Let’s
look at such a transition
strategy from a 30,000 feet
perspective. Imagine that
you have a timeframe of,
let’s say, twelve months
to prepare for your transition.
If that is the case, you
should start writing first
job applications in months
one, two and three; attend
job interviews in the next
6 months and negotiate (if
you can) your job role,
responsibilities, salary,
fringe benefits and starting
date in month 10. That leaves
you the last two months
of your studies to focus
on your thesis (if you write
one) or any final examinations.
You
might think that twelve
months time is vastly exaggerated.
And yes – if you know exactly
what job you are after,
it probably is. However,
if you are not very experienced
or have still doubts about
what you would like to do,
the suggested twelve months
transition strategy is probably
good for you. Also take
into account that you don’t
know how long it will take
for a selected employer
to react to your application
(it can takes months). Trust
me that finding the job
of your dreams is not the
easiest or quickest task
to perform and you have
to start looking for it
early – get a feel of the
market, different employers,
geographic locations, maybe
even different countries.
The
benefit of starting early
is that you will have a
lot more choice, experience,
comparative knowledge and
you are more likely to sign
a job offer prior to the
completion of your studies.
This will give you something
most graduates only dream
of during the last months
of their studies - peace
of mind and the ability
to purely focus on their
studies.
In
my experience, studying
in Germany, Poland, the
USA and in Australia, most
students get quite anxious
and nervous towards the
end of their studies, especially
if they don’t know what
they are going to do after
they graduate. By preparing
yourself for this change
and developing a transition
strategy for those last,
but crucial, months of your
education, you can minimise
or even eliminate this distracting
feeling.
As
the last 2-3 months of your
studies tend to be extremely
dense in regards to workload,
it i s a good idea to plan
in some good and long vacation
after your studies. As you
most likely will have only
a limited amount of annual
leave once you commence
work, try to make this vacation
a special one. Don’t be
afraid to take two or even
three months off – it is
most probably going to be
your last chance to do so
for quite some time.
Depending
on where your job is going
to be located, geographically
speaking, you might even
plan in some time to search
for appropriate accommodation,
organising travel, moving
houses, translations, photocopies
of important documents (such
as transcripts/ diplomas),
and so on. You should also
check visa requirements,
local tax regulations, the
local law, etc. if you are
about to go abroad for a
job.
This
was the last of the six
articles in the series “Live
your Dreams”. All articles
can be found on my personal
webpage in the “publications”
section. Please feel free
to visit my page: www.victor-marz.com.
Also should you have any
feedback, ideas or questions
of any sort, please write
me on junkmail2@victor-marz.com. |