Continuing on from Part One in ‘How to Get Experience Without Experience‘.
Student societies
Getting involved with student societies isn’t just an enjoyable way of spending time with people who you share interests with, but can also help you to develop experience. Think about ways that you actively get involved with the societies you’re a member of – whether it’s helping to organise an event that they’re running or taking on a position of responsibility on their committee, employers have advised us that experience gained through student societies is a sure-fire way of making your application stand out. And if you’re not a member of a society already, then why not get involved with one!
Schemes for students from non-traditional backgrounds
Many of the largest graduate employers now run work experience schemes and insight days targeted at students from a non-traditional background, in order to try and improve the diversity of their workforces, which sadly still fall short of being representative of the country as a whole. We’ve blogged about Creative Access before, and if you’re disabled, LGBTQ+, a Person of Colour or from the first generation in your family to attend university, keep an eye out for similar opportunities! Even if it’s not with your dream employer or sector, the experiences and knowledge you’ll gain make them well worth considering.
You probably already have some
Even if you feel hopelessly under-qualified and uninspired, take comfort from the fact that you’re bound to already have some experience. The fact you’ll be acquiring a degree at one of the best universities in the UK for starters! Although do make sure that you sell your degree, and how it makes you an appropriate candidate for a position – whether that’s group projects that show you can work in a team, lab work that demonstrate your technical skills or a dissertation or modules you’ve taken that show how your areas of study align with the employer’s work, you need to do more than just list your degree and assume they’ll be impressed.
Other than that, think about part-time work you’ve done in the past, training you’ve completed, extra-curricular activities….think outside the box for ways you can demonstrate the skills employers are looking for, you’ll be surprised by how many of the things you’ve done in the past can be appealing to employers.
If you’re still concerned about how to gain experience, or how you can demonstrate what you’ve already acquired in job interviews, then do come in and talk to one of our Careers Consultants. On the day appointments can be booked online at www.kcl.ac.uk/careerconnect every day from 7:00.