Wednesday 22 October 2014

Tips And Career Advice For Graduates

By Estelle Larsen


When students graduate, they are faced with the prospect of entering the workplace for the first time and this is often quite daunting. They have much theoretical knowledge from their years of studying but most of them have little practical experience. Career advice for graduates is necessary to help prepare them for a changing workplace where they need a competitive edge.

Most companies are looking for experienced employees and this is often the focus of the recruiters. They want to know what the graduate is able to contribute to a company in terms of helping increase revenue or cut costs. This is why it may be necessary to accept lower pay at the beginning in order to become invaluable by gaining the experience that is so highly regarded. Becoming an intern or even volunteering is one way to do this.

At the start of a career it is often necessary to put in long hours. Individuals will battle to do this if they have no interest at all in the job they are expected to do. A job should rather be selected for what it can add to a resume than what is paid. This gives the incentive to work those long hours and learn the skills because this paves the way for future success.

It is important to make an impression right away in a job, demonstrating willingness to learn and showing existing capabilities. This results in more and more responsibilities being given. Any job that provides a chance to add to skills and make an individual more valuable in the market place is worth doing.

Today, employees do not remain for all their working years with one company in one position as they did in the past. People change jobs, positions and even countries in pursuit of growth. Competition is fiercer than ever before with high levels of unemployment. When choosing careers, it is important to pursue aspirations and make use of assets but it also has to be based on market realities.

One of the ways to have a competitive edge is to build up a relationship network. Such a network offers access to new opportunities as well as a means of sharing resources and information. The importance of developing soft skills is often underestimated by graduates. Having mentors who are already successful can also be extremely helpful. They can help provide guidance on their journey towards success.

Many successful professionals have their profiles online. These contain all the necessary information regarding their particular assets, education and even their work projects. They update these consistently, adding projects and new skills. This is particularly helpful for someone who works on a contract basis, allowing future employers to access all the necessary information in one place.

With the amount of competition and changing nature of the workplace, it has become important to take risks as those who play it safe often lose out. These risks should be intelligent risks that offer great opportunities. When taking risks it is possible to fail but this helps one to learn what not to do the next time. Taking risks helps to ensure that the individual continues to grow instead of stagnating and failing to achieve long term aspirations.




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