How to get job experience before starting a role
If you are a recent graduate undertaking a job search, you will soon become familiar with current opportunities in the labour market. You will also come to appreciate that the majority of employers will be looking for candidates who have prior experience – whether that’s in a related or non-related field.
Whilst you may have had a paid part-time role or engaged in regular or one-off volunteering whilst you were a student, the 6 to 12 months following the end of your course will offer a valuable opportunity to continue to build on your experience.
Read our guide on how to get job experience before starting a graduate role.
Internships
As a student you may have applied to or secured an internship during your summer vacations, but some companies provide roles specifically for recent graduates before they secure a long-term or permanent position.
A graduate internship is a great way to build industry work experience, gain specific sector skills and to increase your network and, therefore contacts, in a particular industry. They tend to last between one and four months and are likely to be advertised by larger employers or corporations in industries such as finance, law, business, technology and engineering.
Virtual internships
An increasingly appealing option to gain work experience can be through virtual internships. These typically last a few days, presenting a great chance to build valuable skills, network with professionals in a specific organisation or sector, and to strengthen your CV and applications.
Typical activities might include employer talks providing insights into an organisation or sector, group networking online, individual or group job simulations, and/or a task or project worked on during the internship.
As with in-person internships, you will need to check your eligibility for a virtual internship on a case by case basis, with some targeted at current students, rather than a graduate audience.
Volunteering
Whilst you might be fortunate in securing an internship, which will typically be paid, volunteering can provide greater flexibility, especially if your graduate job search and applications are ongoing.
The flexibility offered by most volunteering will mean that, although you might be expected to commit for a minimum period of time, there is likely to be greater freedom when determining how many hours you want or are able to commit on a weekly basis. Volunteering will still afford valuable insights into different areas of work and might help to shape and inform your decision-making regarding your graduate job search and applications moving forward. You can explore a range of UK-based volunteering opportunities through the Doit.org website.
Work shadowing
Securing an opportunity to shadow a professional in a specific role gives a good short-term option to find out more about the nature of their work, their typical tasks and responsibilities, as well as the organisation they are employed by. Observing them in their day to day work will also enable you to consider whether their career role, organisation, and/or industry offers a good fit for you.
Work shadowing might vary in length, which can be determined by you or the professional you approach, but might range from one to a few days, depending on the variety of their work. Overall, this is a helpful route if you are keen to gain further insight into specific roles you are coming across through your graduate job search.
International travel
For some graduates, having committed three to four years to their studies, whilst they are considering their next steps they might embark on international travel. If this is an option you are considering then you don’t need to rule out the idea of building on your work experience whilst you are travelling, with many companies and charities providing work abroad experiences.
Examples of UK government-back schemes to build your experience include Care International, Engineers Without Borders, the International Citizen Service, Raleigh International, and Volunteer Service Abroad.
Depending on your destination and any visa requirements, there might also be the option to secure regular paid work in an area of your choice. You will need to familiarise yourself with any restrictions, depending on your age, nationality, your travel destination(s), and the type of work you are hoping to undertake.
Alternative ways to upskill yourself as a candidate
Whilst building your practical work experience and associated skills will strengthen your position as a candidate for graduate opportunities, there are other ways to continue to upskill yourself. For example, developing your knowledge and abilities through digital learning is a further way to highlight to prospective employers that you are self-motivated and committed to your ongoing professional development.
Online learning can vary from MOOCs (“massive open online courses”), including Future Learn and Coursera, to job simulations online through sites such as Forage, and from increasing your digital literacy through platforms such as Grow with Google to language learning through apps, such as Duolingo. Whilst some learning options might have a fee attached to them, many resources can be accessed for free, presenting a great opportunity to continue to add to your graduate skills whilst carrying out your job search and making applications.
Why is getting job experience important before starting a role?
In addition to showcasing and evidencing further skills and abilities as part of your graduate applications, getting job experience before starting a role has many other benefits. These might include:
- Allowing you to explore different work areas and organisations you might look to apply to in the future;
- Learning more about what you are looking for in a future work environment and culture by considering alignment with your values and motivations;
- Building your network to increase your reach through new contacts and signposting to opportunities;
- Having greater variety of knowledge and recent experience to draw on as part of recruitment processes, including at interview stage.
Overall, having some recent work experience you are able to draw on and discuss as part of your ongoing applications to secure a graduate role will be essential and, as outlined through our article, there are a number of flexible and varied routes to secure such experience.
Leave a Reply