The Perfect Student Permission to fail University of Manchester Careers Blog

The Perfect Student Permission to fail University of Manchester Careers Blog Lets make it clear, I dont want you to fail, I dont expect you to fail, and if were talking about your viva or any exams, it would be a really smart move not to fail... But if you always succeed, you may simply be playing it safe and not learning a really important lesson how to bounce back and try again. I reckon you have permission to fail if you: Try things youve never done before This is how youll stretch yourself, find out what youre really capable of, and potentially set yourself apart from other job applicants. Fail early and learn fast Spot when things are going wrong know when its time to stop and start again and dont repeat the same mistakes. Do what you can to reduce the cost of failure Fail when it doesnt really matter (remember what I said about your viva) and lean on your most supportive friends to put any failures into perspective. Are you The Perfect Student? As a postgrad, youre a high achiever, and theres a lot of pressure on high achievers to be perfect. Some of this may have come from schooldays teachers or parents focusing on the one or two subjects where you didnt achieve the top grades they came to expect as normal from you. These days, the pressures more likely to come from yourself. Perfect can be very limiting though, in several ways: 1. Constantly aiming for perfection This can mean you never quite finish something, or take an inordinately long time to deliver the perfect product. This time-stealer can leave you exhausted, with no time left over for more pleasurable activities or even worse, more important activities. Recognising when good enough is acceptable is a really important skill, particularly as you head into the workplace. If your standard is perfect, then youre not in a good position to judge when something is good enough. You need feedback from others who also produce good work, but who always seem to have more time on their hands than you. Nurture any friends who seem to do this with ease and pay them the compliment of asking for their feedback and support. Have a look at our handout on Asking for Feedback (pdf) for advice on how to do this. 2. Giving up at the first sign of failure This is also known as Im no good at networking (when your first attempt leads to a brush-off), Ive tried getting jobs in X but its no use (after zero response to your two, count em, two applications) or I cant do interviews (after one solitary rejection). Finding jobs in a competitive job market demands effort and multiple applications and youre unlikely to be perfect at your first attempt. You can reduce your cost of failure by starting your job search in plenty of time, so you can make your mistakes early, ask for feedback, improve your technique and hopefully be match-fit just in time for when you really need a job. Wouldnt it be better if your first couple of interviews were for jobs you didnt really want, where you could practise your technique without worrying about the outcome? Sure, some employers might not like this but they always interview more people than they have jobs for. Youre just testing out more jobs than you need! 3. Not trying because you might not succeed This might be responsible for that lack of crucial transferable skills on your CV. If you only try things you know youll be good at, youll never learn anything new. Of course youre learning lots on your degree, but so is everyone else. The ones who will stand out are the ones who have the courage to try stuff outside the norm. Personally, Id aim for activities where the cost of failure is damaged pride rather than loss of life or limb. Put in place recovery mechanisms, like friends who know youre trying something new, and who will cheer you on, or cheer you up, whatever the outcome and have a go. At worst, youll have a great answer for the tricky interview question, Tell me about a time when you didnt succeed. The importance of bouncing back The work weve been doing on employability has really highlighted the importance of being able to persevere and bounce back after setbacks. From the undergraduates weve looked at, being resilient seems to be one of the defining behaviours of those who get into good graduate jobs quickly, and I suspect that postgrads arent any different. If you need any more support in developing your ability to bounce back, have a look at our postgraduate careers guide to How to recover from setbacks. Post Script Its all very well for you, writing all this stuff Little Miss Perfect, huh! Exactly! Im just writing what I wish someone had told me thirty years ago. That right first time mentality never really leaves you but it does get easier. Even so, youll probably still need the odd shove in the right direction. My inspiration for this post was my lovely new sewing machine, and discovering that one technique I wanted to use (free-motion quilting, to get technical for all you crafty-types) is Impossible I just cant do it. Im no good with my hands. Ive never been able to sew in a perfect (ooh, warning sign) straight line, never mind flowing curves. That is, until I found a great blog post and video showing how everyone starting out makes a pigs ear of their first attempts. Their message? Its normal, its OK and to get through it, you just need to practise, practise, practise. So, like learning my scales or my times tables, Im trying to sew row after row of curvy lines, every night. Im still rubbish (stop that right now!) but you know what? It is better than it was a couple of days ago. Wish me luck. All Postgraduate employability