You studied hard, wore a gown and a hat that doesn’t quite fit on your head and have been handed your degree, yes you have graduated and you may be asking yourself what now? You may want to throw yourself into building your career and why not? You have just spent the past three or four years aiming for this result, now it’s your time to shine! Or you may feel like you deserve some freedom. There are many ways to get the best of both worlds over the Summer, we have devised a handy list of some things to consider.
Enhance your skills; Why not contact local businesses and offer to contribute? This relates to any field, get stuck in within your community; there is often a habit to lose swing of things once you have left university. If you are passionate about what you have studied, enhance this passion; it will boost your portfolio/CV and impress employers! If interested in journalism or marketing why not start a blog and post on a regular basis or guest blog for other sites voicing your opinions and your writing style.
Research doesn’t just stop because you have left university; use these skills to research your chosen career path or perhaps you’re not sure which road to follow? Your degree will help when looking for which industries to pursue, but also consider your experience. Search for specific companies and requirements, what do specific employers expect of their employees? Knowing a sector is essential for when you begin applying for roles.
Be ahead of the competition; stand out! Show your personality and make sure that you keep social and active. Hobbies and interests really do help demonstrate who you are and how passionate you are. Attend events such as graduate job fairs or networking events and get to know people; always remain professional and listen to what people have to say, you never know who you may meet!
Re-locating for a role may be unavoidable for certain industries and if you moved away for study then you will more than likely be willing to pack up and go once more. Throw yourself in at the deep end; why not use Meetup to find like-minded individuals? Or jump on a train and pay a visit to different cities with friends and get a feel for a place that you could end up working.
Stay in contact with your university careers services and lecturers! They will help and give useful advice and tips on where to look and how to make sure that your CV or covering letter is appropriate for the companies that you are applying for. A lecturer is also a beneficial person to have as a reference for applications.
Use your spare time to tidy up your social media presence! Remain professional; you will be surprised by how many employers will ‘google’ you. If you have a profile on LinkedIn, use this time to add your qualifications and experience, follow relevant companies and read many of the useful articles that are on offer!
Talk to us! If you want to know more about a specific sector or the types of companies that are out there or just have general questions about how to make a strong application. We operate all year round, you can ‘Tweet’ us, email us or give us a bell! A member of our dedicated team will be happy to talk you through creating a Step profile and which opportunities may be of interest.
Remember that you have a lot to be proud of! Don’t beat yourself up and think that finding that dream role is impossible, you are a graduate and therefore possess fresh and current knowledge that an employer may be looking for within their business! Why not spend summer gaining paid experience? If a job within retail or a bar is something that you don’t really fancy, apply for one of our paid internships and earn whilst building your skills within the industry! Many placements lead into permanent positions and it’s not too late to apply, we also advertise graduate roles. Go on, give our opportunities portal a look!