How to prepare for upcoming career opportunities

Undergraduate Careers Coach, Giorgia McDonald, shares her tips on how to prepare for your upcoming opportunities in summer 2022.

Congratulations! You’re close to finishing your exams (or may have even finished them already!) and have some exciting plans for over the summer; whether this is a long and much deserved holiday, a summer internship, your year abroad (studying and/or working), your placement year or your Graduate role! Careers are really excited about whatever it is you have chosen to spend your summer doing, and have some tips on how to prepare for these opportunities.

Here are some super simple steps you can follow to really get ahead with your preparation for your upcoming opportunities:

Step 1: Networking

Have you ever walked in a room full of people that seem to know each other? Ever been daunted by the feeling of not knowing whether you’ll make friends or get along with your colleagues? I have! The start of a new role is daunting for so many reasons, but wanting to fit in and get along with your colleagues is one of the most daunting things for me. To combat this, I recommend you spend some time connecting with your future colleagues on LinkedIn and getting to know them. Not only will this help you when it comes to introducing yourself in person in the office, but will also help to organically and naturally build your professional network that will undoubtedly help you in future career planning – it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. This professional network could be the key to you securing your dream job after graduation.

Step 2: Commercial Awareness

Get up to date with your organisation, their competitors, and the challenges and opportunities facing them over the next couple of months. The company you are joining are aware of your skillset and knowledge base – that’s why they have hired you! But, wouldn’t it be great if you joined this role knowing just that little bit more than they thought and them being impressed by the effort you’ve gone to.

Step 3: Think about your development opportunities

Take some time to think about what you want to achieve as a result of these experiences.

• Do you want to develop a particular skill set?
• Do you want to identify your strengths?
• Do you want to get some experience in a particular job function or field?
• Do you want to gain insight into a potential career path?
• Do you want to ultimately identify the career path you want to take?

Whatever it is that you decide you want to develop as a result of this experience, make a list and always bear it in mind throughout these experiences. If you have a list of skills to tick off, get involved in areas throughout your experience that will help you to develop those skills.

Most importantly, HAVE FUN! You’ve worked incredibly hard over the past year and you deserve to take some time to rest and recover ready for the next academic year. Alongside thinking about how to maximise these opportunities, remember to take time for yourself.

For current WBS students, see more careers information here, don’t hesitate to reach out to us in WBS Careers for advice and support at any point during your degree, we are also open during the vacation periods too.