It’s the time of year when it seems like all final year students are busy applying for graduate schemes and everyone else has got some clear direction in life. But what if you’re stuck? Nicky Hutchinson, Career Zone Employability and Careers Consultant at our Penryn Campus is here to help.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, our first tip is to give yourself a break – try and think of career as being something that will reveal itself to you in time and think of your first opportunity like your ‘next step’ rather than a lifelong choice. Deciding on that next step will likely happen at many points over your lifetime for many reasons. Remember that a ‘career’ is something that we look back on retrospectively – we don’t leave University, put on a ‘career’ hat and wear it for life. There are lots of twists and turns to our journeys and it’s OK not to know what we want to do for the rest of our lives at this (or at any) stage.
‘A ‘career’ is something that we look back on retrospectively – we don’t leave University, put on a ‘career’ hat and wear it for life.’
In this post, we explore different ways you can consider your next step which may not have thought of. Remember that there are always jobs appearing – graduate schemes have fixed application windows, but graduate jobs, which account for 85% of the market are always appearing at all times of the year, so your next step may not be advertised or visible yet, but right around the corner.
What causes do you believe in?
Are you someone who is loyal to charities, not for profit organisations, or keen on certain institutions? It may be that there are job opportunities working within organisations that might suit you. Sometimes, job satisfaction can be much greater when you pay less attention to the role you play and more attention to the cause you serve and being part of a team working towards something you believe in. Get on social media and set up job alerts for your favourites just to see what comes up.
Stop and think for a moment about what you’ve really enjoyed doing over the course of your degree and in other activities.
If you can align a career towards the things that you love doing most, you’ll feel a lot less like you’re working for a living. Write a list of skills or activities you would like to use in work and start filtering job opportunities for those.
Which brands do you love?
Many of us have certain brands of products and/or services which we adore and are loyal to. Ask yourself why you love them so much – what do they stand for to you? Why are they important to you and why do you align yourself to them? If you can distill down what it is that they stand for that appeals to you, it may give you some ideas about similar organisations you might want to be part of, if not those brands themselves.
‘If you can align a career towards the things that you love doing most, you’ll feel a lot less like you’re working for a living.’
What do your friends and relatives do that you like the sound of?
If you’re not sure what they do, ask them! You could also stalk them on Linked In. The good thing is, if you find something of potential interest, you already have a connection who is likely to be happy to share information and insights into what they do with you. If you like the sound of it, they might be able to help you with key connections, too!
What are your hobbies and interests?
Which content creators do you follow? What do you do in your spare time? Sometimes our hobbies can be our passions and might proffer amazing career opportunities. Take a little time out to look at the organisations and brands that sit behind your favourite pastimes to explore whether you can align what you do with work.
Have you taken time to consider what is most important to you in terms of your career?
Career values are the things that are important to us about work and can often be more important to us than the job title we have. Spend some time writing down a list of 10 things you would be looking for in a job or organisation; for example – work-life balance, structured work day, customer contact, helping people. Once you have a list, work out which of those are non-negotiable. This would be a good starting point for filtering for organisations and job roles that fulfill those needs.
‘Many graduates have pursued fulfilling careers by growing with smaller employers where opportunities for progression and growth are potentially more abundant.’
We often overlook smaller employers, less well-known NGOs or local companies.
Because they are smaller, they are less likely to have many job roles available. However, some of them offer really interesting and niche products and services. Maybe one or more of those organisations could be of interest. So as well as scouring the graduate job boards, keep your eyes on the local business news, local job board websites and on Linked In for inspiration. Make a note of organisations which inspire or interest you and reach out to them speculatively. Many graduates have pursued fulfilling careers by growing with smaller employers where opportunities for progression and growth are potentially more abundant.
What about a mix and match?
Sometimes, when we find our dream job is hard to come by, we may find we need to combine voluntary work with other opportunities which help us earn a living. Both of these are great to build skills and combining voluntary work with other paid roles can help us combine our passions with something more lucrative. Voluntary work can sometimes lead to job opportunities through building our network and gaining us valuable and relevant skills.
Looking for more inspiration? Or maybe you’re ready to take your next steps. Whatever you need, your Career Zone is ready to help.