What to do if you are wondering "what next" after degree

 It can sometimes be a confusing period for graduates after completing their first degree and are wondering what next. Maybe it could be the cause of a lax mindset when attending career seminars on campus or the buoyant competition for the few JOBS available. However, what many graduates in this position may not realize is that being a graduate is powerful and many employers and recruiters know about this. Even from a generalized perspective, a graduate still has the skill and orientation that a non-graduate does not have or has yet to acquire.

A university education may not make anyone a better employee but the acquired employable traits are what employers and recruiters first determine when recruiting for employees. Graduates should know that they already have these skills and stand at a better chance amongst non-graduates.

A skill such as pitching of information has the confidence of employers from graduates since they know that all courses in college have sessions for presentations or topic discussions. Employers know that graduates have an experience of orally presenting information and debating which can be translated in the work environment.

A university education also gives even if by a token, the knowledge of cautious INVESTMENT. Arguably, if a graduate decided to invest heavily on higher education, then it shows there willingness to work towards a certain goal after making a substantial INVESTMENT. Having this experience is what recruiters entrust on.

This may not necessarily be found within all graduates but to a significant proportion emotional intelligence can be said to have been acquired in college. A student who lived amongst new people with whom he or she had to establish a relationship and work together, is a good indicator of possession of good if not proficient communication skills. This to employers is also a confident indicator that they have worked in a team which is required partially if not totally in the work environment.

Whether pursuing a course in Psychology or IT, every graduate has had an experience of planning and structuring documents. This also includes their experience in research, time management, critical and organizational skills. By the end of course training any graduate should have this skills and experience from their many projects and test examinations. It is almost certain for employers that graduates have such skills in place which are critical in employment.


The JOBS

After a clear understanding of their soft skills which can give a slight advantage, graduates should know that there are JOBS they can do despite their background training.

Some of these JOBS include but are not limited to:

Finance and professional services

Any graduate can implement on financial services as long as they are comfortable with dealing with numbers. This is because finance entails a variety of other services except accountancy which an arts or humanities graduate can deliver such as: auditing, consultancy, retail banking, insurance and pensions. This list and many more can be learnt on JOB training and finance schemes undertaken to train graduates.

IT Professionals

Graduates from various areas of study can work as non-technical IT professionals. These are professionals who may work as consultants, analysts or product managers and do not need to have programming or high-level computing backgrounds. Organizations in the IT field do recruit such workers whose focus is on the client and end-users and not on the engineering and development work.

Management

It can be perceived as a motley ‘affair' where graduates whose study backgrounds don't have any relation can be trained. As long as a graduate is smart and organized, he or she can stand a chance to receive training from organisations that conduct general management schemes. Simply put these are the companies in various industries who train on how to manage business in their respective industries such as consumer goods, manufacturing, retail, supply and logistics.

 It should then be an eye opener for any graduate concealed to the belief that a first degree does not ‘pay off'. It may not have landed you a JOB immediately but it has you already equipped for the job market and a prospect for private employment agencies.