There are A LOT of organisations vying for your attention at the moment.
They are all trying really hard to convince you that you should be applying for them, in fact, lots of them are coming to campus for the Careers and Placements Fair, on the 12th October.
And yes, dear reader, I do mean you. I say that as I know that a (large) proportion of you were thinking that I was actually talking to some magical, mythical student, who is a perfect combination of everything. That student does not exist – and even if they did, there wouldn’t be enough of them to fill every vacancy in every organisation.
You have strengths, and there are plenty of organisations that are looking for those, so you have 3 tasks:
- Identify and value your strengths.
That can be harder than it sounds, especially if you are self-critical, (or over confident), so ask your friends and family, and chat to a careers consultant to help. - Identify the opportunities that are looking for people with your mix of strengths, that you want to work in.
Again, this can be harder than it sounds, so ask others for help again, including the careers consultants - Apply
Making good applications is a skill, so don’t be hard on yourself if you need to develop it, and don’t take it personally when applications aren’t successful, no one can win them all. Guess what, the appointments with careers consultants can help, as can the Careers workshops.
So Why You? Why Not? To paraphrase Obi Wan Kenobi – “You are the person they are looking for”
BTW, if you are a mystical, magical, perfect student – then really prioritise those applications that are right for you, and make sure you work really hard to communicate why you meet their requirements – you can’t just rest on your laurels and expect everyone to see your brilliance.
Graham Philpott
Careers
*Thank you to Liam Gallagher for providing the title to this post, and an ego boost to me, as he’s just turned 50, and I’m not there yet!