Dungeons, dragons… and discover your role in life

Posted on 2 March 2022 • Career planning, Career Readiness stages

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a game where you roleplay a unique character in an imaginary world full of monsters, magic, and mischief. Jack from OU Careers and Employability Services is a big enthusiast, and he thinks D&D could teach us to unlock new pathways:

“D&D could give you a creative way to imagine your future in the real world, helping you work out your next steps and navigate your journey. You choose your character’s race, class, and background to determine your abilities and how to play. For example, you could be Halgar the Barbarian Orc who spent 20 years gaining useful skills as a bounty hunter, but is wondering if the environmental sector might match his values and passions.”

Jack takes us through his D&D-inspired tips to help discover your future role:

1. Identify your game class (career readiness stage)

D&D has different ‘classes’ of roles, but in careers D&D there are four career readiness stages Progress, Discover, Explore, and Achieve. Which is your stage? Intelligent self-diagnostic tool Career Readiness Pulse will give you the answer and recommend tailored resources and tools building your confidence to play out a future you might imagine.

2. Identify your strengths and skills from your back story

D&D runs on hidden abilities like Charisma, Strength, and Dexterity, determined by the roll of a 20-sided dice. In real life, your stats will be skills and strengths developed from your previous life and work experience, as well as new ones you’re gaining from OU study. Good at communication? Put them to use and gain the Networking ability. Ever been made redundant? You’re proficient in Resilience. Whatever your back story, you’ll need to identify your secret strengths, put them into words that make employers take notice, and learn how to talk about them. Take a look at this list of employability skills to see which you have, how strong they are, and which you need to develop.

3. Choose the weapons and equipment you’ll need

To quote The Legend of Zelda, “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.”

If you’re ready to start your journey, you’ll need some tools and advice to help you on your way. Luckily for you, the OU’s Careers and Employability Services has hundreds of fantastic resources such as the Tome of Career Planning and more across their Help Centre, webinars and forums page, and OpportunityHub – and you don’t even have to barter gold coins for them. As an OU student or graduate, you also have the special ability to summon an expert careers advisor via skype, phone, or email for a one-to-one careers consultation.

I wish you all the critical hits, inspiration points, and success on your adventure.

OU Careers and Employability Services

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