A Few Simple Steps

LOOKING TO START YOUR CAREER?

The state of the economy has meant that a lot of young people are struggling to get into work after they have fi nished studying. It’s an unfortunate situation; there simply aren’t enough jobs to go around in some areas.

Not only that, there are a lot of unpaid positions like internships and experience programmes. These can be great opportunities, don’t get me wrong, but they don’t exactly pay the bil ls – usually these programmes last quite a long time too, so you can fi nd it hard to get by for the duration of this.

Ideally, you need a job. Something that pays. So how do you do that? How can you take those fi rst

steps towards a career?

THE ECONOMY

This is probably the hardest part of the process – actually fi guring out the thing you really want to do. If you’re lucky, you’ll know already. If not, you’ve got to do a bit of soul searching – there’s no quick fi x to this I’m afraid.

Once you realise what you actually want to do – there are a lot of diff erent areas you can go.

DECIDE WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO DO

It’s a tough pill to swallow, but internships might be the only available opportunity to you – and if you fi nd one that is closely related to exactly what you want to do, then you should really consider doing it. Even if it isn’t paid.

Internships will give you experience, even if you’re not paid – and experience is crucial. There’s not a job in the world, these days at least, that you can just walk into without experience.

So, consider an internship – but beware. You should make sure it is a legitimate internship, and that the company is reputable. Although there is no guarantee of a job at the end of it – you really want to gain valuable experience and at least have the prospect of a job after it’s over.

CONSIDER INTERNSHIPS

Temporary work isn’t exactly a career, but it could give you some insight into diff erent types of jobs that you might not have considered getting into before. It’s possible that there would be some diff erent experiences out there too – meeting people and learning new things.

Obviously it’s only temporary work, but you’ll be earning money at least. It’s possible too that there are some things you don’t l ike doing – but luckily it is only temporary.

It takes a bit of getting used to, starting a new job every couple of weeks can be a bit strange – and you might fi nd it hard to move on from things you really l ike.

It’s a good idea, especially if you need some cash – but it really is a fi rst step in the process of starting a career, and not a career itself. Having said that, if you fi nd something you’re particularly good at – then you never know, you may be off ered something permanent.

THINK ABOUT TEMPING

I know this might seem like a bit of a backwards step, but it’s not. You’ve probably had enough of learning – especially if you’ve spent three years at university and are eager to get a start on your career.

It’s quite likely, unfortunately, that your degree won’t give you quite enough practical experience to start a job right away. This is where training comes in – it’s a great way to get a really useful qualifi cation, which you can build on.

You should check out what courses are available, and this should be related to your area of interest. A lot of practical qualifi cations are related to trades – so this is a particularly good area for training, and also getting a job further down the line.

THINK ABOUT TRAINING

Plastering courses, electrical courses or plumbing courses are widely available – so should defi nitely be considered. It’s also worth considering nursing courses, physiotherapy courses and fi rst aid courses if you’re more inclined that way.

Training for a practical qualifi cation usually means paying a bit of money – but it’s worth it if there’s something you especially want to do, because after the initial expense you can recoup it quite quickly. It’s a damn sight more cost-eff ective than university tuition – you can expect to repay the costs in months, as opposed to years.

Getting on a good course wil l only last a couple of months – and it arms you with very valuable skil ls that you can trade on in the future. The cool thing about training, even if you end up doing something a l ittle bit diff erent to what you’ve trained in is that it shows employers that you are actively trying to expand upon your skil ls and earn yourself a job – there’s nothing worse than a blank section on your C.V.!

CHOOSING A TRAINING COURSE

For your own sake, please keep your C.V. up to date and check it over. It’s not a big point, but you’d be surprised by how many people don’t keep on top of it. It’s such a basic thing, but it’s so important.

Make sure everything is spelled correctly, it just shows that you haven’t put the consideration in otherwise – and that refl ects badly upon you, and it’s actually quite inconsiderate for the potential employers you eventually send it to – after all they’ve taken the time to read it, so you can take the time to write it properly!

It’s all about trying to get yourself an interview, that’s the hardest part. Once you get there it’s a diff erent kettle of fi sh.

UPDATING YOUR C.V. – AND KEEPING IT UP TO DATE

Well , this is probably one of the hardest things to get r ight. I t ’s not that easy to nai l an interview, and by the way i f you’re feel ing cocky the employer wi l l normally be able to see through you and guess what – they won’t appreciate i t .

I t al l depends on the kind of interview you’re walking into, i f you’re going to an interview for a massive corporation you can expect quite a bit of formal ity – i f you’re going for temp work as a fi sh monger i t ’s probably going to be a bit more casual. I t ’s al l about assessing the interview beforehand, going through the various permutations that might occur and being mental ly prepared.

A good t ip is to ask i f there is anything in part icular to prepare for the interview or whether there’s anything you should think about beforehand. I f they say yes, then you’ve got a leg up on every interviewee who hasn’t asked. I f not, you can rest easy with your nerves beforehand as you know there won’t be any surprises.

PREPARING FOR AN INTERVIEW

One thing to be aware of is how you sit, and what you do with your hands. Make sure you don’t fi dget, keep your hands cupped in your lap when you can. There’s nothing wrong with being expressive with your hands when you talk, but there’s a diff erence between being expressive and fi dgeting – try and keep your hands sti l l .

Saying ‘Umm’ is quite a common mistake. Most employers wil l look past that, but it doesn’t refl ect too well on you. Just remember there’s nothing wrong with a si lence whilst you think about your answer – just don’t leave it too long!

Another good tip is to ask a lot of questions – it’s a good idea to come up with a l ist of questions beforehand and remember some of them. It shows you’re interested, and you might actually learn something new as well .

INTERVIEW TIPS

It’s quite possible you’ll have a few moments when taking the preliminary steps in your career that you want to forget. A bad interview here or there, not getting replies to your applications – perhaps even starting a job you think will be good and fi nding it’s not quite as good as it was stated in the job listing.

It’s important to keep calm though, there’s no point in panicking. It won’t actually help after all!

Just make sure you’re following these basic tips, and as long as you know that you’re doing the best you can – then just relax and something will come along eventually.

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON