Anisa is a postgraduate student studying the Legal Practice Course, exploring her career options as a Law graduate. Anisa was also an undergraduate student at City.
It can be daunting when it comes to applying for new jobs or thinking about what you want to do after university. This was how I felt especially as I had no interview experience and never had any role other than my part time retail job.
“Applying for new roles was totally out of my comfort zone. But City Careers was a great place to start and provided invaluable support.”
From my own experiences at City, I have compiled a list of tips to help you when you start at university.
1. Don’t be afraid to ask for help
Whether it’s just getting general career advice or more tailored support and guidance for your chosen career, the careers team is very approachable.
I was hesitant at first when it came to booking my mock interview especially as I did not feel prepared. This however soon went away once I realised that the team were here to help, and I would be in a better position to be successful once completing a mock interview.
When it comes to applying for postgraduate roles, the Careers team are also available to help as they did for my personal statement, so really make use of them and their resources!
2. Be proactive in gaining employability skills
Universities put on many events which are super useful and can set you apart from the crowd when it comes to applying for new roles.
City even offer the City Employability award. This is awarded by attending a few different employability events by City and giving feedback on what you have learnt. I have attended various employability events, including ones on on how to succeed in assessment centres and networking. Most notably was a commercial awareness session.
As a law student, commercial awareness is a key skill employers look out for. As a result, I was keen to understand more about it. The event was hosted by an external presenter from a company and gave me a really good insight into what commercial awareness is. The session was delivered online, so it was completely accessible. A PowerPoint presentation was shown explaining what commercial awareness is, why it’s important and how to develop it. There were also a few interactive activities in applying the new knowledge gained. This was enjoyable and solidified what I had learnt.
Another event that occurs annually is the Law and Social Sciences fair. There are also other subject fairs available depending on what you study. This is especially useful.
These fairs are a great way to network, communicate with potential employer’s and gain more information about a particular industry.
3. Check out the work experience available
Like other univerisities, City list a number of different internships, volunteering opportunities and paid job roles available to apply for every day.
Unitemps is City’s onsite temporary recruitment agency – they offer roles at all levels, helping students and graduates find temporary, permanent and paid internship roles both onsite at the university and externally with businesses in and around central London.
Work experience, whether paid or voluntary, will help develop your transferable skills and be more experience you can add to your CV.
4. Get your CV and cover letter reviewed
Having mine reviewed was really beneficial and I now understand what is required of me when it comes to applying for post-graduate roles.
The best place to look for all these opportunities and appointments is the universities careers hub.
You can find out more about this, in my post on how the career service helped me with my CV.
Want to find out more about the topics mentioned here? Why not read…
- Demystifying commercial awareness
- About our microplacement schemes and Juste’s experience
- Find out about Charlotte’s Microplacement experience
