Sound familiar? You've got
your degree, now it's time to get a job. The question
is, which one? We got Rhys, Dan and Steve in the
Lifebyte Housing Benefit
Scheme to give us their CVs and fill
in a questionnaire about their work hopes.
Then we called in our Career Expert, John Lees,
to highlight their strengths and problem areas and
suggest the next move.
'Like so many hopefuls in the job market, our three
guinea pigs need work now to get their money
problems sorted,' says John. 'They also want to
keep their options open: travel, do more learning
and have fun. Each of them needs to communicate
their strengths and achievements, from both work
and study.'
Here it is, John's verdict:
Dan, 24, graduated in Visual Cultures
Key skills: Communication, teamwork and IT skills.
Work experience: He's worked in catering, retail
and as a labourer.
Areas of interest: It seems clear that his primary
interests are in music and the arts – he'd
love a job in the media.
Problem areas: Needs to learn how to 'translate'
his degree into language
employers will understand.
First steps: He's thinking of enrolling on
a web-design course. Dan should decide whether his
IT skills are background or central, and try to
identify successes at work (ideally in measurable
terms). Potential work areas: · Training
(using multimedia skills); people-related websites;
public relations; corporate hospitality.
Rhys, 23, graduated in American Studies
Key skills: A very positive message
and a good range of work experience:
Work experience: Event hire, retail, warehouse
work and international study.
Areas of interest: IT, web design, journalism,
music and sport.
Problem areas: Rhys needs to identify his strengths
more. He's read American Studies, but he doesn't
do more than summarise the syllabus in his CV. A
multi-disciplinary degree, presented well, can indicate
flexibility of mind and the ability to think outside
boundaries. He has done some interesting work, but
the phrase 'more supervisory skills' is just too
vague - what did he actually do? He seems diligent
and dedicated, but what at? Also, there are too
many spelling errors - a fatal mistake that can
send a CV straight into the employers' bin.
First steps: Rhys, too, is thinking of web design.If
you want to maximise your experience, click
here.
He needs to work out his unique
selling points. Is he a techie or a people person?
What puts him ahead of the pack?
Potential work areas: · Travel or culture to
exploit the USA links, especially if he acquires
website design experience; Exhibition or sales work
drawing on his theatre skills; Service sector jobs
requiring good communication and negotiation skills;
more work experience in customer service.
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Steve, 23, studied Sociology & Psychology
Key skills: Self-awareness, time management
and a wide range of work experience.
Work experience: Retail, catering, production-line
and office work.
Areas of interest: Social work, health and
welfare – and a strong interest in sport.
Problem areas: Steve seems not to have
finished his Sociology and Psychology degree.
This isn't the end of the world – he can
still say what he got out of the course; but he
must be aware that he really needs to push his
work experience. Like the others, he needs to
ease off on the 'financial need' theme in his
CV – employers hire you because of what you
can do, not because you're broke! He needs to
demonstrate his claimed qualities with what he's
actually achieved in work.
First steps: Entry into this field would require
him to finish his degree, and gain an appropriate
professional qualification while working. Doing
some background voluntary work (community, youth,
residential) would be a good start. Retail work
is fine, but he should improve his IT skills to
help get more office work experience, too.
Potential work areas: · Sports-related
youth work; openings for unqualified social workers,
eg, in residential care ; communications or administrative
work with a welfare charity.
This all seems very detailed and informative.
How does someone become a careers consultant anyway?
To find out, click
here
We've handed your comments onto our three protégés
and are waiting to hear what happens when they
put it into practice. Watch this space for next
week's update.
– Finula Cairns 06.10.00
Useful links
Graduates should definitely take a look at
this
site which is full of info,
tips and vacancies.
If, like Rhys, you fancy working in the Media,
or like Dan you fancy the world of web design
or IT, checkout
this site for
all the latest vacancies in these and lots of
other sectors
And for care-related and clerical jobs that Steve
has been advised to go for, take a peek at this
website which is really cool and
offers loads of advice and features, as well as
job vacancies.
If you really don't know what to do, finding a
temporary job is often a good way to find out
more about a certain field. Have a look at this
site: which
has some excellent, temping jobs in all sorts
of different areas.
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