Lesson 19 - Getting a job

Northcliffe House - my workplace from September!

So here it is. My blog is 1 year old today, and if you read the very first entry you will see that I aimed to share my student lessons through my final year of university, with the hope that by the time my blog reached 1 year old, I would have found myself a job. Well, I’m pleased to report that I fulfilled my aim of finding employment and was offered a position at The Independent on Thursday 18^th August. HOORAY!

While this blog entry is called “getting a job”, I’m afraid I can’t offer anything but vague advice from lessons I learnt on my job hunt. I’d love to have come up with a magic spell that will make employers instantly want to take you on, but I’m still working on that.

Above all, I would say that making valuable use of your university years is crucial to making your CV stand out from a pile of generic others. If you can show that you have done stuff other than your degree and sitting in the pub then you’re onto a bit of a winner. Being a part of clubs and societies proves you can work well in a team as well as strive for success. Essentially, it demonstrates to a potential employer that you’re not what is sometimes portrayed in the media: a lazy student.

On the actual job hunt, use every resource available to you – university careers advice, job websites, recruitment agencies (that’s what I did) and, in this day and age, having contacts in any sector applicable to your skills can be the key to success. Unfortunately, if you really want a job, you can’t afford to be too picky either. Apply for anything and everything that you think you could turn your hand to. The job market should pick up in a few years, so doing a job that isn’t your dream until that time comes ensures that you are gaining valuable real-world experience as well as earning money.

If you get to that crucial interview stage, make sure you know your CV inside out. If an interviewer asks you about any aspect of your CV, you should be able to talk about it with confidence. After all, if you don’t know this stuff about yourself, how can they ever expect you to pay attention to detail in the workplace? Be confident about your abilities and make sure you can justify everything you say.

Unfortunately, a lot of the current job market comes down to luck. If you are more than qualified for a job, but another candidate has an edge on you, it doesn’t mean you are completely unemployable. It just means that someone else was more suited to that particular job than you were. You’ve just got to trust that a job that you are suited to will come along eventually. Don’t lose faith with job rejections – focus on the positives, not the negatives, as cheesy as that sounds!

Lesson 18 - A guide to university vernacular

Your vocabulary at university will change. Even if you don't notice it, I promise you it will! So you don't get lost in a melee of new words, I've put together this teeny-weeny guide just for you.

Fresher - first year student
Lecture - a session lasting one or two hours in which a tutor talks about/explains a topic

Seminar - a group of 10-15 people in which you discuss the content of a lecture, guided by a tutor

Tutorial - a one-on-one session with you and a tutor, often to discuss essays in the lead up to a deadline

Standard - average, about par for the course

Down it fresher! - drink all of your remaining beverage in one, first year student

Banter - something which is funny, often owing to the fact that it pokes fun at someone

LAD - a person who acts with "laddish behaviour" ie watches sport, downs pints. See the website truelad.com for further information on what constitutes being a LAD

Winner - something that is good, and makes you a champion of life

Living the dream - being on top of the world; at the stage of bliss where you're not sure if life gets better

Doing a TFS - going out on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday night in one weekend

Vegging out - doing nothing apart from sitting on the sofa/in bed and probably watching copious amounts of Come Dine with Me

Battered/trollied/carparked/wasted - drunk

SU - Student Union, sometimes used to refer to the Union bar

Initiations - AVOID. They're often against Union law and are designed, mostly, to make you vomit

Chundering/hurling/vomming - being sick

Rah - daddy owns a couple of boats, aforementioned "rah" is kitted out in Jack Wills and spends money like water. See the characters of Made in Chelsea for more, also check out the Gap Yah video on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKFjWR7X5dU. It's got nearly 4 million views for a reason!

Lesson 17 - Freshers' week small talk

You'll talk to a LOT of people in your first few weeks at uni. To make an impression, you need to perfect the art of small talk. 

In case you're in any doubt as to where to start, here are my stock questions for small talk/introductions.

THE BASICS

What's your name?

Where do you come from?

What course do you do?

THE UNI-RELATED QUESTIONS

What halls are you in?

What have you been to/going to in freshers' week?

What societies have you joined/will you be joining?

How are you finding uni so far?

THE ABJECT DESPERATION QUESTIONS

Have you come straight from school or did you have a gap year?

What's your timetable like?

Obviously, some of these questions are weaker than others. Just relax, go with the flow and if you clearly don't click, make your excuses and leave. There are plenty more people to talk to, why waste your time on someone who will only depress/annoy/anger you? Some of the questions will inevitably lead to you discovering that it is a really small world out there. For instance, a guy on my course who has now become one of my best mates from uni, lives just up the road from me. I'm talking scarily close - but I'd never met him before uni. As well as this, when talk between my new flatmate and I turned to our home county of Kent, it transpired that he had attended the same foam party as I had just the previous week. (Stop judging me for going to a foam party, you cheeky so and so).

If you get to the stage of adding people on that social menace we all love to hate, Facebook, the "mutual friends" feature can also throw up some scary social connections. Who knew that an old friend of mine from school was good friends at university with one of my housemate's best friends from home until the Facebook feature told us so? 

The seven degrees of separation really must exist...

Lesson 16 - choosing the perfect graduation outfit

If you've made it all the way to graduation - congratulations! While graduation day is one of the best in your young life, the lead up to it can be super stressful. You have to sort accommodation, tickets for your parents, whether it's appropriate to invite your nan/auntie/cousin/nephew and, not forgetting, your academic dress!

Graduation is really formal, and if you'reanything like me, knowing you're going to have to look smart is a nightmare of gargantuan proportions. Somehow, I managed to pull it off, and I watched an awful lot of graduation ceremonies with a variety of outfits going on. So ladies and gents, it's time to get your wallet out and start taking notes on what to wear...

No matter what gender you are, make sure you check the colour of your gown and the colour of your sash. No one likes a red/pink colour clash. That's just not cool. The colour of your sash is particularly pertinent when it comes to the finer details of your outfit. For the ladies; this means accessories such as earrings & hair bits. Gents: I'm talking tie colour.

You've also got to check what colour your gown is. If you've got a grey gown, a grey skirt/trousers will leave you looking on the wrong side of "thunderstorn cloud". My advice: no matter what colour your gown - ladies should go for a blouse/black skirt combo, and gents should stick to a classic suit. Do NOT try and wear your suit jacket underneath your gown. You will look like you have massive shoulders but in a "chubby chubster" way, not a "I've been working out" way. 

Some ladies do opt for a dress, but this can either be really right or really wrong. A pattered blue dress under a navy gown: right. A bright red minidress: wrong, wrong, wrong! Vis a vis shoes - make them match your outfit and make sure they aren't ones that you're going to topple over in as you shake the Chancellor's hand. You do not want to be THAT girl.

Being the helpful student blogger I am, I've found three blouses for you, suiting three different budgets. You can thank me later. 

SKINT - Matalan £8.00

STUDENT LOAN - Topshop £18.00

SHOPAHOLIC - Whistles £110.00