Enhance Your Job Prospects While At University
As the beginning of a new academic year approaches, we thought it would be a good idea to tell you about the ways you can make yourself more ‘employable’ whilst still studying, to help you stand out from the crowd when you graduate.
There’s an incredibly large number of grads who enter the world of work every June, so it is important to rack up the CV brownie points well in advance – start as soon as you can, whether that’s at the beginning of your first year or last, because you don’t want to get to the end of the year with the regret of not doing any of these things sooner.
Work
You may not actually need a job throughout your university career, but doing so will reap more than just the financial benefits. Having an income is fantastic of course, but the gain will really come in the form of being favoured by potential future employers; it shows excellent skills and traits that hiring managers look for in new recruits, like ambition, proactivity, social skills, time management and organisation.
Part-time and casual work, like bartending, waitressing and assisting with events will not only get you a nice bit of cash, and are likely to be flexible around your schedule, but will also show that you don’t like to be idle, you are able to manage time well and that you have a positive work ethic. It doesn’t actually matter if the role is industry relevant, as being in any working environment will allow you to develop the skills and habits which are necessary for almost every job (and which employers always look out for).
Get involved in a society
Companies like to know that you have hobbies (other than the usual student stereotypes), are passionate about something, and have the ability to socialise with people outside of your immediate friendship group or course peers. Being part of a society or organisation, whether that’s within your university or outside of it, illustrates that you’ve got solid time management and a desire to keep busy, which are both desirable for hiring managers.
Passion for a sport, a subject or a cause will add depth to your personal profile and will make you an all-round more interesting person. Often in interviews the question of “what are you passionate about” will come your way, and regardless of its relevance to your field, it’s the fire in your eyes they’re looking for whilst you explain your interests – if it does happen to be industry-specific, then the better for it!
Attend special seminars and careers talks
If your university has arranged for a speaker to come and tell you about getting into the world of work, and their experiences in getting where they are, then definitely attend them (yes, even if attendance is voluntary). You may gain invaluable information about their trials and tribulations, get an insight into an avenue you’d not yet considered, and may even get that burst of motivation you’re in need of. This won’t necessarily make you more employable in any obvious way, but will show you what it takes to be successful and may indirectly lead you to taking extra steps towards being a better candidate.
Learn what you need to do
Don’t wait till you have already graduated to start looking at your options – you will miss out on some potentially great opportunities, and will be a step behind the forward-thinkers. It’s never a bad idea to be one step ahead, and prepared before you need to be, so have your CV and covering letter ready well before you think you will need it, just in case. If you have the opportunity to go to careers fairs, workshops and other career-oriented prep sessions, definitely do.
Some industries require specific skills and experience, so if you’re aiming to get into a role which is notorious hard to get into, then try and get some unpaid (or paid, if you can) work experience in a relevant role whilst studying – you don’t have to give up your social life and wellbeing to do this, giving up a few hours a week will show how serious you are about the industry. If you do find that you’re not as in love with the industry as you initially thought you would be, then at least you’ve got the testing stages out of the way without jeopardising the opportunity to be in a different career.
Get to know your tutors
Depending on your subject, you will probably only get about 12 contact hours a week with your seminar tutors and lecturers, which usually only equals to a couple of hours a week with each one. Make the most of this time and try to make an impression (a good one, not a reputation for being late), so when it comes to references they have genuinely good things to say about you and not “who do you mean?”. As well as this, making a name for yourself as a hard-worker is likely to get you in their good books for giving out extra revision tips, which is always a huge help.
Utilise your holiday breaks
After a long term of studying and living off pasta and baked beans, it can be extremely tempting to stay in bed and binge watch Netflix over your Christmas holiday period. Unfortunately though, this is not going to enhance your future job prospects or keep your bank balance buoyant. Utilise the time to rack up some hours of work experience, volunteering, or use the time to brush up on skills that need attention – there are a huge amount of online resources for skill development, and there is never any shortage of volunteering opportunities around the winter period. You’ll have more to say for yourself on your CV as well as potentially making life easier for yourself when you get back to studying.
Online course
Think your Excel skills could do with a bit of work? You can learn almost anything on the internet if you look hard enough, which you can easily do in your free time from the comfort of your own bed! Whether you want to learn the basics of digital marketing, coding or even another language, you can often find all the resources you need for free. Often these come in the form of courses, where you cover specific modules over a certain period of time and are then quizzed on your knowledge at the end – this one, for example, can be done in six weeks if you dedicate just 2 hours a week, and at the end you will not only be an excel whiz, but will also have a Microsoft certification.
