Experience isn't all work

There can be many reasons why some graduates seem to step into graduate jobs while others can take years to settle down, but one of the main ones is experience, or the lack of it. Unless your course includes work placements, it's unlikely you'll have enough experience to demonstate to an employer without gradually building it through part-time work, volunteering or active involvement in a club or society.

Whilst student jobs are a great source of work experience, opportunities to learn and demonstrate graduate qualities can be thin on the ground in basic occupations to earn cash. Employers increasingly talk about values, as well as skills, when recruiting. What they want to know is what makes you tick? What makes you enthusiastic? Are you a team player, or do you have leadership potential? What are your creative abilities?

Running or contributing to group activities will help you find your own voice, learn about yourself, increase your confidence and develop your networks of contacts and friends whilst acquiring new skills vital in your later graduate work.

Student Societies

Getting involved in one or more student societies can make a serious contribution towards your graduate employability, which employers value highly when done convincingly. There are numerous clubs and societies run as part of the Union of UEA Students. Actively participating in most of these will will help build your skillset, your character and your CV, but some are more explicitly involved in promoting relationships with employers:

• Bright Futures Society
• Law Society
• European Law Students' Association (ELSA)
• Young Entrepreneurs Society (YES)
• Management Society
• Accounting Society 
• Economics Society

The Union suggests a wide range of ways to Get Involved! with campus life, but there are also choirs to sing in, languages to learn, and any number of academic and social events to participate in.

Beyond Campus

As encompassing as student life can be, employers also value graduates who are grounded and involved in the 'real world' beyond university life. Being able to demonstrate a genuine commitment and contribution to a non-university activity will stand you in good stead, either as a complement or alternative to campus experience. Examples could be sporting or outdoor activities, artistic or creative projects, volunteering, challenging travel, meaningful gap years, etc. If you have other commitments, such as caring for a family, these can be used creatively as evidence of wider skills, such as time management.

Whatever you're involved in, look for ways to add substantive value so that you have concrete evidence to demonstrate the value you might bring to an employer.