April Quinto, Senior Network Planner
‘Gaining experience’ is a common trap for a lot of graduates. We need a chance in a field to get experience, but we also need experience in a field for most companies to give us a chance. Often, it becomes about what you can give rather than how you can grow, and the amount of work required to get into the field takes away from any joy you can get from learning and starting in your chosen profession.
Luckily, I got to join Sharesource's 3-month Network Graduate Program. I was learning more about the fiber-optic networking industry while gaining experience and being mentored. This allowed me to bypass the usual ‘experience’ trap and try many different aspects of the network planner role. Rather than just setting everybody up with the same tasks and the same goals, the program really allows people to find what they excel at and enjoy, then helps them to be the best they can be at those things.
My goal currently is to continue training to be a consultant – a jack-of-all-trades role that will allow me to continue to expand my skills and find what I am best at. I have been working as a network planner for over two years and enjoy assisting and collaborating with team members to solve problems and provide outcomes.
Being a part of the graduate program and subsequently working with Sharesource and their partners has provided me with confidence in myself and my abilities that extends outside of work into my personal life as well.
It is really rewarding to go somewhere and understand why things are designed and set up in a certain way, and to know that I have the skills and understanding to explain it to new graduates. Especially when they share their frustrations of being trapped in the ‘experience’ cycle.
#UnleashingHumanPotential; #SocialImpactOutsourcing