Some people say the whole purpose of university is to get a job. Although this statement is bold, it underlines the significance of employability.
As real-world businesses today are more connected to students than ever, they have put a lot of emphasis on reaching out to current students, helping them discover their passion, and put their theoretical knowledge into practice in the workplace. There are a lot of career opportunities for students to explore regardless of your degree program at the University of Manchester. The University is greatly reputable and has well-established relationships with some of the biggest employers in the world. This platform is definitely a competitive advantage for developing your employability. However, it also implies that students who do not participate will be disadvantaged when competing with others.
The University of Manchester’s Career Connect is a website that provides employability supports such as CV checker, interview simulation and tons of useful resources for career planning. You can book one-to-one appointments with university’s career experts to talk about your questions. Career Connect also helps you gather many employer opportunities such as recruitment events and internships. It saves you a lot of time and effort. This is absolutely the best place to start to improve your employability.
Once you have developed a general career plan or direction you should spend reasonable amount of time to work on your CV and cover letter. You can start by brainstorming all the qualities and experiences that you have. Always remember, there is no such thing as a generic CV. You should also tailor your CV based on the roles that you are applying for. Make sure that you emphasize the requirements in the job description and research the company. Your experiences don’t have to be 100% professional, but relevant experiences will definitely be an advantage. Employers are not expecting you to know everything! Instead, you only need to demonstrate that you have the qualities that they are looking for. For example, my leadership and teamwork skills can be shown through my experiences as the basketball captain in high school. Employers also love to see people that are all-rounded, so do not be afraid to show how interesting you are!
Another process that intimidates many students is the psychometric tests. There are no shortcuts to these tests. The only way to get better and pass is to practice. Thankfully, the University of Manchester has partnered with multiple test providers, so that students can access the enormous question banks (even specific to each company!) with their university account for free! Not only that, you can also find support and guides of these online assessments on University’s career website.
There are lots of resources available for you to explore and improve your employability as we discussed in this blog. And there are much more waiting for you to discover. Don’t hesitate and get started now!
