Find tips on how to get yourself back to work. The state of the economy has meant that a lot of young people are struggling to get into work after they have finished studying. Here are some helpful tips to get you back on track and into the industry your looking for.

1. LOOKING TO START YOUR
A Few Simple
CAREER? Steps

2. THE ECONOMY
 The state of the economy has meant that a lot of young people are
struggling to get into work af ter they have finished studying. It’s an
unfor tunate situation; there simply aren’t enough jobs to go around in
some areas.
 Not only that, there are a lot of unpaid positions like internships and
experience programmes. These can be great oppor tunities, don’t get me
wrong, but they don’t exactly pay the bills – usually these programmes
last quite a long time too, so you can find it hard to get by for the
duration of this.
 Ideally, you need a job. Something that pays. So how do you do that? How
can you take those fir st
steps towards a career?

3. DECIDE WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO DO
 This is probably the hardest par t of the process – actually figuring out the
thing you really want to do. If you’re lucky, you’ll know already. If
not, you’ve got to do a bit of soul searching – there’s no quick fix to this
I’m afraid.
 Once you realise what you actually want to do – there are a lot of dif ferent
areas you can go.

4. CONSIDER INTERNSHIPS
 It’s a tough pill to swallow, but internships might be
the only available oppor tunity to you – and if you find
one that is closely related to exactly what you want to
do, then you should really consider doing it. Even if it
isn’t paid.
 Internships will give you experience, even if you’re not
paid – and experience is crucial. There’s not a job in
the world, these days at least, that you can just walk
into without experience.
 So, consider an internship – but beware. You should
make sure it is a legitimate internship, and that the
company is reputable. Although there is no guarantee
of a job at the end of it – you really want to gain
valuable experience and at least have the prospect of
a job af ter it’s over.

5. THINK ABOUT TEMPING
 Temporar y work isn’t exactly a career, but it could give
you some insight into dif ferent types of jobs that you
might not have considered getting into before. It’s
possible that there would be some dif ferent
experiences out there too – meeting people and
learning new things.
 Obviously it’s only temporar y work , but you’ll be
earning money at least. It’s possible too that there are
some things you don’t like doing – but luckily it is only
temporar y.
 It takes a bit of getting used to, star ting a new job
ever y couple of weeks can be a bit strange – and you
might find it hard to move on from things you really
like.
 It’s a good idea, especially if you need some cash –
but it really is a fir st step in the process of star ting a
career, and not a career itself. Having said that, if you
find something you’re par ticularly good at – then you
never know, you may be of fered something permanent .

6. THINK ABOUT TRAINING
 I know this might seem like a bit of a backwards
step, but it’s not. You’ve probably had enough of learning
– especially if you’ve spent three year s at univer sity and
are eager to get a star t on your career.
 It’s quite likely, unfor tunately, that your degree won’t
give you quite enough practical experience to star t a job
right away. This is where training comes in – it’s a great
way to get a really useful qualification, which you can
build on.
 You should check out what cour ses are available, and
this should be related to your area of interest. A lot of
practical qualifications are related to trades – so this is
a par ticularly good area for training, and also getting a
job fur ther down the line.

7. CHOOSING A
TRAINING COURSE
 Plastering cour ses , electrical cour ses or plumbing cour ses are
widely available – so should definitely be considered. It’s also
wor th considering nur sing cour ses, physiotherapy cour ses and
fir st aid cour ses if you’re more inclined that way.
 Training for a practical qualification usually means paying a bit
of money – but it’s wor th it if there’s something you especially
want to do, because af ter the initial expense you can recoup it
quite quickly. It’s a damn sight more cost -ef fecti ve than
univer sity tuition – you can expect to repay the costs in
months, as opposed to year s.
 Getting on a good cour se will only last a couple of months –
and it arms you with ver y valuable skills that you can trade on
in the future. The cool thing about training, even if you end up
doing something a little bit dif ferent to what you’ve trained in
is that it shows employer s that you are actively tr ying to
expand upon your skills and earn your self a job – there’s
nothing wor se than a blank section on your C.V.!

8. UPDATING YOUR C.V. – AND KEEPING IT
UP TO DATE
 For your own sake, please keep your C.V. up to date and
check it over. It’s not a big point, but you’d be surprised
by how many people don’t keep on top of it. It’s such a
basic thing, but it’s so impor tant.
 Make sure ever ything is spelled correctly, it just shows
that you haven’t put the considerati on in other wise – and
that reflects badly upon you, and it’s actually quite
inconsiderate for the potential employer s you eventually
send it to – af ter all they’ve taken the time to read it, so
you can take the time to write it properly!
 It’s all about tr ying to get your self an inter view, that’s
the hardest par t. Once you get there it’s a dif ferent
kettle of fish .

9. PREPARING FOR AN INTERVIEW
 Well, this is probably one of the hardest
things to get right. It’s not that easy to nail
an inter view, and by the way if you’re feeling
cocky the employer will normally be able to
see through you and guess what – they won’t
appreciate it.
 It all depends on the kind of inter view you’re
walking into, if you’re going to an inter view
for a massive corporati on you can expect
quite a bit of formality – if you’re going for
temp work as a fish monger it’s probably
going to be a bit more casual. It’s all about
assessing the inter view beforehand, going
through the various permutations that might
occur and being mentally prepared.
 A good tip is to ask if there is anything in
par ticular to prepare for the inter view or
whether there’s anything you should think
about beforehand. If they say yes, then
you’ve got a leg up on ever y inter viewee who
hasn’t asked. If not, you can rest easy with
your ner ves beforehand as you know there
won’t be any surprises.

10. INTERVIEW TIPS
 One thing to be aware of is how you sit, and
what you do with your hands. Make sure you
don’t fidget, keep your hands cupped in your
lap when you can. There’s nothing wrong with
being expressi ve with your hands when you
talk , but there’s a dif ference between being
expressive and fidgeting – tr y and keep your
hands still.
 Saying ‘Umm’ is quite a common mistake.
Most employer s will look past that, but it
doesn’t reflect too well on you. Just remember
there’s nothing wrong with a silence whilst
you think about your answer – just don’t leave
it too long!
 Another good tip is to ask a lot of questions –
it’s a good idea to come up with a list of
questions beforehand and remember some of
them. It shows you’re interested, and you
might actually learn something new as well.

11. KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON
 It’s quite possible you’ll have a few moments when
taking the preliminar y steps in your career that
you want to forget. A bad inter view here or
there, not getting replies to your applications –
perhaps even star ting a job you think will be good
and finding it’s not quite as good as it was stated
in the job listing.
 It’s impor tant to keep calm though, there’s no
point in panicking. It won’t actually help af ter all!
 Just make sure you’re following these basic
tips, and as long as you know that you’re doing the
best you can – then just relax and something will
come along eventually.