Graduates Turning To Extra Curricular Activities To Boost Employability

With a global recession going on, it is no longer a sure thing to get a degree, get a job, and be set for life. There are more and more students vying for fewer and fewer jobs. It is important to get real life skills that apply to jobs, and students are now taking this into their own hands.

Undergraduates at university have always been involved in extra curricular activities, but now they are using these activities to gain marketable skills. By creating student run organizations, undergrads are teaching themselves management skills that can be hard to come by at a young age.

While the extra curricular activities may not be the job a student intends to get after college, they can offer a ticket to a desired job. These activities can help students learn networking, confidence, social skills and technical abilities.

These student run activities also show potential employers that these kids have ambition and the drive to be self starters. Companies are no longer looking for a cog to fit into the corporate machine, they are looking for ingenuity and creativity. Signing up at the career canter for work experience does not look the same on a CV that creating your own job opportunity does.

Students are beginning to help one another instead of rely on career fairs and advisors to give them job advice. Students helping each other fosters teamwork, problem solving and communication. All of these are skills that employers are looking for.

Extra qualifications beyond a degree will give a prospective employee a good edge, especially if they are looking for work in the major cities looking for graduate jobs london or manchester for example . Students are even organizing their own career fairs with large companies to show off their skills. These fairs also allow students to make valuable contacts before they even leave the university.

Meeting employers face to face allows students to show their skills rather than just writing them in a resume. Being a self starter allows these students to branch out beyond just academic knowledge and show what they can really offer to a company.

It is important for students to be proactive about their own job skills training in such a competitive environment. Student run programs can sometimes get bogged down with such a high turnover rate that can stall things from going forward. That aside, students are taking more and more control of their own futures by creating and participating in more and more extra curricular activities.

The national council for work experience and the prospects.ac.uk websites have in depth resources to help you find the perfect placement or extra curricular experience to add to your CV.

The Smart Student Finance Guide

Leaving home for the very first time brings more than just the long awaited freedom: there are now books to read and study papers to draft, classes to attend and schedules to keep. In addition, for the very first time the average student will come face to face with the bills that need to be paid for everyday commodities such as rent, electricity, and laundry. Students who may have looked forward to university, but might not have considered the intricacies of fiscal responsibility, will benefit greatly from the five steps that will help with becoming money smart quickly and easily.

1. Open a student bank account that meets all of your need at the minimum costs possible. You may want to favor one bank over another because of the freebies that are used as incentives for university students bringing their business there, but no CD or cinema ticket is worth the cost of an account that gradually eats away at the value of free items with fees and costs of doing business. On the other hand, some incentives – when coupled with advantageous student account terms – make for attractive and money saving offers.

2. Work on your budget. Know how much money you will receive on a monthly basis and then set up a list of all expenses. Your expenses cannot be more than your incoming funds, and it is important to make the budget and then follow it. Online budget planners are a good way of inputting schedules for paying your tuition fees and also rent and other expenses. This prevents any last minute surprises and will not catch you halfway through the month with no money left.

3. Find a job. Even as your primary job is getting a good university education, a secondary job that brings in money is oftentimes the only way to make ends meet. In addition to helping with defraying some of the costs you incur during your education, you are gain valuable work experience and references, which will come in very handy after graduation.

4. Open a savings account to help with the big ticket expenses. Payments on your student loan will come due thrice in a year, and having this much money in you main operating account might tempt you to buy things you really should not spend any money on. A secondary savings account will put the money out of harm’s way, let it earn some interest, and allow you to contribute to it at regular intervals. When the student fee payment comes due, you do not have to scramble but have your funds ready.

5. Save money in the right places. Second hand buying is synonymous with student living, and skimping in the right places can save you substantial sums of money. Books almost always can be had second hand, and the same is true for a bike and basic appliances. Always check for deals at the grocery store, and make use of group discounts at clubs and other venues.

Welcome to graduate finance

Welcome to graduate finance, your guide to all things important to recent graduates.