One year today, I was a pharmacist out of work. Today, where am I?

Reflection is a key part of anyone's life. I've done lots of it.

Today is the 1st anniversary since my appearance on the STV News at Six where Political Correspondent, Claire Stewart, interviewed me about my desperate situation in being unable to find work at this time last year. After registering as a pharmacist in late 2012, I found myself unable to find the first step on the employment ladder and my case was featured in illustrating how I, and many other graduates across this country, have been affected by the damaged job prospects.

It's hard to believe that it's already been one year since I surprised many people (from what I anecdotally heard anyway!) by appearing on their television sets. But this week has been quite a surreal experience for me personally. It was only yesterday that I found myself in the public gallery at the Scottish Parliament, watching a debate taking place on the Scottish economy.

There was one dramatic moment during the proceedings which, for me personally, was of major significance. Angela Constance MSP, the current Scottish Government Minister for Youth Unemployment and Jenny Marra MSP, Scottish Labour's Shadow Minister for Youth Unemployment, were involved in heated exchanges over the current youth unemployment situation. It was at that moment that the jigsaw pieces fell together. A co-incidence in timing, probably, but I sensed some sort of a link between yesterday and my appearance on the television news at this time last year.

I'm incredibly glad I was invited by Claire to put my own personal story on the public record (and cannot thank her enough once again), because I want people to appreciate that, no matter what someone is trained to do or what talent someone may have, there will be times when life can get difficult and where help is necessary. Some may wonder what on earth a pharmacist was doing on the news last year, in the context of the tough jobs market, because many people think pharmacy is one of those professions where work is guaranteed after registering as a pharmacist.

It amazes me, with complete and utter disbelief, how many people think that pharmacists can still walk easily into a job without any form of disruption or difficulty. Within the last two or three years, pharmacy has been caught up in a volatile and damaging storm where more and more graduates are beginning to find that the supply of pharmacists is now exceeding demand for them. The Centre for Workforce Intelligence predicts that unless major action is taken then there could be an oversupply of as many as nearly 20,000 pharmacists in England by 2040.

If there is any lesson to be learned from what has happened in our economy over the last few years, it's that nobody is safe, nothing is guaranteed and no profession is immune to market forces in the economy. I may market myself well online and elsewhere, but I'm only human. I can't walk through this world on my own and, frankly, nobody else in this world can.

You may be wondering now as to what I'm actually doing a year on since my appearance on television. It's nearly been one year since I became self-employed. It's a new phase in my life and it's one that I've generally enjoyed. Because there are so few permanent jobs now for pharmacists (not just in Scotland, but across the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and many other countries), many newly qualified pharmacists go down the locuming route.

You work in all sorts of places, you meet different kinds of people and you see different ways of how things are done. I've been incredibly fortunate to work all over Scotland and really enjoy the constant change that being a locum brings. The work situation started off slowly when I became self-employed, but I got more and more busy as 2013 progressed. Now though, it's a little quieter now as many of the employers tend to hold on to their permanent staff at this early stage of the year before the year picks up momentum. On another note, Claire said something very powerful at the end of her report a year today: "...but he knows his future may not now lie in the career he's trained for."

If you know me well enough then you will no doubt know that I have my finger on the pulse when it comes to communication and the media. Whether it was my work placements at STV News and Kingdom FM, achieving my Competent Communicator award (public speaking) with Toastmasters International or presenting my weekly radio show on Victoria Radio Network in Kirkcaldy, I've got a desire to do well in the Scottish media. I cannot deny that, because if I did then I would be denying myself. You can never say never in life and it's important to engage with your own passions. I would say with confidence that I have a natural flair as a communicator and it's something I want to continue to grow and be continuously successful with.

And finally, if there is anything that I have learned in this last twelve months, it is the fact that no matter what people think of you, say about you or what opinion they hold of you, the only person who can make things work is you. Self-belief, self-confidence and self-determination go very far.

They aren't cringeworthy attributes to hold. Without them, there is no hope. These attributes are essential ingredients in creating a recipe for success.