I did it! I got a job!
I spent hours trawling through job search websites and thinking about Who I Am and What I Should Do, and many more hours filling in application forms and writing cover letters, BUT it all paid off in the end! I have now taken the leap of faith into adulthood and started something new. I'm nervous and slightly bewildered by it all but mostly excited to see what's coming!
As anyone who has applied for any job ever will know, getting a job is NOT an easy process. Some people are a whizz at writing a cover letter but melt at interviews, or (like me) some people can spend hours agonizing over what word is best to describe yourself and which thing you've done most proves you're great and edit their letter ten times before they're even vaguely happy with it, but love having a good chat with potential employers. Some times, you just don't even know where to start!!
My advice would be to really take your time with it, with each individual stage. I know we might not all have that luxury but the more time you spend on it, the better.
"What you want to do?" The age old question to which no-one really knows the answer. I found I didn't know enough about any job to pick a specific job title to search for, but knowing perhaps an industry or a characteristic of your ideal company (I wanted to be in a start-up) will help.I found having some work experience really useful! It allowed me to understand a bit more about exactly what certain jobs consisted of (e.g. I now know I'm not interested in marketing) and decide what size and culture I was looking for in a place to work.
I also made use of my friends and family - asking them what I'm good at, or what jobs they can see me doing. I've never been good at bigging myself up so firstly these things were really nice to hear, and secondly they actually gave me some good ideas! Even finding out what jobs other people are doing opened my eyes to roles I didn't know about. Websites like Prospects are really useful for doing some research on sectors/job roles, and have a test you can do that matches your personality with job characteristics.
I'd also say to only apply for jobs that you actually like the sound of. I know it sounds obvious, but when I started out, I was applying for jobs that made me go "meh" just so I could say I'd applied for 5 jobs that day, or so I could trick myself (and parents) into thinking I was making headway on it. But OMG does that make something already boring even worse. Yes, it doesn't hurt to get a bit of extra application practice but I just could not write cover letters for things I wasn't passionate about. I didn't care enough. When I found jobs I was really keen on, my writing came much more naturally!
Try applying for some that you're not fully qualified for too. My boyfriend persuaded me to do this, though I was really skeptical. He said that a job description lists every quality the employer could wish for, and they probably know they won't tick every box - I hadn't even thought of that! If you can show your passionate and will work hard, then maybe they'll overlook the fact that you haven't done a GDPR course... I'm really grateful for this advice, as it was completely the case with my new job!
If you want a career that you actually don't mind getting up on Mondays for, then focus on what you enjoy and what you're interested in, rather than what you're qualified for. Tests like this Guardian one might be useful to get you thinking.
I hope these tips help you guys get your head around the chore that is job hunting. Good luck!
Becky x
I spent hours trawling through job search websites and thinking about Who I Am and What I Should Do, and many more hours filling in application forms and writing cover letters, BUT it all paid off in the end! I have now taken the leap of faith into adulthood and started something new. I'm nervous and slightly bewildered by it all but mostly excited to see what's coming!
As anyone who has applied for any job ever will know, getting a job is NOT an easy process. Some people are a whizz at writing a cover letter but melt at interviews, or (like me) some people can spend hours agonizing over what word is best to describe yourself and which thing you've done most proves you're great and edit their letter ten times before they're even vaguely happy with it, but love having a good chat with potential employers. Some times, you just don't even know where to start!!
My advice would be to really take your time with it, with each individual stage. I know we might not all have that luxury but the more time you spend on it, the better.
"What you want to do?" The age old question to which no-one really knows the answer. I found I didn't know enough about any job to pick a specific job title to search for, but knowing perhaps an industry or a characteristic of your ideal company (I wanted to be in a start-up) will help.I found having some work experience really useful! It allowed me to understand a bit more about exactly what certain jobs consisted of (e.g. I now know I'm not interested in marketing) and decide what size and culture I was looking for in a place to work.
I also made use of my friends and family - asking them what I'm good at, or what jobs they can see me doing. I've never been good at bigging myself up so firstly these things were really nice to hear, and secondly they actually gave me some good ideas! Even finding out what jobs other people are doing opened my eyes to roles I didn't know about. Websites like Prospects are really useful for doing some research on sectors/job roles, and have a test you can do that matches your personality with job characteristics.
I'd also say to only apply for jobs that you actually like the sound of. I know it sounds obvious, but when I started out, I was applying for jobs that made me go "meh" just so I could say I'd applied for 5 jobs that day, or so I could trick myself (and parents) into thinking I was making headway on it. But OMG does that make something already boring even worse. Yes, it doesn't hurt to get a bit of extra application practice but I just could not write cover letters for things I wasn't passionate about. I didn't care enough. When I found jobs I was really keen on, my writing came much more naturally!
Try applying for some that you're not fully qualified for too. My boyfriend persuaded me to do this, though I was really skeptical. He said that a job description lists every quality the employer could wish for, and they probably know they won't tick every box - I hadn't even thought of that! If you can show your passionate and will work hard, then maybe they'll overlook the fact that you haven't done a GDPR course... I'm really grateful for this advice, as it was completely the case with my new job!
If you want a career that you actually don't mind getting up on Mondays for, then focus on what you enjoy and what you're interested in, rather than what you're qualified for. Tests like this Guardian one might be useful to get you thinking.
I hope these tips help you guys get your head around the chore that is job hunting. Good luck!
Becky x
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