With exam season ending, there’s so much out in store for you to explore over the summer. Whilst there's festivals and concerts to go to, there's no reason why you shouldn't use the summer to get serious and get productive.
Apply for internships
It is more important than ever to have some form of work experience before you graduate. Working in industry helps you make well informed decisions about your career and your life. There’s so many different ways to get work experience nowadays – summer placements are becoming more and more popular. Of course the hunt for internships will be difficult but the more placements you apply to, the higher the chances of you getting an interview/securing the job!
There’s so many websites out there for you to apply for, such as Internwise, StudentJob and LinkedIn (you should get yourself a LinkedIn profile if you don’t have one, by the way)
Some of these internships tend not to ask for too much from you; some will ask just for to be an enrolled university student with good communication skills.
Right now, I’ve nearing the end of a 9 month placement with the Student Engagement Team right here at the University. If you’re interested in working as a student intern, applications will open at the beginning of the academic year.
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Get a summer job
Just before I started my first year, I barely had any actual work experience. I mean, there was always the odd volunteer jobs I did at college and secondary school, but it came to a point where I needed to support myself financially and try something different. That’s why over the Summer of 2018, I applied for as many retail jobs as possible through websites such as Indeed, Totaljobs and E4S. Even if you haven’t ever had a job, there will be something for you to apply to. In fact you can work at the clothes shop Next – retail experience is not required at all and would be perfect as a first job.
There’s even recruitment agencies that offer flexible jobs in catering and retail, such as Blue Arrow. With their help, I got to work at Wembley Stadium last July until November.
Take up a new hobby
All this free time until October means you could take up a new skill. It can be absolutely anything; cooking, photography or yoga. For example I taught myself how to use Audacity, which is audio editing software. For a long time I’ve always wanted to make mashups and remixes of my favourite songs, and through countless tutorials, I’ve managed to make over 100, in the space of a year.
Have a great and productive summer and see you in October!
