Real life stories
Life on the ocean wave
Tim Cooke landed his dream job as a Visitor Assistant at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich after months of unsuccessful applications and interviews.
Tim, 24, from Amersham, has a passion for English heritage and had been working in a part-time, seasonal role as a tourist guide in Oxford since leaving university. And after months of applying for vacancies and attending around 10 interviews with no job offers he was beginning to get downhearted.
It was then that Tim, a history graduate from the University of Kent, sought careers advice. Tim was helped with the job application process and developed his interview techniques, resulting in him being offered the next job he applied for.
“I had heard about how helpful careers advice could be from friends and family” he said. “But I hadn’t realised just what a difference it would make to my life."
“Working as a tourist guide was really unique and interesting, and gave me a good understanding of customer service and working directly with the public. I also gained great experience in dealing with overseas visitors, but I needed a change of role that would offer me different experiences. I was beginning to get really downhearted after being turned down for jobs time after time so meeting my adviser Mark came at just the right time for me.
Tim’s new job, which ended early September, involved working inside the museum galleries, welcoming and assisting visitors, providing information and talks to groups of visitors about the exhibitions, managing visitor flow and ensuring the security of the building, giving him new skills and experiences to take into any future employment.
“I thoroughly enjoyed this job and the training and development was excellent,” Tim added. “As part of my role, I worked towards an NVQ Level 2 in Heritage Care and Visitor Services and have already completed the Welcome Host qualification. My ultimate ambition is to work in a heritage environment in a management, curatorial or archival role and I now feel as though I am on course to achieve this. I will be keeping in touc with Mark to get some more support for future job searches and help with the application process.”
Tim’s adviser Mark Pencherz said “Tim was well qualified when he came to us and he knew what he wanted. His confidence had been knocked after being turned down several times after interviews. However all he needed was some help in applying for jobs and interview techniques and also in using the knowledge, skills and experience he already had in an interview situation.
“Whether you're wanting to get into work, change career or move up the career ladder, careers advice can provide tailored help to help people achieve their goals.”
To find out more about how careers advice could help you, call 0800 100 900.
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