A little preview of what led me here, the first blog post
I have always been a person with a multitude of creative and career pursuits. Born in a household with one parent having a stable (as they say) permanent government job and the other having an entrepreneurial mindset and business of her own, I was bound to learn all the aspects of the workforce out there. On top of that, I had this genetic artistic and creative worm gifted to me by my ancestors - which made things more interesting.
Growing up, I would do everything that would come my way - from writing to singing to dancing, performing arts - in fact, in every contest in school, I would participate without even an aim to win - my purpose was always to enjoy the process.
My first paid gig was in grade seven, where I performed in a national singing choir organized by national television and the government; one of my best childhood memories. Also, I always secured academic scholarships on basis of merit and extracurriculars. That was my first go at building wealth from things I was good at and enjoyed. The tuition fee was also covered, so all the extra money would go into savings, which I'd later use to invest in my first entrepreneurial venture, my communications consultancy, after high school. I organized multiple training workshops on self, and professional development, started a blog highlighting creative professionals and provided photography and social media services.
Then I did my undergrad and grad school in majors/research like International Relations, Journalism, and Digital Communication, studying at the most prestigious university in Pakistan, National Defence University - again on Merit scholarship. I got excellent opportunities to apply the skills I learned in a classroom.
Awarded President of Pakistan/Chancellor’s Gold Medal for Academic Excellence
Due to that exposure and countless networking opportunities, I did a few internships with government, international and academic institutions during my school program. And right after graduation, I secured my first full-time employment at the UN, a dream job for anyone with my educational background. Besides that, I kept providing communication and project management support as a freelancer to other organizations locally and internationally as an independent contractor.
After working for around five years in that industry, I made one of the most significant decisions of my life and moved to Canada - and started over from scratch. I had great hopes for a new start, but I couldn't do anything due to some significant personal upheaval. Without going into details (story for my memoir-maybe), I lost all my self-confidence and self-esteem - money, things - you name it. I had nothing left. I had to start from zero, literally.
Fortunately, I had great family support and an asset of education and skills from my past, which were now my saviour towards the future.
I moved to Kingston and came across this not-for-profit, KEYS which assists people in gaining employment skills and training. I attended their training program, which helped me gain confidence in getting out there and working again. I secured an entry-level position in a not-for-profit. I met one of the best supervisors I could ask for in that turbulent era, who taught me the trade and mentored me in various aspects of personal and professional development.
Then I decided to return to school to get a refresher of skills and learning before embarking on my professional journey. I got into several schools with scholarships and chose to go to Queen's University in Kingston. I was excited but then - COVID hit.
School went online, but I had to see an opportunity in it, and I couldn't afford both financially and mentally a slowdown in my life and career. The online environment was familiar to me because I had previously worked with global clients using online working setups, and that helped me learn smoothly when the school went online.
While figuring out my next steps and finishing my post-grad; I worked two part-time jobs and three freelance contract jobs DURING the pandemic when there were virtually no job opportunities.
I researched and analyzed what was available and came across writing jobs - particularly in journalistic outlets because every news outlet was reporting on how the pandemic was affecting the work and life of people.
I optimized my previous communication and creative problem-solving expertise and helped small businesses tell their stories of resilience while navigating the global pandemic. Due to the nature of my communication and international development career, I translated that experience into research and writing roles. Storytelling became my bread and butter - using the skills I mentioned above, I built a network of potential leads that helped me in my career and networking goals.
During summer break, I applied to work at KEYS for a summer placement, helping young people facing barriers to employment.
After graduation, I applied and got a job offer for full-time employment at KEYS. Here I started working on one of the biggest projects of the Government of Canada, YESS (Youth Employment Skills Strategy), helping youth overcome barriers to employment and develop a broad range of skills and knowledge to participate in the current and future labour market.
Since then, I have become obsessed with everything in the career development industry and am currently en route to becoming Certified Career Strategist in Canada.
Meanwhile, for the love of my creative pursuits, I also produce content designed to help people understand what's going on in the world of work and how you can ensure personal and professional development to help you stay up-to-date in your respective careers.
More on my personal journey coming soon…
Do you want to know more about how I got my first freelance opportunity during the pandemic? Wait for the next blog posts.
