Nadia Ghafoor, a graduate from the University of Greenwich’s BA Human Resource Management, talks about the challenges she faced and how the degree helped her secure a job in the government.
What made you apply for the Executive Officer role in Rewards and Talent Management in the government?
What made me apply for the role was that I knew the reward was the area or the field that I want to go into, it’s what I enjoyed the most. I felt that in the work environment it would be the most challenging and most interesting.
What was the process like when you applied for the role?
When I applied, the process was very difficult at first because I didn’t have any experience of applying for such a big role at the time. To apply for a role in the government, it’s a very, very long process and you have to do a lot of work, practice and research, and not just for interviews but for the selection process.
How has the BA Human Resource Management degree helped you secure your ideal job?
I think the way the BA Human Resource Management degree helped me secure a job was because it’s very broad. During your studies you learn about so many different areas – law, employment, recruitment, selection, so you’re able to really understand different levels of HR. And that really gives you a good push.
What obstacles did you face and how did you overcome them?
Before I started university, I didn’t really have a lot of qualifications because I started working straight after I left school, and college wasn’t a priority at the time. I didn’t really go through the education process very smoothly and then jumping into university where I had to write essays, do exams, learn information, read so many books – it was really tough.
Those were the challenges I really faced and I was really lazy with the way I spoke. I had to really work on myself, so do a lot of personal development to get good grades. But I feel like if you don’t have the qualifications for something, but you really want it, you can find a way around it.
Original article published by the University of Greenwich.
Student’s original photo is replaced for confidentiality purposes.