Reacting to How I Envisioned My Dream Resume Back in 2019
After 6-long-months, here I am again with another article. This time, it was triggered by a really interesting finding; a document from the 09th of August 2019, named “My Dream CV” which I found on my drive.
It does not necessarily have the structure of a resume but has a breakdown of what I hoped to have achieved by 2024/ 2025 (5/ 6 years).
Going through it brought such good memories of 2019… I was finalising my second-year in Electronics Engineering and getting ready to apply for internships in 2020. It was the first time I had ever written a resume and as a natural planner, decided to draft what my dream resume would look like — to give me a direction for years to follow.
Three years have passed since then. I have become way more ambitious yet continue a strong believer that we should always thrive to enhance our competences in order to achieve new heights.
Without further ado, let’s react to what I had envisioned:
Education
Well, I’ve got my Diploma in B. Tech Electronics Engineering from Namibia University of Science and Technology as planned. Back in 2019 I had plans to continue my tertiary education and get my Degree from Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town, South Africa.
Later on, this was no longer possible. I got offered an awesome internship opportunity which then turned into my full-time job. I decided to stay in Namibia and get my Degree from Namibia University of Science and Technology.
Regarding my postgraduate education, still at Cape Peninsula University of Technology I planned to complete my Masters in any of the specialisations I mentioned in the resume: Energy, Automation or Telecom. No longer something relevant as I decided to rather build a business-focused career.
I have submitted my applications, and plan start a business-related Postgraduate Diploma from a prestigious local Business School as of January 2023. No more spoilers. This is a topic for a different article.
Still in 2019, I believed that after my Masters from CPUT I would return to Angola and do an MBA in Project Management at the Brazilian Business School in Luanda, Angola. An MBA is surely still at the peak of my academic aspirations, however, I would rather do it in the field of Leadership/ People Management and at a different institution.
Certifications
In April 2020 I got Google Digital Garage’s Certification on the Fundamentals of Digital Marketing and IBM’s Enterprise Design Thinking credential.
Still looking forward to becoming a Certified Project Manager by the Project Management Institute, it is however not an urgent priority today, alongside the Scrum Master Certification from Scrum Alliance.
Courses
Actually this is still something on my priority list — data analysis, mainly around business decisions. I have registered and will be starting a Professional Certification in Data Analysis by Coventry University this upcoming November. Later on I will still complete the data analysis Specialisation from PWC mentioned above.
Gladly, through the World Economic Forum, I had the privilege of doing a specialisation in Building Social Enterprises from Social Enterprise Institute in June 2020.
Visit my LinkedIn for the list of main courses I have completed so far.
Volunteering
Being a co-organiser of the first edition of Startup Weekend is already something I had been a part of in July 2019. The new aspirations were:
- Doing volunteering work with the United Nations,
- Joining Yali
- Becoming a Mandela Washington Fellow.
- Additionally, I also aimed at joining World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community.
Well, in June 2020 I joined Global Shapers and through the ShapeSkills Project, we have been running a huge project alongside the United Nations office in Namibia, where recent university graduates are trained over a 5-week-period on a set of technical and human skills that enables them to become more competitive in the job market.
Awards
By the time I drafted this resume, I had already been selected and a finalist at the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Program and was going through the training, and had been a semi-finalist at the Anzisha Prize awards by Africa Leadership Academy. Definitely still going for the 30U30.
Conclusion
Looking back, I see a relatively weak idea of what my ideal resume should have looked like. I have defined a new one for sure, and I look forward to reviewing it 3–5 years from now and still feel like there is a long way to go.
This exercise keeps me grounded, minimises uncertainty and therefore my anxiety towards the future. It helps me make daily decisions which are aligned to my long-term objectives. I am strong believer in the law of attraction as well, and that by actively desiring and working towards my goals, I end up attracting relevant opportunities to me.
I hope you envision your best version and align all your daily efforts towards that. There’s no glory in mediocrity.
Have you tried a similar exercise before? Looking forward to your feedback in the comments section below.
