There are many ways to improve your future career projects while still a student at University. It’s tough to graduate later and hit the job market along with thousands of other like-minded educated people doing the same thing. The timing creates a sudden glut in the local job market, which makes it harder for graduates to get their foot in the door.
In this article, we examine what students can do to buff up and polish their resume ready for gainful employment shortly after graduation.
Table of Contents
Active in Environmental Projects
Being involved in meaningful environmental projects such as green initiatives or zero waste is something that employers like to see. They’re often looking for inspiration beyond the initial obvious quick fixes that they’ve done already to be a greener organization. This blog from Bevi shows how The Road To Zero Waste Universities is a prolonged, serious campaign to reduce considerable waste, which has been a huge success for many educational institutions.
A business may have already started down this road. To reduce waste in the office from drinks, they may have added a Bevi dispenser where staff could refill a branded water bottle with a flavored water drink. The ability to have carbonated, not just still water, fills the gap for employees who like their soda out of disposable drink cans. If you have already made a change like this, a business will be keen to try other green or eco-friendly ideas. Millennials tend to be more environmentally conscious as a group and seen in this light, make a good addition in the future for companies with already established green principles.
Companies respect educational establishments and find the zero waste university campaigns as a key indicator of what’s possible within large organizations with many people working there. Being a graduate that was involved with a zero-waste policy and being able to share how you were involved is extra convincing.
Better Grades and Extra Credit Gets You Noticed
It should go without saying that to put your best foot forward at college, it’s necessary to be present at all classes and achieve solid grades. Whilst it’s often useful to graduate with a degree in a relevant topic to the line of work you will be going into, there’s some amount of flexibility with that. It’s a reality that many graduates work in different fields than what their degree covered. However, graduates are often seen as being smart, adaptable and focused, which are attractive traits to employers who put stock in them.
Along with getting good grades, taking on additional projects makes you stand out on your resume compared to another applicant with a similar degree. Look at what extra coursework is possible that will add to what you’re already studying and get busy.
Get Involved with Student Groups, Societies or the College Paper
Being active while at college working within larger groups is a net positive. It demonstrates being willing to go the extra mile by investing time in important areas. Being involved and knowledgeable about the topic is useful when meeting with prospective employers who are likely to bring up the topic to see what you know.
Organizing events or the management of groups of students pushing towards the achievement of a common goal demonstrates excellent practical organizational and team working skills. A word of caution: It’s probably a good idea to avoid supporting issues that might be seen in a negative light. Being a staunch supporter of an unpopular issue would overshadow any organizing or management within a student organization unless it will be a good match for the type of job you’ll want in the future.
Positive Social Media Accounts
Develop a positive social media presence. Safeguard your future career by not sharing too much or being negative on social media. Most potential graduate employers perform a thorough check across many social media platforms and multiple accounts – even going so far as to outsource the task to specialists – to know as much as they can.
It’s worth pointing out because not everyone realizes this. Unpopular or unacceptable views on social media can be seen by potential employers as undesirable and they may choose to not hire them (or fire them later when they are discovered). Despite not doing something at the company or while on the clock that was inappropriate, social media posting are still problematic.
Improving job prospects for when you become a graduate is all about putting yourself in the shoes of a recruitment officer at a company. They’ll want to see strong traits that are applicable to the workplace, respectable grades and good indicators that you’ll fit into the culture. All of this smooths the way into that first position while avoiding putting self-created career obstacles in your path. Good luck.
