How to Effectively Prepare for the Working World
By Olivia Simmonds
Due to COVID-19, the job market may feel very saturated and difficult to get into at the moment, so what can you do in preparation for applying to jobs that will develop you as a person and hopefully improve your application?
Make sure your CV is up to date and ready
Attain input from others (whether that be friends and family or your personal tutor and university careers team) regarding your CV as each person will approach it with a fresh and different perspective which you can wholly consider to create the polished version.
It can also be beneficial to ask connections you have within managerial positions to take a look as they have likely reviewed several CVs and can offer insight on what stands out and what to avoid, whether that be relating to the content, structure, or general aesthetic.
LinkedIn should become your best friend!
We strongly urge you to invest time in your profile by inputting your education, achievements, and experience, and providing as much relevant detail on each aspect as possible. It’s also worth asking suitable connections to provide a recommendation for you and/or endorse you for your skills (it’s good practice to endorse their skills too!).
Don’t believe it will be worth it? I can truly vouch for this based on my own experience. A few weeks after I completed my profile I was contacted by someone who saw that I had completed the Bright Network Consulting Internship Experience. This consequently led to being offered consulting work experience and through wider networking and conversations, an internship with #Me! The stats on LinkedIn also speak for themselves – 87% of recruiters use LinkedIn regularly and 3 people are hired through LinkedIn every minute! (https://bit.ly/2Qbr3MJ)
Network, network, network
Connect with individuals from within your desired industry and send them a message. You won’t receive a response from everyone but it’s worth persevering as with those who do connect and reply, you never know how these relationships will develop and benefit you both in the long term. You may be able to learn about their journey and route to their current job which is especially useful if you’re uncertain how to get to where you want to be.
Having said that, it’s important not to see networking as transactional. Try to avoid seeing professionals as someone you can ‘get’ something from. Show your genuine interest in their work and view it as a valuable opportunity to speak to new people without expecting anything in return.
Gain experience
You’ve probably heard this a million times already but we can’t stress this enough. We strongly recommend trying to get experience wherever you can, preferably related to the industry or area you hope to work in. Not only will this give you examples to draw upon in job interviews, but you will gain practical knowledge and insight (both general and hopefully relevant for your field) that will help when starting your career.
Moreover, these experiences will cement whether this is or isn’t what you’re interested in and can see yourself doing in the future, and both of these are okay; it’s better to realise this sooner rather than later!
Even if you have previously gained a couple of weeks or months of work experience, why not try and expand on this by gaining additional references which testify to your work ethic and character, or perhaps by obtaining a role with more responsibilities? Learning and immersing yourself in the working environment is always a good thing.
After all, you never know how the connections made through these valuable opportunities may help in the future; you could even draw upon what you’ve learned and utilise the working relationships you’ve established for your university work.
So, what’s holding you back?
You may be uncertain of how to secure these opportunities and whilst some industries or organisations have formal application processes, there are other ways to undertake some (often) unpaid work which will give you first-hand experience and insight that you can build upon.
Firstly, research businesses that are within a field you are interested in pursuing and that you’d like to work with. Perhaps focus on smaller-medium-sized businesses where you are more likely to make a real impact and where there is likely to be less competition for internship programmes. Use COVID-19 to your advantage and remember that location will not be a limiting factor so you can broaden your scope.
Secondly, try to be proactive and put yourself out there without the fear of rejection or ‘failure’. Essentially, it comes down to selling yourself through a condensed CV or elevator pitch format that will grab their attention, tells them what they need to know, and leaves them thinking they can’t turn down your offer.
You can best do this through an email that provides a summary of who you are, of your educational background, of any relevant previous experience (this can include anything you think is relevant), and of what you think you can offer. By contacting them in this way, you are demonstrating your proactiveness and strong work ethic (invaluable qualities in the workplace) and as you will likely be offering them your unpaid time, energy, and effort, they may just say yes! You never know until you try.
Finally, follow up if you don’t hear back after a week or two as persistence pays off. They may have skim read your email right before a meeting or at the end of their day and intended to get back to you or discuss your proposal with colleagues, but it slipped their mind in the everyday busyness of working. A polite yet self-assured reminder is unlikely to hinder your chances as it again highlights that you are a dedicated and enthusiastic individual – valuable qualities within the work environment.
Working on other relevant skills
In addition to working on areas specifically related to your desired industry, it’s also useful to take the time to work on your transferable skills (but don’t forget those you are already good at!). Maybe you can improve your organisation and time management when working on your upcoming assignments. For teamwork and leadership, you can develop these through group assignments or by playing a team sport. Maybe you want to work on your self-awareness and one way you can do this is through reflection. For example, regularly take time to reflect on your day or previous work assignments – is there anything you think you did well that you should do again? Is there anything you think you could have improved on that you can do next time? Doing this can help us make greater sense of our experiences and help us improve in the future. Having self-awareness is invaluable both in the workplace but also in everyday life.
Lastly, we just want to emphasise how the experience of preparing for and securing experience and/or a job is different for everyone. Try not to compare yourself to others in the process. It’s likely to be complex, time-consuming, and frustrating at times and you may also feel like the small actions mentioned above are not worthwhile. However, the learning you will do and the experience you will gain from these actions will help you to grow as a person and will put you in a strong position for starting your career.
Our challenge to you
Why don’t you take just 30 minutes out of each day this week to work on your LinkedIn profile and CV? You could also start researching some organisations who you can later consider emailing about potential work experience. And lastly, perhaps set yourself a goal to message at least 5 professionals on LinkedIn by the end of the month.
You’ve got this!
Following on from preparing for the working world, why not read our article talking about settling into working life? You can find that article here.