Graduate as more than just another Graduate

Now is the time of year when people start looking forward to the start of their university careers, while those who are nearing the end of their courses are looking forward to commencing their careers in earnest.

There was an interesting post on Su Butchers excellent justpractising blog from a student starting his degree who was worried that there would not be an opportunity at the end of it. I responded and it also sparked a conversation within the Calibre office; what makes the best Graduates we’ve spoken to over the years, the best?

We came to a number of conclusions and wonder if there is anything else that you would add to the list?

• Has not necessarily got a First class honours, but got a first class attitude
• A passion for the subject and knowledge of the wider issues around it
• Being comfortable talking about what they done and their reasons for taking that subject.
• Can demonstrate social skills; they make the interviewer think that they will be able to do the job well, but also interact with the team.
• Having a career plan beyond “get a job”, “work for the industry leader” or “do something in sustainability/cutting edge/world changing” but with no substance of what or how.

Looking at this list some aspects can be learnt, while others can be developed from your existing skill set. One thing is sure; while you are completing your course you can be effectively working to enhance your career prospects and more than likely benefiting your studies too.

As someone starting or part way through your degree you are in a great position to prepare yourself for getting in to a top graduate role; notice our first point was not necessarily having a First. While it is easy to think you have other things to do right now and time before you need to think about it, the steps to ensure you are ahead of your peers are simple, but will take time for you to benefit:

• Look for, and take, any opportunity to get industry related experience during your course, not just during your placement – doubly important if your course does not have one.
• Attend CPD (Continued Professional Development) seminars ran by your professional body outside of lectures, partly for the information, but also to get in contact with people who are in the trade and of influence.
• Emphasise your desire to learn the basics in a live environment when talking with people in industry. University will give you them in a teaching one, but the first thing that most Graduates find in their role is that there is a lot of difference between doing a project in class to one in practice!
• Get involved with LinkedIn groups; it will boost your knowledge and expand your contact base and therefore chances of getting opportunities that others won’t even know about.
• Learn about the wider world, read beyond the university texts (Twitter is fantastic for this) and maybe start a blog; you could post about your learning process, trends that you see within industry and ideas that you have.

If you want a good example of the above, visit this website and blog: http://www.concretegeek.co.uk/. I came across Charlotte on Twitter and we’ve had a few conversations around the blogs that she has posted on her area of expertise and also thoughts about issues around engineering. Her website is well thought out, brilliantly presented and has a feel of maturity about it; it obviously was not put together a couple of weeks ago as part of a frenzied “I’m graduating in a month and need to get something on the web now” process; I’d guess it has been given a couple of evolutions, a lot of consideration and thought over time.

Her blog posts are well written, thoughtful and show consistency. Similarly on Twitter, Charlotte comes over as professional, conversational and knowledgeable. She is also organising CPD events for the IStructE within her university while as you would expect she has an up to date LinkedIn profile.

If you are studying think about how easy Charlotte will find it to write her CV when looking for work because she has been doing all of the above. If you are an employer you may actually wonder if she’ll need one or just take the suggestion that people look up “Concrete Geek” on the web…

The thing with the ideas above is that they will build your knowledge and profile to the outside world and take you beyond being just another Graduate, which is just what Charlotte has achieved. While going through that process she has created and demonstrated a profile of someone who has really thought about what they are doing, where they are going and want to do. More importantly, it will have given her access to people who can, and will, help her down the line.

As a final thought, if you are entering year one or are near the start of your course and concerned about the future, don’t be. You have a few years to go and in that time the work situation will change while industry will have adjusted to the new economic climate. That means that the world will be a different place to what it is now (for better and hopefully not worse!) and you will have best prepared yourself for it.

Best of luck and enjoy! If you can would like to add any thoughts, comments or advice please feel free to add them below and broaden out the discussion.

It’s pantomime season so – 2011 “it’s behind you”!

So we come to the close of another year and the start of pantomime season. It is also when the traditional media round up of  “the best of 2011”,” What have you achieved in 2011” and “What made 2011 memorable” etc. begins.

I’m a traditional kind of person so I thought it would be a good time to share pieces of advice which seem to be “Keys to Success” when planning ahead.

Key 1: “Don’t look back, you’re not travelling that way”. For many, 2011 has been tough but if you only take negatives away from this year, it will more than likely get you off to a bad start for the next.

Key 2: “Have a mix of goals, not just the things you want to do”. Choose some for work , home, family and the community at large.

Key 3: “Share them and make them public”. Two reasons for this; firstly, you are making a commitment to yourself by writing them while cementing that commitment by announcing it to others who are involved and able to help. Secondly, by telling someone about your goals, you are giving them consent to ask you for a progress report…

So to help me fulfil Key 3 (who said blogging is altruistic?!), here are my objectives for 2012:

Career objectives – My primary area of recruiting is within the building services sector of construction (heating, ventilation, air conditioning and Public Health as well as electrical systems in buildings). I’ve been in enforced exile due to changing roles that will be over at the end of January. My objective is simple; let everyone know that I’m back and re-establish myself within the region.

This year Calibre is going to be volunteering in schools to help promote the industries we serve (marketing, civil & structural, HVACR maintenance and building services engineering). We need to find out what we can do, who for and when.

Family and home – My daughter Anna is now nearly 5 and settling well at school so my goal is to support her and ensure that her confidence and knowledge of the world grows by showing her what is out there for her to enjoy. With the house, big projects for this year are raised vegetable beds in the garden, to be built, filled and planted. That means this particular job has to be off the list by the end of March. There is also painting the wooden fence before the garden wakes from its winter slumber and covers it up – lets hope for some dry days in Spring…

Interests – On my LinkedIn profile and Twitter bio I mention that I’m a biker. I will be doing the Royal British Legion Riders 1000 where the aim is to travel 1000 miles in a day raising funds for the Legion. I still need to persuade my wife that I am neither mad or worth divorcing for wanting to do it.

I guess that means that I am now committed!

I’d love to know what your plans are 2012 and how you plan to make it a great year. Please leave a comment below and fulfil your own Key 3!