I find myself giving these tips to any young people I speak with - so please share with any young people in your network.
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Sadly, having a 2:1 is not worth much on the job market these days. Yes it is good, but you need more.
If all you achieve with your time at university is a 2:1 or 2:2, then employers will assume you have mostly played playstation, ate pizza and gone out drinking for three years.
There is time for all of those things... but if you do some of the below tips - you’ll land a job.
Top tips
➡️ Study abroad - every young person I have ever spoken to who did a year studying abroad tells me it was the best experience of their life. They learnt so much, survived in another culture, make new friends - employers love it!
➡️ Societies - taking a leadership role at a society of your preference really impresses employers and will sound great in an interview.
➡️ Teaching - teaching english as a foreign language is incredible for building your soft skills. This includes presentation skills and learning how to motivate and adapt to a wide range of characters. These things really impress employers!
➡️ Module support or student ambassador - volunteer to help younger students with their studies as a module support person, or to help on open days as a student ambassador - employers love both of these things.
➡️ Sport - similar to societies, taking a lead role e.g. charity representative will really impress at interview.
➡️ Music - if you are passionate about music, then put on a club night at a venue at University. Sales, Marketing, Event Management skills - you can learn so much here.
➡️ Online Courses - if you do online courses off your own back - employers will LOVE it, because you have done something proactively. Your degree course was laid out for you, however online courses show that you have thought outside the box.
➡️ Part-time jobs - these are more important than you think. Showing that you’ve grafted is a massive plus point for employers, so part-time jobs are still very relevant!
➡️ Work experience - perhaps less ground breaking to say that this is important, you know this already, so gather as much as you can.
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Our Career Coaching has developed to see us coaching more senior people, in line with the growth of our recruitment services - we are focusing on business leaders.
However, I wanted to keep helping young people, so please share this!
Stay tuned for part 2 coming soon - how to land a job after you’ve graduated.