Ever hoped to grow as a person and find your best-fit career?

Thanks to an exciting UAE government initiative, high school students now have the opportunity to grow beyond the classroom. It was recently announced that students aged 15 and above are permitted to get some part-time work experience under their belts. This presents a whole host of opportunities for our young people. If you’re a young person and aren’t convinced yet, here are some key benefits that are now at your fingertips.

Perfection Through Personal Development

You’ve probably heard vague terms like ‘personal development’, ‘soft skills’ and ‘self-actualisation’ (especially if you’re a Business Studies student!) plenty of times. What are they though, and how do they help you?

Personal development is a lifelong process through which you maximise your potential, gain fulfilment, and become the architect of your own life. Experiences (like part-time jobs) that promote personal development improve your ability to deal with new challenges, boost self-confidence, increase empathy, and improve communication. These benefits are crucial to maximise your potential at school, work, in sport, and in your social life.

Students of Business Studies will recognise self-actualisation as the apex of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. For Maslow, self-actualisation is the desire to become everything you are capable of becoming. This sounds awfully philosophical, but it simply means that people naturally want to maximise their potential. Since everyone’s area of potential differs, experiences like part-time jobs help you find and refine yours. Crucially, part-time work provides the environment to sharpen the psychological, organisational, and social skills which help you become the best version of yourself. Even if your first job isn’t your dream career, you’ll sharpen skills that stay with you for life. To name a few, expect to improve your abilities to collaborate, think creatively, and achieve your goals. These skills will be with you for life and you’ll have a head start on most adults(!) before you even get to university.

Incredible Independence

At school, you exercise a degree of independence by managing your busy work and social schedules. A part-time job would take this to the next level. You’ll have the opportunity to think and act more independently in a whole new environment.

While this may sound daunting, the benefits of this new-found independence help you succeed in every aspect of your life. According to recent studies, independent learning increases motivation, intellectual creativity, and overall academic performance. Experiences that foster independent thought and action also help to boost self-esteem, self-awareness, and improve decision-making.

Get a Feel For a Career

A part-time job is a perfect opportunity to dip your toes into the professional world. By peering behind the curtain of working life, you’ll get deeper insights about what kind of work suits you best. To do so, we recommend reflecting on your experiences in note form and firing thoughtful questions at your new colleagues. They’ll be delighted to share advice and knowledge about their journeys. All this information is precious for your own thinking about the career path you’d like to pursue.

A part-time job helps you find your best-fit career through these experiences and in your next job interview. After graduating, employers are keen to see students’ understanding of a professional environment as well as their academic achievements. Given that 94% of employers encourage interns to return as employees, your place of part-time work might even be your first real job someday! In any case, you’ll gain valuable experiences and make interesting connections that’ll put you on the right track.

Next steps

In a first for students in the UAE, the opportunity to experience all these brilliant benefits (and more) is here. To start the journey, make a list of the roles or companies you’re interested in. For inspiration, reflect on your favourite subjects, passions, and role models. For guidance, speak with your parents, teachers, and academic specialists in the Feynman Family. We’ll be interviewing leaders from a diversity of career fields in the coming weeks which will be available on the website. Watch this space and get in touch to request an interview with an industry or leader that inspires you!