Competition is very high in today’s job market, getting a degree is no longer good enough in its singularity, employers now prefer and sometimes even require you to have obtained some type of work experience in their sector, either before or during university. Experience thus builds up your CV, and allows you to stand out from other applicants for future careers, which is important if you are narrowed down to the final few for a job. There are many benefits of gaining work experience in preparing you for your future career, whether that making sure you want to go into this specific field professionally, or whether it is equipping you with the essential skills you will need for a graduate job.
Unlike part-time or full-time employment that you may of experienced earlier in your university life or before you even arrived at university, graduate jobs are more academically stimulating as well as being a lot more serious. Therefore, there are Essential skills employers are looking for that you need to practice before you apply for these, which can be found through work experience. These skills are to the likes of punctuality, responsibility, team work and time management, which can be developed through strictness on arrival time, presentations with team members, as well as working individually. Work experience demonstrates to an employer that you can be consistent in these skills which are required for the professional workplace, especially when it comes to dealing with a variety of people in the correct manner; also, Its shows employers that you can work hard and are serious about your career by showing that you can work on real-time issues and challenges.
As introduced above, future employers are more likely to give you an interview if you have experience in their field, this is because references from such work experience imply that you are a trustworthy and reliable candidate for their job role; they are used as good proof of the things you say about yourself in your CV.
Work experience also helps you establish contacts; building up your CV with references from big or reliable clients allows you to increase your job options when graduating from university. Many companies offer internships with a ‘Sim Only Deals’ note, what this means is that if you impress the company during your internship, there is a change they could permanently hire you after you’ve graduated university, which is a tremendous weight lifted off your shoulders at graduation! This is enhanced if you secure yourself multiple internships before and during your final year at university, as you could possibly have a choice of many eligible jobs after graduation.
