Students – How To Ensure a Great Start To Your Career

Now in its 10th year, National Careers Week is an opportune time for students to give some careful consideration to their career aspirations and the different routes they can take to get there. To give you a head start over other school or college leavers, here are six things you can do while you’re still in education to prepare yourself for the workplace: Study Another Language Knowing a second language has always been a skill that employers appreciate in candidates, but now that Brexit is firmly happening and the UK is free to form trade deals with more countries outside of the EU, knowing a second or even a third language will definitely help you stand out from other school or college leavers. China is the second largest economy and the economies of Spanish speaking countries like Panama, Argentina, Bolivia and Costa Rica are expected to rocket over the next few years. So, if you can speak these languages to a fairly advanced standard, you’ve got a head start over other jobseekers. Plus, if you’re able to show you’ve used your language skills outside of the classroom environment, for instance on a foreign educational trip or through conversing with an exchange student, this will definitely go some way to getting your CV noticed by recruiters or hiring managers. RELATED: Kick Start Your Job Search With This Free CV Template Focus on Soft and Hard Skills One of the things that recruiters are looking to find on a CV are skills that are needed to do the role in question. If the skills you list are a match, you’ve got a good chance of being invited for an interview. Skills can be split into two categories: soft and hard skills. Soft skills are personal attributes that enable you to get along with people or to do a job effectively, these include things like communication and team work. See our article, ‘5 Soft Skills That Recruiters Want You to Have to find out what soft skills will help you get a job. Hard skills are things that can be learned or acquired through education or training. IT skills such as experience using certain software packages, understanding code or having an understanding of AI, VR or AR, are examples of hard skills that impress recruiters. AI is making its way into a multitude of applications and industries, so you can increase your employability by keeping up with trends in this area. RELATED: How to Identify & Develop Soft Skills Find Your Voice Speaking in public may not be something you’re comfortable with but putting yourself forward to speak as part of a presentation or at a school awards ceremony will get you used to speaking to large groups. The more you do this, the more natural it will feel. Being able to express your opinion in a clear and controlled manner is a skill that will impress potential employers.  Taking part in debates or group discussions provides a safe environment where you can fine-tune your listening skills, learn to form a clear thought pattern and practice putting across your opinion in a way that isn’t offensive or aggressive. Gain Insights Through Shadowing/Work Experience  Shadowing peers through work placement opportunities is a fantastic opportunity to get an insight into what a role involves and what skills are needed to do it. Work placements also give you access to the people doing the job and this allows you to quiz them on how they got into it – they may point out a path that you hadn’t considered previously. Your school or college should be able to help arrange a work placement. If they can’t, there’s nothing to stop you offering to help out a business on a weekend or during holidays. Speak to family members, friends or look online to search for companies you’re interested working with and approach them directly. The contacts you make during this time could prove to be invaluable later on when you come to find to work as they can act as references or they may be able to offer you a job. RELATED: 11 Huge Companies You Can Apply To Without A Uni Degree Volunteer  While skills are an important thing to have on your CV, recruiters and hiring managers will also be looking for experience. As a recent school or college leaver, this is something you may not have much of. Volunteering is an amazing way to gain some real-world experience while also doing some good. You can use your volunteer role to show potential employers that you know how to manage your time, work alongside others, complete and even delegate tasks and that you can be committed to something. Also, volunteering exposes you to opportunities or sectors that you may not have been interested in before but after working as a volunteer, you now wish to pursue a career in. Research All Your Options Many different routes into work exist, such as internships, apprenticeships, degrees, graduate schemes and even through volunteering. You should take the time to look into each in detail to see which one is right for you, and most appropriate for the industry you want to work in. If you remain unsure, speak to your careers advisor or employers themselves to see what they think. Your careers department is a valuable source of information and they often have direct links to employers who they can put you in touch with. Also, check out career fairs as these allow you to speak to employers first-hand. You can ask them what the best path into the industry is and what skills and attributes are most highly valued. Finally, look up potential employers on Glassdoor to find out what it’s really like to work there. RELATED: 7 Things to Expect From An Apprenticeship