5 Ways To Boost Your Employability In Your First Year Of University

Why should first-years think about their employability?

• Job market increasingly competitive and dynamic.

• First-years tend to have more spare time than older students who get more work to do.

• Long holidays and reading weeks are meant to allow you to be productive outside of your studies.

• Easier to gain second-year internships and long placements if you’ve already done brief work experience.

Don’t settle for a retail jobAim higher!

What’s wrong with the typical student job?

• Chances are, you won’t enjoy working in Tesco.

• You may stand out to employers if you’ve done something different to other students.

• Your university could offer a variety of paid opportunities that you’re unaware of.

Some alternatives and how to find themOpportunity What it may involve How to get it

Tutoring Writing an online profile about your experience and communication skills, setting your rates,

corresponding with families, teaching the subject you do at university or finished at A

Level

Surfing the web, asking your careers advisor or looking around at fresher’s

fair for tutoring websites you can sign up to

Psychological experiments

Getting e-mailed about an upcoming experiment with necessary requirements

taking a test to see if you meet those requirements, (if yes) turning up promptly.

Networking with tutors and students in the relevant university

departments via fresher’s fair, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

Receptionist Working in one of the university’s many offices, answering the phone, talking to visitors, doing basic administrative tasks, or working in one of

the uni’s food outlets

Seeing the job shop on the uni’s website, asking your careers advisor and polishing your CV, talking with

people who do uni jobs

Brand ambassador

Raising awareness of a brand at your campus, distributing leaflets, organising events, social media posts, contacting university societies

and arranging promotion

Apply on student websites or at fresher’s fair to companies that want to get more student customers (e.g.

Ryman, stationary sellers)

Student ambassador

Representing your uni department, halls or the university in general to visitors – showing

people around, talking about life at uni, giving a great impression

See uni’s job shop, look out for departmental opportunities by

following relevant accounts on social media, discuss with tutors

Don’t just join a societyRun it!

• Look for societies at the fresher’s fair and on the uni websites

• Join loads, make friends and see where you fit in best

• Talk to the current committee and ask when the Annual General Meeting is – when they choose next year’s committee

• Apply to the role that would logically benefit you – e.g. if you want to go into finance, be the society’s treasurer, if you’re aiming for marketing, be the marketing director

• Make a speech at the AGM, get the votes and get the role

• Get going, and learn skills relevant for your future career!

Getting into a society and getting the top job

Don’t just volunteerGo global!

What’s wrong with just volunteering?

• In itself, nothing. Volunteering is great if you’re making a difference, building skills, having fun and making friends.

• BUT volunteering at a local charity no longer makes you stand out. Lots of people do it.

• Your university may offer opportunities that push you further out of your comfort zone, helping you develop more skills.

• Doing this may show employers that you’re very socially engaged, determined and willing to go a step further.

• Volunteering abroad is something we’d highly recommend.

• Universities offer lots of chances to do this and give great support. • The fundraising process makes you think creatively to raise funds. • You can improve your organisation and communication skills by

managing fundraising events. • In the third world you will be making a direct impact and giving a

fishing rod rather than just a fish. • Your experience will be eye-opening, life-enriching, energy-draining

and character-forming. • That’s exactly what makes you the ideal employee.

Why volunteer abroad?

Don’t just learn your courseLearn languages!

• You’re not paying thousands a year just to do your course.

• Your uni, and many websites online, offer free coding courses. You can learn HTML, JavaScript or PHP– the building blocks of websites, animations and mobile apps – the languages of the future.

• As for spoken languages, your uni may offer evening classes in everything from advanced Spanish to beginner’s Mandarin.

• Websites and apps like Duolingo can help reinforce your knowledge.

• Doing extra courses allows you to experiment, make friends from a wider variety of backgrounds, and take on more diverse job roles in future.

• Even if you don’t become fluent in anything, your obvious willingness to learn makes you far more employable.

Again, why?

Don’t just do workDo work experience!

• Again, you have more free time to play with than you will later on. • Uni gives you long holidays for a reason. • Work experience will tell you if you really will like that job you’re aiming

for. • Mini placements are perfect preparation for a long internship during the

summer. • Think of your university journey as a path through work experience.

Ideally, this is how the path might look:

In first year? How come?

Reading week in first year

Christmas in first year

Summer before second year

Summer before third year

After third year

A couple of days of shadowing a professional

2 weeks of work experience in an SME

2 or 3 month internship in a small

firm

2 or 3 month internship in a large

firm

Graduate job!

• Ask your careers advisor for a list of small local firms (in your chosen sector) that may briefly host interns. Or a website may show this.

• Find addresses and e-mail addresses on the firms’ websites. • Alternatively, use websites like MilkRound and GoThinkBig to find advertised

placements. Or ask friends and relatives for potential placements. • Use a creative subject line to grab their attention – not just ‘work experience

request’. • Write very briefly about your passion for this sector, why you need this work

experience, what you can bring and what you want to learn. • Follow up your letters and e-mails with calls. Be persistent.

How to get quick work experience

Thanks for reading!

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