Ahead of the Graduate Recruitment Careers Fair tomorrow in Student Central, graduate trainee Mahriya Saleem has shared her thoughts about how everyone can benefit from the event...
My name is Mahriya and I am a recent graduate in Psychology with Counselling. I have been working at the University as a Graduate Trainee since March and have experienced and learnt many transferable skills and had to opportunity to work abroad, but most importantly working at the University has affirmed my desire for a long-term people facing career.
I am currently based in Career and Employability Services so no better place to be to find out about the jobs at first hand. Also, it is an ideal time for me to attend the careers fair for myself and to explore the options I have for the near future.
Here a few tips I have that might help students or graduates like myself to make the most out of their experience at the careers fair:
- Remember, that even if you are a first or second year student, it is still a good idea to look around and have a chat to different organisations, so you have a feel for who you might want to work with after graduating. Also, for graduate roles, employers recruit for the upcoming year so it’s better to know and prepare yourself in advance.
- Have a look at the organisations that will be attending so you can plan effectively which ones to go to.
- BUT, don’t keep your eggs in one basket and stick with the companies you’re familiar with! Sometimes, it’s things we’re not familiar with that will spark our interest
- Note down what employers are telling you. Students who use the careers fair effectively may have a little higher success rate of getting through the later stages of the graduate application process. So it’s better to have a written record of any advice or tips they are telling you about the job and/or the application process, so you can look back on them at when applying for the roles.
Remember, careers fairs aren’t just to grab an armful of freebies, it offers you a valuable one to one time with recruiters, so get yourselves to the careers fair!
Thanks very much Mahriya, and we hope to see you all tomorrow!