So you鈥檝e just graduated and the job classifieds are looking a bit thin on the ground. Don鈥檛 panic! There are plenty of ways to make unemployment an enjoyment while seriously improving your career prospects.
Know thyself
Do some soul searching and honestly appraise your strengths and weaknesses, what skills you can offer an employer and what kind of work gets your juices flowing.
It鈥檚 good to talk
Talk to as many people as possible 鈥� recent graduates, your parents鈥� friends or the woman down the street who works as a forensic pathologist. They鈥檒l give you the warts-and-all lowdown on their career and quickly dispel any misplaced CSI-induced glamour.
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Nepotism is not a dirty word
Take full advantage of inside contacts. Everybody does, so don鈥檛 be shy.
Know your jobs
What do management consultants actually do, anyway? Use this time to really question what it is you want to do. Research the sector as well as specific roles, says Shelagh Green, director of the University of Edinburgh鈥檚 careers service. 鈥淕o behind the obvious 鈥� it鈥檚 too easy to read only the recruitment literature and a website.鈥�
Cherry-pick
Don鈥檛 adopt a scattergun approach to job hunting. Five well-researched applications a week are better than 20 poor ones.
Explore temporary measures
There鈥檚 a lot to be said for temping. OK, so data entry might not be the most inspiring of tasks, but it can be a way to get exposure to different types of organisations. And it will keep the beer fund going for another few months.
Beer pong 4 eva?
Becoming an eternal student may feel like a tempting fallback option but be warned: the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) says that postgraduate study isn鈥檛 high on most employers鈥� wish lists unless it鈥檚 directly applicable to your job. Postgraduate study can be rewarding, but examine your motives carefully.
Stand up to a dragon
One of the most successful business pitches in the Dragon鈥檚 Den was by a philosophy student and a mechanical engineering student. But if you have an idea that you鈥檇 rather not sell on national television, get involved with schemes such as the Flying Start programme from the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship. It aims to boost the number of sustainable graduate start-ups and also increase the number of graduates giving thought to setting up a business in the first place.
Do your bit for charity
Alexis Starkey of the British Heart Foundation says the organisation is always looking for people to help out: 鈥淚t can be a great way to meet new friends and acquire some different skills.鈥� There are a range of roles to explore, from window dresser to delivery driver.
Engineer a smug smile
AGR found that the number of jobs in the engineering sector is predicted to rise by 8 per cent in the coming year, whereas banks are expected to cut their employee vacancies by 28 per cent.
Know your entitlements
You may be entitled to claim Jobseeker鈥檚 Allowance to tide you over while you look for a job. Find out more at
Sort your finances
If you haven鈥檛 opened your bank statements for three years, now鈥檚 the time to break the habit and take a peek. Your student account will probably turn into a graduate account the month after you finish 鈥� with the interest-free portion of your overdraft shrinking over the next three years. Find an account that will give you the longest zero per cent overdraft facility and you鈥檙e laughing.
Join the community
Sign up to the mailing lists and newsletters aimed at the sector you want to get into. Insider knowledge will impress any interviewer.
Join a band鈥�
Or become a groupie. Either way, having a 鈥渟trong musical repertoire鈥� couldn鈥檛 hurt your CV.
鈥nd a sports team
Outside interests are valuable to employers. Taking on an organisational role such as league organiser or team treasurer will look even better.
Girls鈥� chance it like the boys
鈥淒on鈥檛 deselect yourself,鈥� says Rachael Morfill, a manager at National Grid. 鈥淲omen are less likely to apply for a job if they think they only have 8 out of 10 鈥榚ssential skills鈥� in the job description. Men are far more likely to apply with the attitude that they鈥檒l just wing it. Women would benefit from taking the same risk.鈥�
Join a cult
You鈥檒l be surrounded by like-minded people, and your employment woes will doubtless be eased by your free introductory brainwash.
Write a blog
Regular communication with the outside world can improve your writing skills and even make you money. See Matt Harding for inspiration 鈥� after filming himself dancing like a monkey with an inner-ear problem in front of famous monuments around the world, Stride Gum sponsored him to set off on another planet-girdling trip. See him dancing his simian socks off at
Move to Scotland
A survey of 250 companies by AGR published in February 2009 indicated a 14 per cent increase in the number of graduate jobs in Scotland over the last year.
Go back to school
Let鈥檚 face it 鈥� as long as there are kids to teach you鈥檒l always have a worthwhile job to consider. If you want to influence the next generation of scientists, then Teach First is a great place to start. Graduates get a six-week intense training course over the summer and are then placed in a 鈥渃hallenging鈥� school for two years. 鈥淲hat we highlight to applicants is that the resilience, transferable skills, creativity and presentational skills that you develop as a teacher are immensely valuable to businesses too,鈥� says Teach First spokeswoman Natalie Whitty. And don鈥檛 forget your 鈥済olden handshake鈥� 鈥� the government is now welcoming new teachers qualified in science, maths, technology and ICT with a 拢5000 payout.
Expand your mind
It may be hard to imagine right now, but watching reruns of American Idol will get boring 鈥� eventually. When it happens, take advantage of free lectures in your area instead. University College London offers to feed your mind at lunchtimes 鈥� recent talks have tackled questions such as what have lawyers ever done for us, the future of Brazil, and does rule-learning make us human?
Be the best
Consider joining the Territorial Army or the Royal Naval Reserves. You give them a few weekends a year and they train and pay you, but you have to agree to a six month stint should they need you. It鈥檚 a great way to find out what a military career could be like without signing years of your life away.
Save the world
Want to travel but scared that employers will interpret six months in South America as an extended booze cruise? Consider Voluntary Service Overseas. VSO has a programme aimed at 18 to 25-year-olds called Global Exchange, where a group of students spend half a year working on projects in each other鈥檚 countries.
Use your passport
鈥淵ou鈥檒l find new opportunities, new perspectives and may find your ideal job was not the one you thought,鈥� says science presenter Ben Valsler, who moonlighted on local radio while teaching science to children in Thailand. He attributes his DJing success to the fact that his listeners could not understand a word he was saying.
Develop a philosophy
If not your own, read a bit more and nick someone else鈥檚.
Build yourself a website
Advertise yourself on a website you designed and built yourself. 鈥淢y son鈥檚 fall-back plan is to create a website and see if he can earn some money from it,鈥� says Graham Roberts, a managing director at engineering consultancy Atkins. 鈥淎s a student you鈥檙e already broke, so you鈥檝e got nothing to lose.鈥�
聯As a student you鈥檙e already broke, so you鈥檝e got nothing to lose聰
Teach English as a foreign language
There is a vast array of TEFL courses out there, which can be taken in the UK or abroad. It offers a great opportunity to dip your toes into the teaching profession, while providing a potentially life-changing immersion in an exotic culture.
Keep an open mind
Flip a burger, pull a pint and wait on tables. True, it might not have been part of your five-year plan but it will pay the bills while you look for something more long-term, and who knows which CEOs you might end up serving.
Cultivate hidden talents
Perform your secret stand-up routine at your local open-mike night. Semi-celebrity physicist Brian Cox played keyboard in 90s band D:Ream while studying for a degree in particle physics. Comedian Ben Miller started a PhD in quantum physics at the University of Cambridge and Brian May of Queen completed his PhD in astrophysics in 2007. Apparently, it also helps if you鈥檙e called Brian.
Run a marathon
It feels amazing, you can raise lots of money for charity, and the training can help you run off out-of-work anxiety. Be warned, when you finish, you鈥檒l never want to taste Lucozade again.
Explore the depths鈥�
Fly to Thailand and do a scuba-diving course. Then do another one, then another, until you鈥檙e qualified to teach. Stay and teach indefinitely until bored/out of funds/imprisoned for inadvertently insulting the king.
鈥r the peaks
As above, but swap Thailand for the Alps and your fins for skis.
Take evening classes
An introduction to existentialism through to beginner鈥檚 Greek by way of life-drawing could help you continue your pursuit of knowledge beyond the lecture theatre. Even if it doesn鈥檛 lead you to a job, your speed-dating conversation will improve no end.
Tee-total your way out of the red
One month of abstinence could pay off a chunk of your student debt, or fund a trip to your European destination of choice.
Work on Plan B
It鈥檚 psychologically and practically sensible to have a back-up plan. If you cannot get on a graduate scheme then aim to get any job within the sector and continue to apply for schemes while you鈥檙e working. Getting a foot in the door 鈥� no matter how far 鈥� is half the battle.
Fall in love
Forget about real life 鈥� temporarily.