Student to Graduate to Professional: where do you start?
Tue Oct 21, 2008 11:50 am
Where to start
If you are one of the lucky few who know exactly what you want to do with your life and have contacts that will get you there, then you are definetly one step ahead of the pack. In fact you are quite a few steps ahead. The problem with most students and graduates is that they never really know what they want to do. They are directionless. But I’ll put one thing straight – there is nothing wrong in not knowing what you want to do ultimately, a lot of people are in the same boat. The problem lies in what you are doing right now.
Leaving university is a very daunting prospect for most people – debts, living with parents, no “career” job and watching the world run by whilst you squirm watching Hollyoaks. So where do you start? How do you find a direction?
Buoyancy
Having an income is very important – mainly for your self-esteem. It’s the first step in standing upon your own two feet and will keep a cash flow operating in your bank account. Usually this will mean some sort of temping job. Don’t be discouraged by this, you should view this as a temporary stepping stone. Ideally, you would target an industry that is in line with your interests, or perhaps something that you see yourself being happy in, in the long run. That way you can build up contacts. If this is difficult to do, then look at what skills you think you’d like to learn in a temporary position. Granted, most temporary positions will look to exploit the skills you already have, but in some cases you may be able to get into the right group of people who will help expose you to different areas.
I have a friend who ended up working for Ofsted, in London, temporarily. The job itself wasn’t very interesting, but the area that he was in – a finance position – helped him later to get another temporary position working for the FSA (Financial Services Authority). He was offered a permanent position there after a year of hard work, but then Accenture picked him out of the crowd because he had had this exposure with the FSA. He hasn’t looked back!
Ok, so I have detracted a little. The point is that he started in a position that didn’t look good, but managed to make the most of it with the skills that he picked up. He didn’t know what he wanted to do, but took the opportunities that were there and used them to get himself into a good position.
Keeping a positive attitude, being dynamic and taking the opportunities when and if they occur is what will keep you boyant. Don’t let the opportunities come to you, always be on the look out through different sources – your network, careers websites, your friends, GradGathering.com! I scour the web everyday just to keep my ear to the ground about what is out there. Apply whenever there is an open position that interests you.
So what to do?
Now that you have an idea for a starting point, what is it that you should ultimately do? Tough, tough question, and it all depends upon what motivates you. Only you can really decide what will get you out of bed everyday. If you don’t really know, then you need to start to experience different things. Try getting out and joining evening classes, going to the gym, defining your own personal projects or goals and completing them (e.g. build a shed), meeting new people, travelling – all of these simple experiences will help you to understand what you love doing and will help match you to the ultimate goal of where you want to be in the future.
Or, you could take the pragmatic approach: read up about the different industries, and try to think what you like the sound of – is it working on your own, academia, projects, management, international travel, leading small teams, owning your own business? Narrow the list down and try to match an industry to what you like doing. You could always approach it from the other angle and match your current skills to an industry or specific job.
Another option is to look at retraining, or furthering your academic record by enrolling in a postgraduate degree, or even PhD. Be careful to weigh up the financial risks first and whether this would be the correct direction for you to take. Masters usually provide an extra boost to your CV, but in my experience it is the skills that you pick up from outside of your degrees that really provide the “wow” factor to employers.
What you should remember
No matter what you do, you should always remember to do the task at hand to the best of your ability. People in the work place will notice you if you are efficient, well presented and complete tasks on time or can at least problem solve a solution. Remember, networking is the most likely area that will bring the opportunities to you.
Tell us at GradGathering.com how you get on!
If you are one of the lucky few who know exactly what you want to do with your life and have contacts that will get you there, then you are definetly one step ahead of the pack. In fact you are quite a few steps ahead. The problem with most students and graduates is that they never really know what they want to do. They are directionless. But I’ll put one thing straight – there is nothing wrong in not knowing what you want to do ultimately, a lot of people are in the same boat. The problem lies in what you are doing right now.
Leaving university is a very daunting prospect for most people – debts, living with parents, no “career” job and watching the world run by whilst you squirm watching Hollyoaks. So where do you start? How do you find a direction?
Buoyancy
Having an income is very important – mainly for your self-esteem. It’s the first step in standing upon your own two feet and will keep a cash flow operating in your bank account. Usually this will mean some sort of temping job. Don’t be discouraged by this, you should view this as a temporary stepping stone. Ideally, you would target an industry that is in line with your interests, or perhaps something that you see yourself being happy in, in the long run. That way you can build up contacts. If this is difficult to do, then look at what skills you think you’d like to learn in a temporary position. Granted, most temporary positions will look to exploit the skills you already have, but in some cases you may be able to get into the right group of people who will help expose you to different areas.
I have a friend who ended up working for Ofsted, in London, temporarily. The job itself wasn’t very interesting, but the area that he was in – a finance position – helped him later to get another temporary position working for the FSA (Financial Services Authority). He was offered a permanent position there after a year of hard work, but then Accenture picked him out of the crowd because he had had this exposure with the FSA. He hasn’t looked back!
Ok, so I have detracted a little. The point is that he started in a position that didn’t look good, but managed to make the most of it with the skills that he picked up. He didn’t know what he wanted to do, but took the opportunities that were there and used them to get himself into a good position.
Keeping a positive attitude, being dynamic and taking the opportunities when and if they occur is what will keep you boyant. Don’t let the opportunities come to you, always be on the look out through different sources – your network, careers websites, your friends, GradGathering.com! I scour the web everyday just to keep my ear to the ground about what is out there. Apply whenever there is an open position that interests you.
So what to do?
Now that you have an idea for a starting point, what is it that you should ultimately do? Tough, tough question, and it all depends upon what motivates you. Only you can really decide what will get you out of bed everyday. If you don’t really know, then you need to start to experience different things. Try getting out and joining evening classes, going to the gym, defining your own personal projects or goals and completing them (e.g. build a shed), meeting new people, travelling – all of these simple experiences will help you to understand what you love doing and will help match you to the ultimate goal of where you want to be in the future.
Or, you could take the pragmatic approach: read up about the different industries, and try to think what you like the sound of – is it working on your own, academia, projects, management, international travel, leading small teams, owning your own business? Narrow the list down and try to match an industry to what you like doing. You could always approach it from the other angle and match your current skills to an industry or specific job.
Another option is to look at retraining, or furthering your academic record by enrolling in a postgraduate degree, or even PhD. Be careful to weigh up the financial risks first and whether this would be the correct direction for you to take. Masters usually provide an extra boost to your CV, but in my experience it is the skills that you pick up from outside of your degrees that really provide the “wow” factor to employers.
What you should remember
No matter what you do, you should always remember to do the task at hand to the best of your ability. People in the work place will notice you if you are efficient, well presented and complete tasks on time or can at least problem solve a solution. Remember, networking is the most likely area that will bring the opportunities to you.
Tell us at GradGathering.com how you get on!