Hello my name is Yusuf Salam and I’ve recently joined up with Youth Employment UK as Young Ambassador. As a formal introduction to the group I would like to provide you with a statement about myself and my, experiences navigating through finding employment as a young person. I was raised and currently live in London and was educated here. I guess my journey trying to figure where my potential career would go started when I was deciding what to do for my A-levels. I decided to pick subjects that aligned with my strengths such as writing and critical analysis. I picked English, Sociology and Psychology. I thoroughly enjoyed what these subjects provided me with such as the ability to craft together captivating arguments within my writing as well as how to develop a critical mindset when approaching work. I definitely felt the pressure and the worry that young people go through when it comes to the future the day my results came in, I had unfortunately didn’t gain the grades I wanted, was turned down by my choices and was unable to gain a place through clearing. I definitely was in a complete state of confusion on what to do, and had lot of self-doubt if I was ever able to get my dream career after I was constantly told by teachers the importance of University and the wealth of opportunities it provides you with.
I came away from that results day, with a different outlook on my experiences within my secondary and sixth form education and how I had a lack of guidance when things didn’t go according to plan. During that summer, I decided to re-evaluate what I wanted to pursue as a career and the steps in which I had to take to get there. I also took this opportunity to pursue personal projects with my peers with the view of having fun and learning some new skills, these mostly included creating short films, comedy skits as well as graphic design. It was at this point I recognized my newfound passion for the creative arts. From here I was introduced to specializing my skills into a gaining a placement on a media production course at Lambeth College after attending a speculative open day introducing me to the teachers on the course and the facilities they provided. I specifically enjoyed college more than my sixth form experience, as there were opportunities to apply skills in extra curricular projects as well as having a career’s office. It was from gaining career’s advice as well as attending career’s fairs that I learnt about apprenticeships and was fortunate enough to gain one within an advertising agency whereby I currently work today. So in conclusion that is my story thus far, what I hope that a potential reader to gain from this is that there are a variety of options out there to pursue your chosen career. The most traditional routes may not be the most beneficial for you, so it is important to think openly and critically in the next steps of your future.
