Actions for penultimate-year students
Get to know yourself
Take a bit of time at the beginning of the academic year to get to know yourself and recognise what you’ve got to offer.
- Think about your motivations. Are you looking for money, opportunities to travel, scope to develop your interests?
- Identify your key skills. Do you have particular technical competences, languages, problem solving ability, written communication skills, specialist knowledge?
- Recognise your qualities. Are you focused, attentive to detail, creative, analytical, outgoing, thoughtful?
- Consider additional skills that you can build while you are still at university, through your studies, extra curricular activities and work experience.
Use the TARGETjobs Careers Report career planning tool to assess your skills and motivations and to generate a list of job ideas that will suit you.
Explore careers and occupations
Based on what you’ve discovered about yourself you will be able to identify different career sectors and professions that match your skills and aspirations.
- Investigate employers you’d like to work for and see what entry-level opportunities they offer.
- During the autumn and winter terms attend careers fairs and events to meet with graduate employers and employees in person.
- Visit your university’s careers service to look through information on employers.
- Find out more about the main graduate career sectors and how to get into them.
Develop your skills
Take a closer look at the gaps in your skills and competences. If you need to boost anything to make yourself a prime candidate, now is a good time to make a plan of action. You could also:
- Make sure your basic computer skills are up to scratch. Employers will expect you to be competent using office software packages (word processors, spreadsheets, database and presentation packages, as well as the internet and e-mail). Sign up for courses at your university’s computing or student learning centre, or search online for free tutorials.
- Revisit your GCSE language skills or learn something completely new. A smattering of Mandarin or Japanese might help you on your way to a global career. Enrol on a beginner’s course at your university’s language centre.
- Revise some basic maths: percentages, ratios, averages, graphs and charts, etc.
Find out about job-hunting
Get a feel for the graduate recruitment calendar in professions that interest you and pick up some job-hunting basics.
- Get to know what’s on offer at your university’s careers service (CV clinics, practice psychometric tests, employability workshops, skills programmes, insight courses, employer information, etc).
- Check the typical application deadlines and processes in the career areas you want to target.
- Put together a CV and get it checked by a careers adviser.
Apply for vacation placements and internships
Application deadlines for vacation placements and internships can be quite early in the year: typically January/February. However, for sectors such as banking and professional services, you’ll need to be on the ball and apply much earlier: November/December.
- Have a back-up plan for finding summer work experience if your main plans fall through – investigate options with smaller organisations.
- Make sure you track the skills and experience you gain from part-time jobs and vacation placements.
Think about further study
Getting onto a postgraduate course or applying for a PhD programme takes as much forethought and planning as finding a job. Start exploring your options now if you want to consider further studies.