Chickens and eggs

It's a common if painful scenario: graduate sees great job vacancy only to find employer wants relevant work experience, but how are they supposed to  get that experience except in the job?

Looking at lists of graduate destinations you'd be forgiven for wondering how some graduates (and not always the brightest ones at that) appear to leap straight from their degrees into fantastic graduate jobs seemingly without any ladders. Were they just lucky? Was it nepotism? Did they lie on their applications or just blagg their way in?

More often than not there's no mystery or conspiracy involved. In an employer's market, with dozens if not hundreds applying for each vacancy, each of which are scored against strict recruiting criteria, luck plays a diminishing role. Employers are fallible, but their aims are generally very similar: select the best candidates according to their potential, which generally can be best determined from the evidence they provide from their experience.

The secret those graduates have acquired is how to gain and use their work experience to first develop themselves, gain confidence and then prove their suitability for the job. Generally, they will have taken a giant run-up to their 'leap', one step at a time, in some cases starting before they arrived at university, but which can start at any stage.

Here's a fictional example which illustrates how experience can be broad and yet make strange sense as a progression from one stage to the next:

1. Shelf stacking in a shop during vacations.
2. Playing in a university sporting team.
3. Backpacking trip across Europe.
4. Actively helping to run a student writing society.
5. Term-time restaurant job, including taking bookings.
6. Occasional volunteering with disabled children for a local charity.
7. Summer work telephoning at a local office.
8. Academic project interviewing school governors.
9. Summer internship at a solicitor's practice.

One could imagine that graduate heading in a number of directions: a graduate internship in New York with a magazine; retail graduate training scheme; teacher training; social work; law conversion course, the list goes on. It doesn't matter exactly where they go, because their experience is sufficiently comprehensive, and sufficiently responsible by the time they graduated, that they could use it as evidence to demonstrate really valuable skills and qualities to a wide variety of employers.

Ten Tips to Gain and Use Work Experience

1. Research opportunities and the labour market through Employability.
2. Volunteer for a local cause via UEA Volunteers.
3. Join Student Union societies, clubs and sports and get involved in their organisation.
4. Network with colleagues, friends and relatives to find work experience opportunities.
5. Try to secure a formal internship or placement with Careers Centre advice.
6. Use our guidance appointments and other services to develop your self-awareness.
7. Pursue your interests and be alive to opportunities as many jobs aren't advertised.
8. Negotiate with your organisation to make your work experience reach its potential.
9. Highlight relevant experience gained of every variety in your CV and applications.
10. Update your CV and covering letters with our CV Clinic and Quick Query sessions.