Every year, thousands of students graduate from third-level education here in Ireland and are faced with the harsh reality of life after college. Some Graduates will take a year to travel the world, some will begin jobs with companies they worked with during an internship, but for most, they will need to try and find a job they like, with a company that will hire them. In this blog we discuss some handy ways students can try and find a job they enjoy and that will benefit their future careers.
This year I will be graduating from University College Dublin, and while I had predicted most of the stressful elements of final year (exams, tight deadlines, late nights in the library), one headache I hadn’t anticipated was having to apply for jobs and graduate programmes. The pressure of finding a job I would enjoy was daunting and it certainly wasn’t aided by friends and family asking me, “ So, what are your plans for next year?”, at every available opportunity.
Final year in college is a crazy time. Everyone is trying to fit so much in because it might be their last year in college, but everyone is also worrying about grades because it’s the year that counts the most. At this stage, a lot of students might have a graduate job lined up from completing an internship, but a lot of people are left with no job and no idea where to start looking. There is an endless amount of information and advice out there to help students so I have summarised it below, from trying to decide on what roles to apply for to nailing that final interview and securing that offer.
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Choosing a graduate programme can be daunting. The application process can be extremely time consuming and can also require a lot of effort. Because of this, it is important to be strategic in your approach and to apply only to those which you would be happy to accept an offer from.
That’s great, but what if you are not exactly sure of what it is you want to do once you have walked across the stage and collected that coveted piece of paper? I was in the exact same position last year, and it was not easy.