The Career FAQ

I seem to remember that this time of year, many moons ago, when I was in my final year at uni was when people really started to get their plans together for what to do when they graduated. For any of you who are in that boat or just fancy a nose around my past careers and life advice I thought I’d put together a little FAQ. I say little, but it ended up being essay-length so grab yourself a cuppa. There were a tonne of questions, so give me a shout if you fancy a part two. Here’s what you lot asked on Twitter…

Jen asked “You’ve mentioned this in the past, but what were your career experiences/credentials before your channel and blog?” I’ve worked ever since I was 16. I started in retail (for a well-known baby shop that was seriously so much fun – I was a pro at rearranging the dummy display), then moved on to bar work and working in admin roles when I was a student at university. I actually started my blog in my second year of uni, but by the time I graduated it was still very much a hobby so I dipped my toe into the world of beauty PR which blogging had opened up my eyes to. I ended up doing two internships for six months in total, the second of which landed me a full-time role as Editorial and PR Assistant. I worked there for about 18 months doing a bit of everything from writing content to blogger outreach. Things started to pick up with the blog and YouTube and as I wasn’t ready to go the whole hog with it full-time at that point, I ended up moving jobs to another start-up for a role that was only three days a week. The extra two days meant I was able to put more time and effort into my content and so at the end of my six month trial period when I was asked to either stay on full-time as a five day a week member of staff or walk away completely, I decided to risk it for a biscuit and go full-time with my own blog and YouTube (after many sleepless nights and bouts of crying down the phone to whoever would listen).

Mini asked “Which subjects did you study at uni and did they help with your job now?” I did a BSc in Psychology and graduated with a 2:1 from The University of Nottingham (would highly recommend that uni – I had the best time there!). Though I’m not applying the knowledge I learnt directly in my day-to-day goings on, it really helped me in terms of my writing skills and it taught me to be quite a solutions-based person. A tedious link I know, but I liked the subject and still find it interesting now.

Quiet Persistence asked “How did you transition from uni to the working world and figuring out the “right” thing to do?” The period of my life where I went from the uni world into the working world definitely wasn’t an easy one and I remember feeling like everyone had got their shiz together and I hadn’t. In the end I decided that experience was key, so took internships that literally meant I didn’t have a penny to my name (no Space NK hauling for me!) and said yes to every opportunity that came my way. In terms of figuring out the right thing to do, I think it’s always good to remember that it’s not unusual or unheard of to feel undecided. As a (kinda) adult now I can see that even people in their 30’s, 40’s – whatever age – are still working everything out and that’s cool. Hard work always pays off in the end.

Hannah asked “How do you balance your time between “life” and work? Must be hard when working from home.” Working from home is a double edged sword. On the one hand you are your own boss, have no one to distract you and can plan out your day however you wish. On the other hand you have no one to offer encouragement (or punishment when you’ve spent the morning procrastinating), have no colleagues and can go to Space NK whenever you want which is terribly dangerous. I’ve worked from home for four years now and since we moved last year I feel like I’ve really got into a good groove with it. I like to make sure that there is at least one day a week where I’m up in London attending meetings and doing other bits and bobs and so then I’m forced to get more done in my days at home so they aren’t wasted. I try and treat it as a normal office job too; waking up early and opening my laptop around 7am-ish and then putting it away around 6pm. Of course every week is different depending on whether I’m traveling or not and if I want Mark to help out with a video then it means I do the odd bits and bobs at the weekend sometimes. In the evenings though and (most) weekends I try to steer clear from my office and my laptop so I’m not tempted to just ping over an email or whip up a quick blog post.

Kirstie asked “If you weren’t a youtuber/blogger what job do you think you would be doing?” When I was 18, I fully planned on doing something in the realms of Psychology – hence the choice of subject at university – some kind of counselling as I’m a big listener. It was a much more concrete plan than my teenage dreams of being a backing dancer or popstar. However now whenever I’m asked that question I always end up saying Florist because I’m big on flowers and early mornings.

Chantelle-Micha asked “Do you ever worry that if you decide to stop YouTube you will find it difficult to work in a more rigid, mainstream job?” Yes and no. Back when I had a more mainstream job I struggled; partly because I had a real fire in my belly for this blogging world that wouldn’t go away and partly because I just didn’t have a real passion for the companies that I was working for. Now I’m older and bit more mature and sure of what my qualities and strengths are as a worker I feel like I would be more comfortable in the workplace. I think what I would struggle with the most is the inability to rock up in my comfies.

Clementine asked “Hi Anna! Where would you like your career to be in say 10 years time? How do you factor kids into the plan?” The one thing with this whole blogging malarkey that really played on my mind at the beginning is the inability to truly plan and see what’s around the corner. For an obsessive Monica-like planner like myself, it’s been a real learning curve to be ok with the uncertainty and be cool with the fact that things change week by week, let alone year by year. I actually feel like it’s made me more laid back as a person and I’m definitely less of a worrier these days. So in terms of what I’d like to be doing in 10 years time, I would just still love to be creating in some way and to still be doing something that makes me happy to do everyday. In terms of kids, I’d love to add a few to our team. I’ve always loved kids and I’m a real hug hogger whenever there’s a baby about. There are no plans to factor them in anytime soon, but if we’re lucky enough to be able to then we’ll just roll with the punches and see what happens. All I know is that they will most probably be ridiculously hairy (me) and ridiculously tall (Mark).