This week’s post comes from one of our career consultants Hermione Berry, who offers some timely advice to everyone graduating this summer…
If you’re a finalist completing your degree, then you are probably having to make several career decisions right now. You are not alone and others will also be pondering these questions:
Should I try and find a graduate job?
Or study for a postgraduate degree?
Do I look locally or move away?
Are any graduate recruiters actively looking for people like me in our Covid-19 world?
Should I consider starting up on my own?
So many decisions…
In our very different world you can easily find yourself feeling confused and a bit lost about your options especially if having to rethink your plans because of the virus. However, even if some doors look closed there might be others opening up for you as we work towards our ‘new normal’ world.
Some of your peers will have a very clear career path and plan, and that’s great but don’t worry if your path seems longer or winding as you could turn this to your advantage. One way might be to use your time to investigate alternative careers. Maybe asking yourself, What are your passions? Could you consider trying out new roles focused on your interests? What are you good at and where do you need to develop your skills further? What about developing your online skills through additional learning?
Choosing a job now does not mean that it will be your career forever and sometimes different experiences can open up our eyes to new possibilities. It might be the right time to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. You might be a quick learner and you know that you are adaptable and flexible – are important skills in our ever-changing world. By not restricting yourself to a particular occupation or sector you can consider a variety of new skills, experiences and contacts that you might not have thought about before. The decision making should then hopefully get a little easier.
If you feel a little overwhelmed with so many decisions to make then Career and Employability Services are here to help. You could start by checking out our online graduate resources which includes Build My Career, a wealth on interactive careers resources, Graduates First, our fantastic practice selection test portal and My Career and Employability Centre contains exclusive jobs, events and all our appointments. Get in touch to get a graduate account, or login now with your university account and switch to your personal email to continue access.
We understand that career decision making can be confusing especially when your family and friends might be trying to influence you with their suggestions. Why not start with booking an in-depth career guidance appointment with one of our friendly and neutral Career Consultants? Over Skype, phone or email they can help you focus on what is important for you and help you take those small steps towards a clearer future. Chatting things through can help you to make your career options and decision making just that little bit easier.
Making choices can be hard but that can also be a good thing as you consider the alternatives, think about your skills and work towards developing yourself into who you want to be in the future. If you need a little a little more structure then why not join others on one of our webinars? Lots on offer including ‘Recharge and refocus your career planning’ and ‘Develop your career resilience for our challenging times’. Our webinar programme can be found here.
Career decision making can be difficult and only you can make the final decisions but let Career and Employability Services help you on that journey.
Thanks Hermione! Please feel free to get in touch with us if you need any careers-related help. Email us at careers@bradford.ac.uk and be sure to take a look at our services for graduates page.