{"id":7840,"date":"2025-02-10T08:45:13","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T08:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/?p=7840"},"modified":"2025-02-26T10:51:35","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T10:51:35","slug":"emilies-sons-graduation-sparked-a-career-move-that-changed-her-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/?p=7840","title":{"rendered":"Emilie\u2019s son\u2019s graduation sparked a career move that changed her life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDon\u2019t be put off by the preconception that only younger people can switch career.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Emilie OU BSc Chemistry student<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Emilie began studying at the OU after her son had completed his degree. She embarked on an OU qualification and found that she could put the transferrable skills from her previous work experience to a career change earlier than she expected \u2013 even whilst still studying. When you review and recognise your own transferrable skills,<\/a> you probably find you\u2019ve got a lot of what employers are looking for.<\/p>\n

Transfer skills you already have to a new direction<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cI had several different jobs over the years, from customer experience to training delivery and even being self-employed.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In addition to skills you already have, your OU study is giving you new ones such as problem solving, communication, digital and information literacy, initiative, self-management and global citizenship.<\/p>\n

Emilie quickly put her existing and new skills to work<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cAs it turns out, I didn\u2019t have to wait until the end of my degree. I spotted an opportunity, which I never would have been qualified for without four years of OU study behind me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Emilie is now working as a laboratory scientist alongside her OU chemistry degree. If you\u2019re looking either for an entry-level role or work experience opportunities, it\u2019s useful to understand the job market in terms of opportunities that exist in your geographical area and your areas of interest. Our Labour Market Information resources and tools,<\/a> will help you get a better understanding and plan smarter.<\/p>\n

Employers value you for your OU study<\/strong><\/h4>\n

According to the OU Employer Engagement Brand Tracking Survey (2024), conducted by independent research organisation The Nursery Research and Planning, employers see OU students as more adaptable, self-starters, work-ready and resilient in comparison to students from local providers. See what they have to say to OU students about career planning, work experience and recruitment,<\/a><\/p>\n

Never too late\u2026 or too early to change career
\n<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got an amazing son and I\u2019m so proud of everything he\u2019s achieved. But when he graduated, I started to think \u2013 if he can do that, so can I!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We hope Emilie’s story<\/a>\u202finspires you to achieve your career goals using the skills and knowledge you\u2019re gaining as part of the OU community.<\/p>\n

\"X<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>David Foulkes is Marketing and Communications Manager in the OU\u2019s Careers and Employability Services. As students with a clear purpose do better in study as well as in life, David\u2019s job is to make sure information about our careers support reaches as many OU students as possible. He\u2019s also a keen OU student of physics, astrophysics and space science and is at the \u2018Discover\u2019 career readiness stage<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Sue Robertson is a Development Coordinator in the OU\u2019s Careers and Employability Services. She supports careers-related activity both within the service and across the University, helping students to achieve their ambitions and fulfil their potential. Explore the rest of our blog for more articles from your careers team.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cDon\u2019t be put off by the preconception that only younger people can switch career.\u201d Emilie OU BSc Chemistry student Emilie began studying at the OU after her son had completed his degree. She embarked on an OU qualification and found that she could put the transferrable skills from her previous work experience to a career […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,78,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-career-planning","category-lmi","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7840"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7964,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7840\/revisions\/7964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}