Guest Comment: Why working throughout my degree meant I got a great job when I graduated
In order to get an amazing job when you leave university, it's best to obtain professional work experience prior to completing your undergraduate degree, preferably at one company, and more than a year before you graduate.
Not only does this potentially allow you to gain a full-time position with the same firm, it also means you will stand out if you apply to other organisations. For example, in my final year I visited a university career fair and spoke with a Coca-Cola employee. Simply mentioning that I already had two years' experience at another corporation was enough to secure a telephone interview.
The company liked that I had worked in a professional role throughout my full-time studies. It showed I could manage my time, and it would save them time when it came to training me in corporate etiquette.
However, just before I left university I was offered a full-time job at the financial services institution where I'd previously been working. The firm had invested a lot of resources in me and in return I had learnt a lot about the business.
The knowledge and skills I gained throughout my work experience made me an asset to the company. Not only was I eventually offered this full-time role, I was promoted three times before I even officially graduated.
This is one of the benefits of gaining work experience throughout university. If you show your employer that you are a hard worker and that you understand the business, they will want to keep you. They will offer you a full-time position that sits above a graduate role in return for the hard work you have put in over the years.
In the accountancy field for example, most of your friends who did not gain work experience will start as graduate accountants, while you will graduate as an accountant or even a senior accountant.
But while the benefits of work experience are second to none, be sure that you balance your time between your studies and your work. The last thing you want is to have below average results from university and to become unattractive when applying for future jobs.
