Making An Impact
Making an impact can be one of the hardest aspects of completing a 'Careers' Impact Project. However, if you manage to spin it correctly, it can become the dealmaker for a 'Gold' project. Each project is different, and this in itself means that there is no set, surefire way to make a significant impact. One thing which is really important to keep in mind when deciding on your impact is the long-term effect. If you hope to get your project up to a Bronze, Silver or Gold standard, I found that teachers really look for an impact which endures beyond the initial scope of the project, so going out of your way to make this happen, or adjusting your current impact to increase it's duration, is totally worth it.
​
One idea which I have found to be quite successful this year in terms of Impact is sharing your knowledge. While you may not realise it straight away, you probably picked up quite a bit from your time completing work experience. You have a unique insight into whatever profession you've just looked into, and it's possible that some of your experiences, or some of the terminology that you've learned, could be really interesting to other people. Think a blog, website, the school magazine, the local newspaper or even the radio! Each of these mediums provides you with the chance to share your exceptional experiences and impact others across the country, and even the world. It pays to have completed your Reflections to a high and detailed standard, as you may later find that you are able to go back over them, and use this material, word for word, in whatever your chosen impact may be. If you make this your game plan before you finish all of your placements, you could possibly come in with a couple of questions for your 'colleagues' and get even more information for your chosen medium, as well as ticking off the 'Involving an Expert' section of the marking criteria. If you want to get into the school magazine, be sure to chat with your teachers, who will be able to help you get in touch with that year's curator, who, in my experience, will probably ask for a short summary of your Impact project and some photos.
​
Something else which you can work into your current impact to bolster your grade, or focus on entirely, is contact. Essentially, you can do this onsite simply by maintaining a high level of good etiquette and remaining on task and engaged throughout your placement. By achieving this, you will, firstly, be upholding the school's reputation, and promoting the good behaviour and attitude of its students around the Gisborne community. Secondly, such actions will allow other students in future Semester's to secure a placement in the same workplace, or with the same shadow-ee. At the very least, the team or individual you are working with could be more inclined to accept future students, and this in itself is an impact worth deliberating on. If you can pair this with a presentation explaining, in detail, how simply your good etiquette, engagement, and initiative while onsite resulted in a positive impact, or manage to set up another student with a placement in the same workplace next Semester, you could be on your way to a Bronze, Silver or even Gold project. Remember that it is important to keep in contact with your Project teacher throughout the Semester, especially as the term draws to a close. These are at least half of the team that will be marking your Impact Project, so they're a great place to start if you're wanting to find out whether or not your impact will be up to standard.