Amy Clarkson, 25, is a genomic counselling trainee. She shares how FutureLearn helped her land her current job by enhancing her application, building her knowledge, and increasing her confidence.
Before her current role in genetics, Amy worked in the third sector and then for an investment company. She decided to switch careers into genetics as she had previously studied the topic during her undergraduate degree.
To refresh her knowledge and help her return to the field, Amy took several genetics courses on FutureLearn from Health Education England, St George’s, University of London and The University of Manchester.
“I started using FutureLearn prior to applying for my current job in genetics, which was a career change, as a way to learn more about the field and to enhance my application. I found it extremely useful and much of what I learned helped me in both my written application and interview, as well as in the job. Doing the courses gave me more confidence in my knowledge going into the interview, which in itself is a massive help.
“Overall, FutureLearn has really helped me to get into the field and specific job role that I am in today, by improving my knowledge and strengthening my application.”
Having landed her job as a genomic counselling trainee, Amy regularly uses FutureLearn to refresh her knowledge and upskill.
“Genetics is a fast-paced field. The ‘Bioinformatics’ course from the University of Manchester, for example, was extremely valuable to keep me up to date with this area of genomics. I also find the opportunity to discuss issues with people in the comments sections really valuable professionally, as you can engage with perspectives from outside of your field.”
Most recently, Amy also took UNESCO’s ‘COVID-19: Pandemics, Modelling, and Policy’ course to expand her knowledge of healthcare policy, as well as a way to gain reliable information on the virus.
“It’s so easy to feel out of control in a pandemic and the information we get from the media can be difficult to digest, but by understanding the principles that this course explores, you can learn to make rational judgements based on facts. This course has helped me to manage information overload and allowed me to critically analyse all of the updates we are constantly provided with around COVID-19.”
“As I work in healthcare, policy will affect my working life too, so I joined this course to gain relevant knowledge in this area and to enhance the skills I already have in modelling”.
Amy is due to qualify in her new role in September 2021 and aims to continue using FutureLearn to further her career journey.
“FutureLearn helped me to apply for and obtain the job I have today and I recommend FutureLearn to people in all different situations, such as applying for jobs, keeping up to date with a field, or just for fun! Having accessible online courses is a fantastic resource – I love just taking courses to learn something new.”
“I anticipate myself using FutureLearn courses between now and then to keep engaged in different areas of the field. When I qualify, I will be applying for jobs, and am highly likely to call upon FutureLearn again to help me to prepare for this, giving me information and confidence for applications and interviews!”
