In a competitive jobs market, employers are looking for candidates with well-developed transferrable skills that they’ve gained from a wide range of extracurricular activities and work experience. Seeking out or making the most of opportunities to develop your skills and experience employers want in the workplace will help your CV and employability.
Luckily, we have our Careers & Employability team on hand to help you take advantage of everything that BU has to offer and get your future off to the best possible start!
Tip 1: Get to know the careers team at BU!
The Careers & Employability team is made up of Careers Advisors, faculty-based Placement Coordinators and Placement Development Advisors - and there’s loads we can help you with!
Whether you’re in your first year, looking for a placement or recently graduated we can offer advice, tips and resources to help make yourself as employable as possible. We offer appointments with a careers advisor via Skype, phone or in person, and you can book these on MyCareerHub.
We also have a team who work with employers to arrange workshops and events on campus, as well as to share the latest news and information on social media @BUcareersweb and our careers portal ‘MyCareerHub’.
Tip 2: Gain practical work experience
We know it’s not always easy to get experience in your field, but there are lots of things you can do to develop transferable skills such as leadership and communication skills.
We advertise a range of jobs and volunteering activities on MyCareerHub which can help give you that essential work experience during your studies, as well as graduate opportunities. This could be part-time work on campus such as a Student Ambassador, Res Life Resident Assistant or PAL Leader, part-time work in the local area or short term work opportunities like the Santander Internship Scheme.
If you struggle to find time during term-time, why not try and get some work experience over the vacation periods.
Pop in to our Careers Centre (outside the library on Talbot Campus) to pick up a ‘Finding Work Locally’ handout or chat to the team.
Tip 3: Raise your profile
As a BU student you can become a student member of the Institute of Directors for free (yes, free!). This will keep you up to date with the world of business and provide access to loads of great resources.
We also strongly advise creating and developing a LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is a really great way to show yourself off to employers as well as search for employers you are interested in. Ask your peers to share references about your contributions to projects or group work to build up your network and profile.
Tip 4: Think outside of your course
SUBU have loads of clubs and societies and getting involved with one of them will really help develop transferrable skills. Whether you want to do something sporty or social there are so many to choose from! There are also special interest clubs and societies and SUBU are developing a range of Academic Societies so you can explore issues and topics more aligned to your studies.
And the best thing… if there isn’t currently a club or society to suit you, all you need to do is get a small group together to set up your own!
Find out more
You can access all of our services via MyCareerHub and stay up to date by following us on Twitter: @BUcareersweb. If you’d like to talk to us in person, you can find us at the Careers Centre (outside the library, Talbot Campus). Additionally, you can email us at [email protected].
