Successful Graduate Job Hunting By Judith Baines Head of Careers and Enterprise, Queen Mary University of London
W hichever career path you hope to take after you leave university, the sooner you begin exploring your options, the more likely you are to be successful. For more than 70 per cent of graduate jobs, employers aren’t looking for a specific qualification or degree course. You don’t need to have studied finance in order to work as an accountant, roles in
If you can, you should start thinking about your future career in your first year. It may seem strange to be thinking about your post-university plans when you’ve only just arrived and are still settling into your new course, making friends and getting to grips with your studies. But those first few weeks and months are the ideal time to begin understanding the graduate job market and what you are interested in.
technology wouldn’t necessarily require a computer science degree, and if you’re hoping to become a consultant, you can do so without a degree in business or management.
As a first step, you should make contact with your university careers service. Every university has its own
careers service that offers students independent advice, guidance and information about graduate employment and other options for after university. You can start by accessing their website to find out where in the university they are based and go along to see what your
“ The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers receive between 40 and 50 applications for each graduate vacancy. ”
This means employers usually recruit based on graduates’ skills and abilities, not the content of what they’ve studied for their degree. Your 2.1 in history could lead to a career in marketing, a geography degree could be the starting point for a career in the Civil Service, and a psychology course might be followed by a graduate job as a tax adviser. The choice is so wide – there are several thousand different graduate jobs, occupations and professions that you could pursue after graduation – it can be very daunting to know where to begin. For most students, the question isn’t ‘What can I do with my degree?’ or ‘Which graduate jobs am I qualified to do?’, it’s ‘What type of career am I interested in?’ and ‘Do I have the necessary skills that employers are looking for?’.
careers service offers. Many have teams of students working on reception and as guides, who can talk to you and show you round and explain the information and resources that are available. When you’re ready, you should book an appointment to see a careers adviser or consultant. Appointments are usually in-person within the careers service but can be online too, if that is more convenient. This initial appointment is all about discovering what you need. Are you someone who has a clear
TOP 100 GRADUATE EMPLOYERS 35
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