In Dicken’s tale, A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve: the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Future. This got me thinking about what the Ghost of Christmas Future would show you if he were to call this Christmas Eve.
Perhaps, he would show you in the job of your dreams, confident that your career was off to a good start; or alternatively he would show you going from employer to employer submitting applications forms without any real belief you would land a job.
The good news is that there is still plenty of time – getting a job is a long process; one which the sooner you start, the more likely you are to find something when you leave University.
So here are our top tips for you to start planning your future:
- Do an internship during the Christmas and summer holidays.
- Talk to friends, family, anyone to see if you can shadow them in their jobs for a day, week, month. Any different experience is useful.
- If you are not working over the holiday period – do some work with a charity for free (this will be a good way to demonstrate drive, relationship building, organisation and planning).
- Login to www.linkedin.com a professional networking site. Join groups which are related to your chosen profession
- Make whatever work experience you have count, so volunteer for things and look for opportunities to demonstrate your competencies.
- Talk to family and friends about how they got started in their careers – some of the ideas or initiatives they have used might work for you.
- Ask your family and friends if they know of any books that have helped them in their career – then get a copy and read it.
- Finally, make sure you save some time to celebrate and have a fantastic Christmas Present!