Start preparing for employability now
So, you’ve settled on applying to the UK to study and might have even received an offer.
One of the next steps to think about might be the various ways how you can leverage studying in the UK in order to boost your future employability.
This is definitely not a thing to stress about before you have commenced your studies. Preparing to learn as much as possible about something that you are passionate about, settling into uni life and making friends are important things that definitely should not be neglected.
However, knowing the different options that you have will help you make better sense of all the various things you can do with your degree and pave the way for an enjoyable and rewarding career after your studies.
And whatever one might think about it, the fact is that the three to four years of a BA degree will pass before you will have time to blink twice. Thus, it’s good to be on the lookout early.
Disclaimer: The post will be corporate-centric due to the fact that big companies tend to have established and clear-cut recruitment procedures. However, I will also address opportunities related to working for smaller companies and NGOs, with such places often recruiting more on an ad hoc basis.
Here are the opportunities to be mindful of when you will be starting your studies:
Spring Weeks
When I first heard of spring week, I thought it was a drunken party trip akin to the spring break. Despite being comically wrong on the matter I might argue that it is a trip, simply of a different kind.
Instead of going to the Alps you will go to the office of a major company to learn about their work and perhaps even partake in it for a short duration of time (usually a week or two during the Easter vacation of your first year at uni)
Spring week is a kind of mini internship run by large firms which are run by large corporations and aimed at first-year university students in the UK.
Their main purpose is to acquaint you with the work of the company so you would be better positioned to decide whether you would like to intern or work for them in the future.
Securing a spring week spot might also mean that any of your future applications to the firm could be fast-tracked through the initial stages of the application process.
Deadlines tend to cluster around Oct/Nov, so it might be beneficial to start writing an application almost as soon as you arrive at uni.
‘What?? I haven’t even started uni and I need to start applying for jobs already?’ I can hear you yelling through the screen. For consolation, I can say that these schemes are only used in a couple of hypercompetitive industries, such as consulting and banking. If you are not interested in working in these sectors, you can just safely forego applying and enjoy your life as a first-year uni student.
Key things to remember about spring week: early deadlines, used by a few select sectors (finance, consulting). Prepare a CV and a good LinkedIn profile over the summer if you can, it will save you so many headaches.
Here is a really comprehensive resource for students. (Made by a Project Access Mentor)
University societies
Societies serve a great role in providing students with opportunities to have a more balanced life at uni by doing all types of interesting stuff outside of their degree.
Participating in societies can also boost your chances of getting a cool job in three ways:
1. You can join a career-focused or a pre-professional society. There are tons of societies that are dedicated to building a professional network and teaching relevant skills for students interested in a particular sector. At my uni, there are societies dedicated to things like banking, real estate, consulting, environmental work, charities, journalism, you name it. Joining a society or two of this sort will put you in contact with people who are interested in the same things as you, as well as enabling you to learn more about an industry that you are interested in. The best thing about these societies is that unlike in Finland, they are not restricted to students studying a specific subject. Thus, you can be a philosophy student and join a finance society for example (as many humanities students actually do in the UK)
2. You can seek out leadership positions at any society of your interest. Any recruiter will most likely notice if you have a society-related leadership position on your CV. This might be anything from being a captain of your uni quidditch team to acting as a treasurer for a quiz society. These positions will teach you important skills that can range from team and project management to conflict resolution. Demonstrating that you have these skills will surely set you apart from other candidates who might not have the same experience. For example, many Project Access team members have gone on to secure cool internships and job offers from interesting firms like BCG or McKinsey&Co.
3. Starting your own society. What can be a better way to show initiative or passion for something than founding something completely new?
Thus, these are the things to keep in mind when you will be looking at different uni societies during the freshers’ fair.
LinkedIn, and approaching smaller firms
I know this sounds very lame. But one has to admit that LinkedIn is a pretty cool platform. It is extra cool if you are not interested in working for one of international behemoth companies like Procter&Gamble or Goldman Sachs.
The problem to grapple with at this stage is related to the fact that small firms or NGOs don’t tend to have super-organized spring week/internship/graduate recruitment schemes. They might not even know that they need your skills.
The best way to address this problem is to put some time and effort into building a good and representable LinkedIn profile.
Here’s one resource, made specifically for students.
Bookmark it right now.
Done?
Now the next step is to look out for companies/NGOs that you are interested in interning or working for and contacting people using the messaging function.
When I first had this recommended to me, I thought this kind of messaging would be seen as rude and entitled. However, it has been a very effective way for me to become acquainted with many cool small firms and opportunities they offer.
This is probably due to the fact that people tend to love talking about their work. Thus, if you send a message along the lines of: ‘Dear ma’am, I am a Student McStudentface from X uni studying Y. I am very passionate about your industry. Would you have some time to chat about your work with an interested student?’ you will be quite likely to get a positive response. For me personally, this kind of networking has led to coffee meet ups and skype chats with executives as well as interview invitations.
The reason why I am including this here is that you will have 3-4 years of engaging in this type of networking before you will graduate and hit the job market. Compared to students that have not done this kind of networking (which really takes only a minimal amount of effort if you do it consistently) you will be miles ahead when it will be time for you to hit the ‘real world’.
Summer Internships
Spring weeks happen in your first year of university.
Summer internships (at least in the bigger companies) are most often during your second year of university. But if you can, it would be a great boost to your employability if you had an internship over the first year, too!
The reason we want you to know about summer internships now is that you understand the value of a spring week. If you’ve got a spring week, you’re much more likely to get a summer internship. And if you’ve got a summer internship, you’re much more likely to get a job after you graduate.
So just keep in mind that getting some experience in your first year will help out later on - that’s why it’s good to start preparing for employability now.
Project Access is here to help you decide if studying in a top university in the UK or the US would be a right fit for you. If you already know that the answer is ‘yes’, we will also help you get in and put you in the position in which this kind of career rumination will be relevant.
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