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"Man has his labour of body or mind which declares his dignity."
(John Milton)
Our culture has an ambivalent attitude to work: on the one hand people moan about it as a chore or a grind, but on the other hand we feel sorry for people who are unemployed. We understand, if we don’t always acknowledge it, that if you have work you enjoy it can be a source of happiness and fulfilment.
A group of women who were among the first winners of the National Lottery were asked if they were going to give up their jobs? No, they said, they enjoyed their jobs – because they really liked working with each other.
People get all sorts of rewards from work, not only material ones. Here are some things work can provide:
 A routine
Money
Status
A chance to be creative
Stability
A feeling of belonging
The ability to influence or change things
The chance to contribute to something
The opportunity to learn
Respect from others
A new and wider range of friends
Stimulation
Challenge: emotional, physical, intellectual . . .
A label, or social identity
(One of my students added, ‘A chance to get away from the kids. . .’!)
Our culture very rarely discusses this, but work seems to be fundamental to our well-being, and even unpaid work can bring rewards. Often the idea of a ‘graduate job’ has a suggestion of ‘a job that brings me personal rewards’ – not just drudgery. It is important then, that you identify what you personally want from a job in terms of your own individual values. These may well be different from those of your best friends or your family.
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ISBN-13: 9-780-335-21793-9 £12.99 June 2006
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Things to consider
Graduates are going into a much wider range of occupations than ever before.
Graduates work for all sizes of employer – including working for themselves.
Graduate salaries vary as much as graduate jobs.
A graduate job often implies a personally rewarding job, but this will be different for different people.
A high proportion of graduate vacancies ask for a degree in any subject.
Many employers are more interested in the intellectual or other achievements of candidates, their personalities and personal qualities, than in their degree subject or classification.
You are not a failure if your job isn’t obviously related to your degree: it’s a common situation for graduates.
You will probably have to develop many new skills to meet the challenges of working life.
A degree can significantly add to your quality of life, and not just in material ways.
A job that fulfils your key values will energize you, but a job that doesn’t fulfil them will demotivate you.
Note what you personally would look for in a fulfilling job.
Are there implications for the types of jobs or employers you might be looking for?
You should now be able to articulate at least some of your skills and give evidence to prove you have them.
You should be clearer about the ones you ideally do (and don’t) want to use in paid work.
Skills learned in one context can be used in others.
You should build on skills, or use sets of skills to develop your competencies.
There is now a lot of information available for new graduates thinking of starting their own business, covering everything from the personal qualities needed, to marketing, finance and tax. A good starting point would be the AGCAS booklet, Self-Employment, available from your careers service, or websites such as that of the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (www.ncge.org.uk) which offers information and advice.
Self-employment needs just as much, if not more, research than any other career option and it is usually worth talking to people who have taken this route. The AGCAS booklet mentioned above lists many useful websites from arts councils, to Business Link. (See also later in this chapter, ‘How do people find jobs?’, pp. 71–77.)
This is one option where research is crucial. Many more undergraduates fantasize about taking a ‘year out’ after graduation than actually do it, probably because they don’t research the options. Do you mean a year? Where do you want to go? What do you want to do? (Gain work experience / travel / work to pay for a few months’ travel / work as you’re travelling?) Your careers service will have a lot of information on the ‘year out’, including books such as Susan Griffith’s (2005) Work Your Way Around the World, and Margaret Flynn’s (2002) Taking a Year Off. The more you start to find out what actually would be involved and what decisions you need to make, the more realizable your dream will become. (See also Chapter 6, ‘Achieving your ambitions’, pp. 145–148.)
Thoroughly researching an occupation can help you decide if it’s what you want and how to get into it.
Research may also give you other ideas.
Thorough research will certainly help you write a better application form or CV.
Use a variety of job-hunting strategies.
Don’t dismiss your dreams, investigate them!
Being well prepared will give you confidence.
Work out the evidence you're going to present and determine to get your strongest points across.
Show you understand the business context the employer operates in.
Practice open and confident body language.
Show enthusiasm for the job.
If you’re sent papers before the selection day, read them carefully and prepare any exercises.
Assume that you’re being assessed from the moment you walk through the gate until the moment you leave – whoever you meet.
Always listen carefully to the precise objective of each exercise, especially in group tasks.
Remember, your time management skills are being assessed, including your sense of urgency. Work is less freewheeling than student life!
Here are some of the opportunities a placement may provide:
Skills or techniques you have learned in the classroom may be put into practice.
Theoretical understanding can be observed and tested in real life.
Relevant experience to put on your CV.
You can find out how you might strengthen your CV even more – what experience or qualifications do employers look for?
It will boost your university reference by having an employer’s view of your abilities.
A chance to test out a prospective job.
It will build your confidence.
It’s a great chance to do some ‘information interviewing’.
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