear over the next few months is the final presentation. I’ve never really enjoyed presentations and the final one is a major jump from the 10 minutes that we’ve been presenting so far. It’s going to take a lot of work; practise and courage to present first time without letting nerves take over. I think that due to the fact the presentation is about my college work and my thoughts and feelings during the 2 years on the course, it will be easier to talk about than a random subject.

It is quite nerve racking thinking about the amount of work that needs doing over the next few months, I’ve certainly got to put everything that I’ve learnt into practise – especially the time planning aspect. Juggling motherhood, pregnancy, college work and every day life is certainly no easy challenge, but its one I’m willing to tackle.

When the course has finished, I feel that my level of employability will be at a stage where I can be comfortable applying for positions in the industry. During the course, I have been doing some small web jobs as a freelance and would like to continue this, but I feel that even though I have had some experience with clients, I would be better going into an agency or in-house job to improve my skills further.

In summary, I need to get my teeth stuck into the final few months and not fall at the final hurdle. I need to bring together a portfolio, learn PHP and tackle my final presentation in order to do so – although this is nerve racking, I’m looking forward to it!

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