Why I'm thinking about employability during my first year of university
He may have only just finished his first year but Jonathan Frost
is already doing all he can to prepare himself for the job market. He explains
why he's putting his CV ahead of his studies
'Getting involved in clubs and
societies in his my year has strengthened my skill set,' says Jonathan Frost.
Having just completed my first year, I
wouldn't say that employability is high on most first year students' priorities
or, for some, is even recognised as a priority at all. Most students value
their academic progress or social life, and with good reason, but what is the
purpose of university if not for further equipping students for the job market?
With many universities set to charge £9,000 a
year for tuition fees, the university experience should be about getting value
for money from day one.
This means leaving with more than a degree
after an expensive few years. A degree alone is no longer enough to get a
return on investment.
The advice I received last year ranged from
reading lists to drinking games, but didn't how to prepare for a graduate job
market.
I hope getting a good degree will prove that I
am academically competent and capable of applying myself to a topic, but it
isn't everything. I cannot to see how my degree in English Literature and
Linguistics demonstrates, for example, my ability to handle finances or my
grasp of IT skills.
Due to the competitive nature of the graduate
job market, I think that these shortcomings in my degree need remedying, and
has led to me seeking other ways of demonstrating that I can do more than
dissect a poem.
As a result, I've become heavily involved in
extra curricular activities in my fresher year, and have come to view them as a
necessary complement to the academic side of university life. Getting involved
in societies has strengthened my CV and skill set; from time management to web
development, I believe the extra curricular facet of university life provides
the opportunity to improve employability.
To my surprise, commitments outside of my
degree have already provided me with job interviews and work, both paid and
unpaid. I hope that once I graduate and am inevitably asked about how my degree
demonstrates that I can work as part of a team that I can confidently point to
the weekends I spent producing a campus newspaper with a group of other
students. Extra curricular activities have developed skills that my degree
course never will. Expanding and diversifying a skill set should be imperative
for any undergraduate; university needs to be about more than proving you're
good at one thing.
The first year of most degree courses don't
count towards your final grade so students should exploit this by taking on as
many other activities as possible. This may mean sacrificing academic
performance for a year, and pursuing other interests, such as starting a
business or campaigning for a role within the student union.
The amount of extra curricular work I've done
at university this year has been incredible and exhausting. I admit my degree
has suffered for it, but the opportunities that I got have been of far greater
value to me. Some students like to focus entirely on their degree, but with
£9000 tuition fees and living costs on top of that, I think university needs to
be about more than just a single qualification.
