What advice would your future self have for you? With their benefit of experience and hindsight, would you listen to them? We’d like to think so!
Of course, we obviously can’t bring your actual benefit of hindsight to you, but we can do the next best thing. Throughout the year there are several events that bring back alumni to share their career stories with current students – so maybe you can benefit from their hindsight?
The School of Geographical Sciences and GeogSoc recently invited back eight Geography alumni to share their insights and advice. This is what they wanted you to know:
Your first job after graduation won’t be your job forever
Don’t be scared to make a decision based on a fear of being “stuck” in a job. Once you start working, you’ll learn about so many exciting opportunities that you never knew existed. Don’t assume that jobs will be boring without properly researching them first!
Get your foot in the door
Once you are in an organisation, it is usually relatively easy to move around. Instead of looking for the “perfect job”, find an organisation that interests you and reflects your values. Once you are in, you can start to research and plan what you’d like to do next.
Your marks aren’t the only important thing
Marks are important, but the way that you can apply what you have learnt is just as, if not more, valuable to a potential employer. Volunteering, part-time work and involvement in student societies also demonstrate a lot of skills that employers value.
It’s OK not to know what you want to do
More people than you realise don’t know what they want to do after graduation. Instead of postponing your job search, think about what you are interested in and find a sector that reflects this. Once you have identified a sector, find out about the types of companies that work in this sector and look at the roles that people work in there. If something sounds interesting, do further research and start to look for vacancies, or consider contacting the company speculatively to ask about work experience or graduate roles.