This summer, thousands of students from around the world will be graduating from UK universities. I've spoken to lots of students about their plans for the next few months, and while every student is different there are a few common themes in their experiences that I think everyone can learn from.
Whether you're applying for graduate-level jobs, internships and work placements, or jobs abroad, here are my five top tips to help you get on the right track.
1. Network and connect to people in your industry
Make the effort to meet as many people relevant to your chosen industry or role as possible. You never know when your paths might cross again or who they might be connected to. Online, LinkedIn is an essential tool to keep track of contacts and to help potential employers find you.
2. Consider what your social media persona says about you
Before you start job hunting, double check what on your Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts is publicly accessible, and if it shows you in your best light. Potential employers are just as likely to look you up online as review your CV, so make sure there's nothing that might give them a bad impression of your attitude and interests.
It's equally important to set up or review your LinkedIn profile – keep your profile updated with highlights and achievements from your degree, both academic and extra-curricular, as well as detailing any previous work experience.
3. Respect your deadlines
Track job applications and deadlines so you leave plenty of time to apply. Potential employers won't be interested in a late CV, however brilliant it is.
4. Practice makes perfect
Do your research before any interview. Browse the company's website: interviewers will be looking for genuine interest and enthusiasm in the organisation you are applying to and may well ask you to demonstrate how much you already know about them.
If you haven't been told who you will be meeting, make sure you find out _ and research their background as well. Again, LinkedIn is particularly useful for this.
5. Attitude is everything
Make sure you come across as someone who is enthusiastic and easy to work with. As a new joiner at the beginning of your career, you might not always be given the most glamorous jobs to do, but you should treat everything as a stepping stone to something else. An interviewer will be looking for someone who'll have a positive attitude to completing any task.
Your university careers advisers are there to help – whether with internships in your first year of study through to post-graduate plans and even interview practice.
University of Sussex students can visit the careers and employability centre or contact us online. Good luck and keep in touch!
Advice from a graduate:
Amy Stevens, 2008 Sussex graduate in media practice and theory, is now brand manager for award-winning piemakers Higgidy. She says:
"My advice for students at any stage of their degree is to build up their work experience. Anything from a bar job to volunteering activities in an industry you're interested in will help you gain knowledge and skills that make all the difference to applications.
"I was given this advice by the careers and employability centre at Sussex and in my second and third years, I volunteered then worked within a university department. As I finished my studies, a job came up that I was able to step into – it felt like luck, but I knew it was because I'd invested the time in building my experience."
