Student Jobs

Sectors

Yes, yes, it’s a dirty word I know. Unfortunately, unless you win the jackpot on the lottery then you will probably need to join the rest of the population and get a job. Depending on what year you’re in at university, you may or may not have started thinking about where you are going to end-up work wise. Or maybe you are in your final year and the panic has started to kick-in? Well, there’s no need to panic because help is at hand.

The first thing to do is to start thinking about what you want to do – but remember, this isn’t set in stone and you can always change your career path further down the line, many people do! It may be that you don’t want to get into a career just yet and you simply want to work anywhere that allows you to save a few pennies for travelling, your own house or simply to keep your options open. Whatever it is you want to do, there is always help and advice out there for you.

Below are a few different sectors that you may want to think about:

Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations (PR)

If you do a generic job search for graduate roles you will probably find quite a few results in this sector. Advertising, marketing and PR, by their very nature will always be thriving sectors. Huge, multi-million pound companies are willing to spend a lot of their money on these sectors as it generally makes them even more millions of pounds. Advertising can be creative, fun and fast-paced. You would essentially be responsible for selling products through your ideas and vision. However, be prepared to work your way up from the bottom and to do some serious hard graft – this is an extremely competitive corner of the jobs market. PR basically involves connecting the public (the customer) with the product or company and portraying it in a good light. You will be responsible for the reputation of the company that you are representing. Marketing is similar in that your aim is to connect a product to its consumer but you may be involved with more direct means of doing so. A large part of marketing is research – this involves finding out exactly who your market is.

Creative Media

The boundaries of what is actually counted as creative media are expanding everyday. Generally when we talk about the ‘media industries’ we refer to TV, film, animation, radio and journalism. These all sound like glamorous industries to work in as you may think you get to mix with the rich and famous. The reality of these media is usually something quite different. Although it is true that some people working in these industries will live quite glamorous lives and rub shoulders with celebrities, there is so much more involved. Firstly, the creative media industries are extremely competitive and you will have to be prepared to put in some hard graft for a long time before you move on up the ladder (this probably means making tea). The benefit to the creative industries is the variety of work that you can be involved in. You could be anything from a runner to a presenter, a researcher to a scriptwriter, an editor to a cameraman or perhaps you could even become the controller of the BBC! Many people who work in these industries will have a relevant degree. However, you will also find that a lot of the top dogs in the creative industries would have got to where they are from volunteering at radio stations, TV studios, newspapers etc – yes, this does mean that you might have to be prepared to work for free for a while!

Education

The one thing that you can rely on is that people will always need educating. The government dedicates a lot of their budget to education and the people working within it. The education sector is very broad and if you choose to follow this route, the possibilities are endless. You could become a primary teacher, secondary teacher, further education teacher, university lecturer, special needs teacher, private teacher, a teacher to inmates in a prison or someone who contributes to the daily running of an educational establishment. Depending on what role you would like to work as, you may have to get certain qualifications such as a PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education). If you are planning on working with children, you will also be required to have a CRB clearance certificate that basically states that you are suitable to work with children. Working in education can be hard work but can also be very rewarding.

Food & Drink

The food and drink sectors are huge. All you need to do is walk down the high street and you will see restaurants, bars, cafes, market stalls and supermarkets. Finding work as a waiter/waitress, barman, till person etc can be quite easy due to the demand. This kind of work may not be the most challenging for someone who is a recent graduate but you will meet lots of people and gain some valuable social experience. Many people who are still undecided about what they want to do as a career choose to work in the food and drink sectors to keep the pennies rolling in.

Sport & Leisure

If you enjoy being outside and keeping fit or equally enjoy motivating others to get involved in sport then working in this industry might be for you. The sport industries are a great way to turn your enthusiasm for sport into a full-time career. You could work as a fitness instructor in a gym, a nutritionist, a sports coach or even behind the scenes in sales and marketing. You could also work in sports development; for example, you could work for a local council helping to bring sport into the daily lives of the community. If you decide to enter the leisure industry, your job could simply be ensuring people have fun – ok, well probably not quite as simple as that but if you have a flare for people and great organisational skills then you could work in events management, manage a casino or even run a theme park!

The above lists of employment sectors are by far not a complete list. They are simply an introduction to what is out there waiting for you when you leave the comfortable nest otherwise known as university. There’s plenty of help and advice out there so there is no need to get yourself into a pickle about careers, jobs, money and all the other stuff that students tend to worry about.

Your CV

You’ve seen the websites preaching “You’re CV can make or break you”, “a bad CV makes a bad candidate” and so on. That’s all you need right? Another thing to worry about!

It’s true that your CV can be quite important, as it is usually the first impression a potential employee will have of you. However, it is not worth pulling your hair out over (assuming of course you still have some). Take a deep breath and follow our steps to creating a great looking, informative CV:

The Hovering Fingers

You know you need to write your CV, you get your laptop out, you are ready to type something and…you get a phone call, an email or a knock at the door…well, switch your phone off, disconnect your internet and ignore the door – you’re doing your CV whether you like it or not! It’s too easy to say ”tomorrow, tomorrow” but you may miss your dream job with this attitude – get on with it!

Target Your CV

It’s probably not a good idea to write just one generic CV and send it to everyone. Think about the specific industry you are applying for or even the specific job and tailor make your CV to fit. If you are applying to become a sports coach, then don’t write about how you like to stay indoors and sit at desks. Research the job carefully and write your CV appropriately.

Sell Yourself

Many people find it difficult to big themselves up and if you’re one of them, then it’s time you got over it. CVs are like an advert for a product, except you are the product. You need to draw people’s attention, keep their attention and impress them to the end. You can do this not only through your skills and experience but also by the way in which you word your CV and where you choose to put those words. Try starting with an introduction to you – sum up your positive qualities and your valuable experience in this first paragraph so that the reader wants to find out more.

Get Your Dates Right

You don’t have to list every single job you have ever worked on your CV – especially if you have done hundreds of jobs that have little or no relevance to the job you are applying for. Concentrate on the experience you have that is relevant and emphasise your involvement in these jobs. Have a look at the requirements of the job you are applying for and see if you can match them in your CV – if you can tick most of the boxes that the employer is looking for, then why wouldn’t they give you an interview? You should list all of your education qualifications starting with the most recent first. Be sure to get your dates right and to be consistent. If there is a two-year gap in your CV, your potential employer may wonder what you were doing and they may simply assume that you were doing nothing – and ‘nothing’ doesn’t bode well when applying for a job.

Presentation

Employers get hundreds of CVs a day printed on old, dusty paper with curry stains and God knows what else on them – and can you guess what happens to those CVs? Yep, they go straight in the bin!

Your CV can say a lot about you and it is the first impression your potential employer will have of you, so make it stand out. Go to the shops and buy some nice 100g, quality paper. If your printer is running out of ink, then fill it up or go to a stationers to get your CV printed properly. When you send your CV out, don’t fold it up to save on postage – put it into a nice, new A4 envelope. Also, very importantly, before you send your CV out make sure you read through it a few times, check its spelling and get a second opinion – someone else may find a mistake you have missed.

Apart from that, good luck!

Cover Letter

In some ways, your covering letter is even more important than your CV as this is what your potential employer will read first when they open your envelope. Don’t make the same mistake that many students do; not sending out a covering letter with your CV just because it takes less time is a big no no. The first thing a covering letter does is to show the employer that you can be bothered. Receiving an envelope with a half screwed up CV and no covering letter isn’t exactly impressive.

You should keep your covering letter short and straight to the point. Don’t waffle on and don’t try and explain everything that you have written in your CV anyway. The covering letter is there to introduce yourself to the employer and to briefly explain why you are right for the role. This doesn’t mean that you should beg for the job or brag about your skills – instead you should write a professional and well-constructed introduction to yourself.

Do your research! An employer is going to be far more impressed if you have bothered to pick up the phone and found out the name of the person you are writing to. Companies generally will not mind if you call them to find out names – just explain that you are in the process of applying for a job and you would like to know who to address the letter to.

Print your covering letter on good quality paper and keep it clean and crease free. Presentation is very important when you are talking about first impressions.

Interviews

You should not expect to send out just one CV and application form and get an interview straight away. The chances are you will have to apply for quite a few jobs before you get an interview. Don’t let this deter you or dent your confidence – it’s just it takes time for these things to happen.

So, what do you do if you do get that all so important interview? What should you wear? Should you shake hands? Should you just not go because you’re too nervous?

Firstly, it is quite natural to be nervous. Nerves are not necessarily bad and they can in fact improve your performance. Nerves show firstly that you care about the result and you care how you will look. Use this to your advantage – to gain confidence do as much research on the company and job role that you are being interviewed for. The more you think you know when you go into an interview, the more you will relax and the better you will come across.

What to Wear

It is common practice to dress professionally for an interview – perhaps a shirt and tie (and yes, you should iron the shirt!) However, not all interviews are the same and if the required dress is not specified on the interview confirmation letter then don’t be afraid to phone up and ask. It’s better to phone than to get it wrong – you don’t want to turn up in your board shorts if everyone else is wearing a shirt!

Be on Time

This is an important one. If you are late to an interview you will be wasting the time of the person doing the interview and any other candidates. This does not make for a good impression and will not give you a very good chance of getting the job. Also, being late will allow the employer to assume that you will be late for work if you were to get the job. Take it from us, don’t be late – wake up early, have a shower and some breakfast and head for the bus earlier than you think you should.

Role Play

Think about what type of questions you might be asked; a common one is “what will you bring to this role?” Once you have a list of possible questions ask a friend to play the role of the interviewer and try and give the best answers as possible. Try to think of plenty of examples to back up your answers – this will show the employer that you mean what you are saying.

Tell no Lies

Lying in your interview may seem like a good idea at the time but let us assure you, it really isn’t. If you lie, you will easily be caught out and you will find it harder to answer future questions. The last thing you want to do is get into a flutter because of a stupid white lie. Even if you make it through interview stage with your lies, once you start the job you will find it a lot harder to sustain your tales and then you will be out on your ear.

Gift of the Gab

Having something to say after every question is asked is very good. However, avoid talking too much and waffling on about something irrelevant. Stick to answering the question, speak slowly and clearly and be concise. A few words can say a lot and a lot of words can say nothing at all!

Be Enthusiastic

If you can show a genuine enthusiasm for the job then this will be very impressive. Don’t be false; simply allow your personality to shine and explain how you are right for the job and where your passions lie. Going into the interview like a dead fish and a face like a slapped bum will not look good. The employer will think if you can’t be bothered now then why will you be bothered when you have the job. So, let your personality out for some fresh air!

Useful Links

Jobs-4-Students – Your one stop shop for student jobs, gap year work and all the advice you need to get you through the best years of your life.

E4S – Find your ideal student and gap year job.

Alec – Find lots of interview techniques here to raise your chances of getting your ideal job

Learn-Direct – If you are unsure of what you want to do, you are not alone. Check out Learn Direct for quality advice and information on where to go next

Connextions Direct – Information on different career choices and how to go about achieving your aims.