Why
do employers value “practical experience”
as their number one criterion when
selecting the candidates for the
job? Do you wonder how people know
exactly what they want to work even
before they graduate? Or how they
get a top job they want without
jumping through hoops?
Don’t
wait for an employer to offer you
just any job – position yourself
so you can choose your job and employer!
If
you still believe that it’s just
your degree that is going to get
you a great job, it’s high time
to wake up. Today knowledge of foreign
languages, computer applications,
the internet, and good grades on
your transcript are just filtering
criteria for employers offering
good jobs. If you want more than
an average employer can offer, you
have to give more than the average
graduate. Experience of working/
or studying abroad, a third or fourth
language and extracurricular activities
(AISEC, Student Government, Volunteering,
Social Engagements, etc.) are a
nice pluses. However, in the end,
the most decisive argument for any
employer will be how much job experience
you have gained throughout your
studies and what specific kind.
Ideally by the time you finish a
3-year degree you would have worked
professionally for nine to twelve
months across companies and their
departments (i.e. 3 internships
with three months time each).
The
more experience you gain in the
real world, the more you will get
to know what you like and don’t
like to do once you finish your
studies. This will give you the
focus which most people lack during
their studies and enable you to
weigh the pros and cons of an industry/
company and department. With each
internship or work experience you
will gain practical exposure to
how the world ticks and on top of
this you will build up your ability
to appreciate job roles and tasks
associated with the job. Most importantly,
though, you will build up a repository
of basic skills required for any
professional job and potentially
develop a first expertise. This
will give you the edge recruiters
are after when hiring graduates
into top jobs.
For
example, in my case, I did not do
anything during the first four months
of vacation I had after my first
year of studies – what a big waste
of time it was, judging retrospectively.
Finishing the second year at WSB-NLU,
a lucky coincidence allowed me to
do some “mini”-internships starting
at a German waste management company
with 100 employees, followed by
a international retail bank and
then a Polish utility company. Each
of the internships had a duration
of about 2-3 weeks in total . I
quickly learned one thing about
each of the internships - I don’t
want to have anything to do with
banking, utilities or waste management.
That knowledge alone was enough
reason for me to start applying
for a longer term internship in
another industry – trying out something
new. After applying blindly for
more than 60 internships across
Europe, I finally managed to get
two interviews, one of which resulted
in a six months contract assisting
the CEO of a management consultancy
in Germany. As I learnt on my arrival
and first day there, it turned out
to be the largest human resource
management consultancy in Germany
(note: the lesson learned here is
that I should have targeted my job
hunt a lot more during my research
of the company I wanted to work
for – this way I could have avoided
some 40 out of the 60 applications).
This
internship, and another one at a
global software house in Germany,
gave me close to one- year’s professional
experience by the time I had finished
my bachelor degree ; I knew of several
industries I didn’t want to work
in; and I found one that was appealing
and interesting to me – professional
services, specifically management
consulting. The opportunity to write
my bachelor thesis in a professional
context and increasing my overall
grade was an additional bonus I
received from the work experience.
I
continued to study in Australia
and completed a Masters from Melbourne-based
Monash University, the country’s
largest University and Asia-wide
top-ranking in International Business.
During my studies I worked part-time
for the very same s oftware house
I completed my last internship in.
I confirmed my interest to work
in this country for this company
and in the role as Business Consultant.
So
you see that trying out until you
find something good is essential.
The earlier you start the better
for you in the long-term. Doing
internships throughout your studies
minimises the stress you might experience
after you complete your degree when
looking for a job. It’s important
to utilise the time you have at
university and particularly in between
semesters to find out about yourself,
find a profession you would like
doing and that you would be good
in. Experiencing the p ros and c
ons of a particular job/ industry/
place of work first hand is always
better than being told and finding
out retrospectively. The more diverse
work experience you collect throughout
your studies, the more you’ll be
able to appreciate different job
roles and descriptions, which in
turn will help you to avoid the
wrong employer or job in the first
place when you apply for employment.
- Try
various Industries – there
is many industries – try to get
to know them
- Different
Departments – try to
work in different divisions of
a company with different people
to get a taste of what people
do differently and what say they
have in the organization
- Start
early – the earlier throughout
your studies you start the more
experience you can gain before
you finish your studies – this
will benefit yourself in the long-run,
i.e. you become more attractive
to potential employers
- Pay
– most internships don’t
pay well, some don’t pay at all.
Some will pay you if you do a
good job. Remember, it’s not the
money that counts here, but the
experience you gain from doing
the job and the ability to position
yourself better in the future
In
the next article we will look into
the topic of how to read and interpret
diverse job roles/ descriptions
and their requirements towards you.
This will help you to focus your
job hunt and avoid the common pitfalls
that lead to disappointment and
frustration.
