The Easter break is now upon us and whilst tucking into those chocolate eggs and hosting street parties for a certain Royal Wedding, the thought of university and future careers can easily slip our mind. You might not have thought much about it, but now is the time to boost your CV credentials.
The four weeks over Easter can be the perfect opportunity to start hunting out work experience; even if it is just for a week or so. It will show how eager you are to gain an insight into your preferred field of employment. Use the holidays to start writing to companies and businesses or even go in to offices to inquire face to face; you never know until you try. Finding a placement isn’t always an easy task, but often the experience that you will gain will outweigh the struggle, putting you one step ahead of other students.
If after a few days in a placement you find that the career you hoped you’d love isn’t for you, never see the voluntary work as a loss, think of it as a helping hand into discovering the right career path for the future.
The best and easiest way to polish your CV over Easter is to get online; stop refreshing Facebook or posting another tweet and look on websites that can give you a range of employability advice and ideas.
If you still don’t know what you want to do at the end of your three years at Lancaster, prospects.ac.uk is the perfect starting point for your Easter of employability exploration. By asking you a series of questions this website matches you up with careers you might never have known existed. However, if you already know your career path, simple easy steps can be taken over Easter to help you increase those chances of employment. Fancy being a writer or journalist? You could start a blog. Have a burning desire to teach? Pop into your local primary school and ask about volunteering.
By browsing through do-it.org.uk you will be able to find a range of volunteering schemes in your area. This website encourages you to explore databases of placement opportunities for all tastes. Through voluntarily helping your local community you will show potential employers that you’re keen to enhance your skills even when you’re away from university.
Visiting milkround.com is also an ideal way to help you do this as taking a look at graduate job advertisements will give you an idea of what employers see as vital when recruiting. Getting as much information on the different jobs available and the qualities companies look for in graduates may just inspire you to take some action and get yourself equipped for your dream career.
So even though Easter is about taking a small step back from the workload, volunteer and get active in your area. Boosting those job prospects won’t happen just from Easter egg munching; forget about the chocolate and get out there to make that CV shine.
