The year is has just begun and many new students have enrolled with colleges and universities to gain a better education which will help them secure a good job in the future….or will it??

Let’s place ourselves in the shoes of an employer for just a moment. They have a vacancy, which actually translates to “they have a need for an individual to add value to their business to help it grow.” You place a job ad and start sorting through the applicants.

Before we go any further, who would you choose?

A person with experience for the role that can hit the ground running, or a person with no experience that you have to train?

I’m sure we will all arrive at the same answer, we would rather hire an individual with experience.

Back to the here and now. Many of you have just enrolled in your new courses, have big dreams for the future and expect to land your dream job at the end of your qualification…but as we’ve just explored, it is not that likely.

So what should you do?

My suggestion is that you start today contacting companies or businesses in your chosen profession and try and secure part time work or even offer your services for free to gain experience.  This serves a number of purposes, firstly you now have contacts in a company that should you succeed, may offer you a paid job when you graduate.  Secondly, you are gaining valuable experience that is relevant to your course and qualification.  You will get more out of your studies as you can equate it to real life work experience.  Thirdly, your CV now has experience and will soon have a qualification to go with it.

By doing this, you have greatly enhanced your chances of landing the first key role when graduating.

The alternative is you can sit back, study and have an easy year and the struggle to find a job when you graduate.

The choice is yours, make the right one.

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