When applying for jobs after graduating you quickly realise that having a degree is not the only aspect employers look for, they also place a high value on graduates having work experience. Evidence shows that newly graduates with work experience are more likely to be successful in obtaining employment, it would look even better if the work experience you have previously done relates to the job you’re applying for.
Getting a job after graduating is a fierce competition, and work experience plays a huge role in the hiring decisions of potential employers. You need to go out there and look for internships within companies as many employers use their internships or placements schemes as the first stage in recruiting a graduate, a yearlong work placement will look very impressive on your CV, and should you perform well it could lead to a full time job or if not at least a great reference which could be just as important.
But work experience is not just about impressing employers, it’s also about personal development. You get to input your knowledge and attribute you gained in education into practice and also learn how to cope in real life work situations. Without having work experience you can’t tell what you really want to do as a career. For some it takes working in the real world to figure it out and without having as much experience how can you tell what your good at. Also you can become better at interviews for jobs, by applying for internships and work placements you get many interviews and by having work experience you can easily answer the “tell me about a time...” questions which is very difficult to answer without the work experience.
It helps a lot for you to know the industry you want to work for, but don’t worry if you’re not sure. Just get out there find what interest you, try new things and gain some experience. You must remember that not all internships are advertised so you might have to contact a company and ask what is available or just offer to work for free. You have to stay patient and never give up, it all counts on the effort you put into it, the more research you do and the more you apply the better your chances are.
So remember make use of the time you have during your holidays and add more work experience on your CV.
Good luck!!!