Finding Work after University

Lots of people are in the same position, you have left education behind and decided to get out there into the world of work rather than continue jumping through the hoops of academia. Whatever your situation, every closed door opens a world of opportunity and possibilities – as the phrase goes ‘the world is your oyster’.

As soon as you finish education, I would recommend having some time to yourself. People express themselves in different ways; some will go nuts and head to South East Asia or Australia for a welcomed period of travelling, drinking and casual work. Others just have a few weeks to reflect and structure themselves before entering the world of employment.

It is a really difficult time for us all, those in jobs and those looking for jobs are finding it equally difficult to survive.  With a number of companies laying off staff or making cost cuts coupled with the astronomical price of fuel and the inflation rates, everything down to the bread on the table is getting affected.

Students tend to classify jobs in two ways; academic careers and rather generically ‘other jobs’, where the other jobs are standard nine till five positions, inflexible and very scheduled. This is however not the truth as I have come to find myself after leaving University. My job is nine till five, is full of schedule (without which, my purpose within the organisational structure would probably not exist), is flexible, fore filling and rewarding, while it might not be as stimulating as say lecturing at University it is more than I hoped for.

Find out what you are interested in, take a step back and look at the bigger picture. What is it you like doing? Where do you want to be in five years? There is a career path for every eventuality that you come to, for example I love the Internet and writing and now blog and write for online audiences.

On your curriculum vitae your education and training sections are likely to span half an A4 page, so what are you going to populate the remainder with? Your education has prepared you to take on any job; you have a broad range of skills which can be applied to any number of positions in many different ways. You can probably use a computer, speak, read or write in another language amongst many other transferable skills. Let them know about your skills which will benefit their business.

In recent times networking has become an integral stage of career search. LinkedIn is the largest and most successful networking site which aims to let you connect with professionals. The bottom line is that it allows businesses and prospective employees to communicate which is an essential tool in any job hunters arsenal.   Utilize anything which is going to make the whole transition into work easier, happy job hunting!

About the Author:
Will writes for a leading NHS & locum agency with healthcare vacancies such as health visitor jobs throughout the UK and further afield.