Road 2 Graduation

When is the time right?

Hmm, to find love? – Anytime, and this I will leave until a later stage ;-).

If you’re thinking about looking into your future job/career, after you graduate, then you need to look NOW! Partying is a good option and having lots of fun at uni is an absolute must (it’s true, college/university is a favourable time of your life – that you will look back on), but, you need to think about your future progression and direction when you leave. It doesn’t matter what year you are in; you can be a fresher, or in your final year (arrggh dissertation/thesis! – more on this later), but no matter what stage you are at in your academic ‘career’ you need to think of what area of work you want to progress into. Your mind will change, even in your final year. There are so many different options and prospective organisations to decide upon; if you’re completing any type of degree course, then you’ve got a wide range of options open to you.

Options open

So, what option are open to you after you graduate:

• Become an Entrepreneur – many people believe they can become an entrepreneur very easily, but it does take a lot of hard work, endurance and motivation to work for yourself and build a portfolio.
• Work for your current employer – if you have a current part-time job with your current employer, then you could apply for a full-time job with them; this will generally only be beneficial if your part-time job has a management role, or is management related.
• Hit the Graduate Programme stream – going through all the phone and interview testing, as well as the exciting assessment centres (if you get that far) won’t be a doddle (easy), and there will be thousands of people competing for the one job you’re after, but you may get it – you just never know;-).

Why should you look?

If you’re wanting to get anywhere in life you need a job after graduation, unless you were born into a rich family. Earning money to pay the bills, drive to work, eat and pay off your student loan (yes, you do need to think of it sometime) is a must. So, looking for a full-time job and possible future career direction, in your final year, should be a key goal – as well as graduating of course!

Where to look?

There are many Internet sites that have different information for many different people, in a whole range of industries and subjects. Banking, chemicals, consulting and hospitality, as well as many more industries are covered – with each industry ‘category’ listing the organisations that have jobs/programs available for final year undergrads. The following are a few resources that can help you progress through your selection of applications to different programs:

• Milkround.com – this site not only has the ability for students to search for graduate programs, but also the ability to set up your own ‘area’ where you can store information, and customise a CV to send to people. Their services and information areas have grown rapidly in recent years and they have a mass amount of information on offer, reviewing important documents such as CV’s/resumes and cover letters.
• Prospects.ac.uk – Prospects is a UK-based and Uk student-focused website, solely for graduates with UK degrees. It not only offers information on graduate programs and jobs, but has informative advice for people interested in studying further as a postgraduate. This site I used heavily when I was in my second and final year of my undergraduate degree and found it to be one of the most helpful. Two key areas of this site are the Careers advice service, and the postgraduate study area. They also have a nifty questionnaire to help you identify what industry, sector and jobs are right for you.
• Graduate-jobs.com – Similar to the above two sites; however, graduate jobs is more focused in identifying a job that you could apply for ‘now’. I really like its layout that identifies what the job is, who the employer is, and how much the job pays – which is important to us all (if I said it wasn’t I would be lying).

When to look?

Erm…now?! Really, it’s never too early to look at your future career. You could have just started your road through academia (road 2 graduation ;-)), or you may be reading this whilst travelling abroad completing an exchange at a foreign university, or trying to figure out what the hell you’re going to write about in the new year for your dissertation/thesis. If you haven’t done already, I’d suggest you join up-to one of the websites above and start reviewing the graduate programs that are on offer, as I’m sure many have November and December deadlines for July starts – yup, it’s a crazy lead-time, but you’ll be competing with thousands don’t forget. Even if you’re not applying for a job this year, all of the above sites have valuable resources to help you in your future career, CV/Resume building and interview techniques.

Always keep your options open and always consider each option/job offer that comes your way. Keep your ‘eye on the ball’ and look around for the best career option that will suit you.