To finish off my blog series on Life After Graduation this is a post for those of you who are still at uni and are starting to realise that one day soon, you too will graduate and join The Real World. It's also for those of you who have just graduated and don't realise that the job you worked at uni could well be the springboard to launch your future career from.
As I've mentioned in my previous posts I worked throughout my time at uni, but I actually got my first job at 16 waitressing. I didn't do it for very long and I wasn't that great at it, but it was a valuable start to the world of work.
When I first went to uni I spent my holidays working at a local riding stables which did carriage rides at Center Parcs. I got the job because of my experience with carriage driving and it suited me pretty well. The hours were long, the weather was rubbish (anyone who has ever set foot in Center Parcs at Longleat in the winter will tell you that it is extremely cold there) and like all jobs working with horses, it was hard work. Their busiest season was Christmas where I spent most of my time dressed as an elf. Yep an actual elf, or occasionally making a brief appearance as Santa. The kids absolutely loved it and they ALL always called me 'Mrs Elf' unprompted by anyone. Where do they learn to do this? I felt like the Trunchball from Matilda and wanted to scream, why is this elf married?!! My family like to remind me of it a lot.
But do you know what? Although the pay wasn't amazing (not to mention the extremely glamorous outfit), the long hours meant I wracked up enough money to make it worth my while. The hours were flexible and they mostly needed me during the weekends and holidays which suited me perfectly. So although it wasn't the dream job it paid enough to get by.
I used the experience to gain my next job which I worked at for the final two years of my degree (which included my masters year). The hours were still flexible, the pay was better but the job was harder work.
So if you're at uni now, my advise would be to seriously consider getting a job. If you've left uni and you had a job while you were there then these are the reasons you can use to work it to your advantage to find your first role after you graduate.
1. You have to learn to balance your priorities
I usually worked 16 hours a week for my final two years at uni, which consisted of two 8 hours shifts on the weekend. I switched between working early and late shifts. Some months I did more hours, some months less depending on what was going on.
I can already hear the chorus of students claiming they don't have time for that. Now fair enough if you're studying a contact heavy subject at a hardcore uni (I'm talking medicine at Oxbridge) then maybe you don't have time. But if like the rest of us you have a chunk of free time in your week (yes that includes weekends) then you do have time.
Before anyone comments that I did a doss subject at a crap uni let me fill you in on my degree. I did an integrated masters at the University of Southampton in Geology and graduated with a 2:1. Jared did the same in Marine Biology and worked roughly the same amount of hours as me and got a first. Southampton's Ocean and Earth Science department is one of the very best in the UK (not to mention the entire world) and is a leading research institution that sets very high standards for its students. I had around 25 hours of contact time per week throughout my degree but as standard my friends and I were at uni from 9-5. Plus an hour each way commute as our campus is the other side of the city. I'm not trying to make myself sound like the most accomplished person ever (I'm very far from it), but I just want to prove that it is possible for a lot of students at uni to work and study at the same time.
But you do have to be organised and prepared to work hard, play hard. If you've got a deadline coming up on Monday and you're working this weekend then you'll have to get the essay done by Friday. If you've got a social event coming up and you're working then you'll have to get your deadlines done AND arrange your shifts so that you can do all of it.
Why is this important? Because it's preparing you for the real world where work is non negotiable and has to be prioritised else you will no longer have a job. You can't decide you're not working because there's a party you want to go to, or because you're too tired today. You have to roll up your sleeves and get it done.
If you can manage doing this at uni, then you'll find a 'grown up job' a walk in the park.
2. Working isn't so hard after all
Is it just me or when you were a kid and you saw adults on TV working you just thought that they magically knew how to be a secretary or an accountant? You saw the adults around you doing their adult jobs and thought quietly to yourself 'but I don't know how to do that', it must be something you learn when you grow up'.
Well you're at uni, you are a grown up. The secret truth is that for a lot of people, working is not as hard as being at uni. At uni you are expected to direct your own learning with minimal support. Sure you have a tutor who you either haven't seen since your first semester as a fresher or doesn't even know who you are. Your lecturers throw around complex terms and if you don't understand a concept you have to figure it out on your own or you'll fall behind.
Work is different. For a lot of roles you will receive on the job training and will likely be mentored to someone who will teach you. At first it will seem complex and scary but few entry level jobs are. That's why they're entry level. Once you've been doing it a little while you will soon get to grips with it. I find is so strange that so many people my age are desperate to 'stay in education forever because the real world is scary'. Of course it is, all change is scary. But it'll be scary for a few weeks tops and then you'll be ok. It really isn't so bad after all. If you can get over that and realise that you can learn a job just like every other grown up in the world while you're still at uni, you won't be paralysed with the fear of the unknown that grips so many graduates. You'll be the one grabbing a new opportunity because you're fairly certain you'll figure it out.
3. Keeping your finances healthy
Being a student is basically another way of saying you're poor. Even if your parents help you out chances are you still have just enough to get by. I'm from a low income background so I qualified for the maximum grant/loan but even that is only around £7,000 a year. When your rent plus bills (in a small, very reasonably priced but nice-ish for student standards shared house in Southampton) is £4,800 a year it doesn't leave you much to live on. My parents could not in anyway afford to support me so having a job was essential if I wanted to have enough money to live on, let alone do fun things, like everyone else.
I wasn't as financially disciplined then as I am now and anything I earnt that was extra to what I needed to live off I spent on fun things. Mostly holidays, but also compulsory field trips as our living costs weren't covered by the uni or sometimes the trip itself was only partially paid for and we had to cough up the rest. For example, my six week mapping trip to the Isle of Skye which we only had a £500 contribution towards. Our accommodation alone cost £600 and we had to cover all the additional kit, travel and living costs ourselves. I bought a £200 pair of walking boots for this trip on the advice of my mapping supervisor and it was some of the best money I've ever spent. Everyone else had wet feet for the whole six weeks and mine were warm and dry. I could never have afforded that without my job. I had to work some extra shifts to earn them but it was worth the small amount of effort for six weeks of comfort. Plus I still have them now.
Even though I spent most of the money I earned, having a job crucially stopped me having to rely on an overdraft. My friends mocked me because they told me an overdraft was 'free money' which you don't have to pay back until after you graduate. I'm so glad I ignored them and refused to ask my bank for one. A year after graduating I know so many graduates who are no closer to paying off their overdrafts than when they wracked up the debt in the first place.
Even for those that have a job, their pay cheque often only takes them to £0 each month and then all the money they spend waiting for their next pay day just sinks them back into the depths of their overdraft. In short, overdrafts are really hard to climb out of. And the bank don't let you have that overdraft for free forever. As soon as you graduate the clock is ticking for when you have to pay it back, and overdraft charges can soon start to mount up making it even harder to claw your way out.
Having a job at uni kept me debt free (besides my student loans of course, but they're not the same kind of debt) for four years. When I graduated I actually had some savings (as I had been too busy with work and uni to spend as much money) which I spent on this year's trip to Norway.
On top of that, earning your own money makes you really think about how much things cost. When I wanted those walking boots all I could think about was how many shifts I would need to do to earn them and whether or not it was worth it. In that case it absolutely was, but I shudder to think now at how much money I've wasted on crap clothes I don't wear anymore over the years.
When you start looking at a top in terms of 'I'll have to work this many hours to afford it' it gets a lot easier to put it back on the rail. Learning to do that is the secret to financial success for the rest of your life.
4. Gaining new skills
This is probably the most important one of all. For one thing if you've already held down a job before you REALLY need one in the big wide world, you're already a better bet to an employer with a shed load of CV's from graduates that are hard to separate by their academic ability alone.
You've already proved you're reliable by holding down the job for whatever period of time. You've also proved that you're hard working. I've never had an interviewer fail to be impressed that I held down a job and studied for my masters degree at the same time. But mostly you've proved that you're determined enough to do what it takes to get the job done.
As I mentioned above, working alongside studying does not come without a certain amount of sacrifice. You can't go on every single night out. You can't always see your friends at the weekend because you're working. But employers don't care about your social life (much). They will be impressed you were strong enough to prioritise working over partying and lazing about watching Netflix marathons with your mates. It shows a certain amount of resourcefulness that you were able to juggle all the balls without dropping them, because you found a way.
On top of that are the skills you gained within your actual role. Perhaps you worked in a customer service role and have handled irate customers and solved their complaints. Maybe you answered the phone and can talk to people calmly and professionally (essential for almost all roles and a skill a lot of people our age lack thanks to our love of texting). Perhaps your work involved helping others and your empathy shines through when you talk about it. One friend of mine worked at McDonalds. A job many people would consider to be shameful to put on your CV. She didn't think so though, she always talked about how she was in a leadership position and her job was to train new members of staff. She emphasized the importance of food safety and ensuring that all of her staff adhered to this. Funnily enough she found a job straight out of uni.
5. Confidence in yourself
There is something to be said for knowing you can do something well. Once you've been working somewhere a while and you know the ropes it can be an enormous boost for your confidence. A problem comes up and you know how to solve it because you've handled it before. Or you know who to ask to help you sort it out. You handle a tricky client's complaint and get it fixed for them. You go home at the end of your shift knowing your hard work made a small, but positive difference to someone's life.
This confidence that you know how to handle a real life job starts to bleed into other areas of your life. Handling new software at uni? Ok it'll be difficult to start with but you'll get to grips with it. Doing group work with someone who is notoriously lazy? No problem, they can't be any more challenging than so-and-so that you work with.
But when this all really comes into its own is when you graduate. Your pals are all running around like headless chickens at the mere thought of getting a job, while you are calmly browsing Indeed for something you reckon you can do. If your friends were honest they would tell you the thought of getting a job scares them because the unknown is frightening. If they were brave enough to tell you that, you could reassure them that you know it's scary, but they will soon adapt and you know this because you've done it before.
In summary, some of us have to work while we're at uni just to make ends meet. I was definitely in that category but I wanted some money to spend on fun things (mostly trips abroad) so I worked harder than I needed to just to get by. But for those of you who don't need the cash, you should still seriously consider getting a job while you're at uni. Even if it's only in the holidays (temping is great for this). There's a lot more to be gained than money.
Did you work while you were at uni? Or are you thinking perhaps you should? Let me know your experience!
Life After Graduation Blog Series
