Congratulations — you got your offer for university, and you’re getting ready to start. Your plans so far consist of freshers, making friends, and pretending like you’re going to study. The list probably does not consider your career, because that’s at the end of university, and you’ve only just begun, right? WRONG! Your career starts from the day you start university.
Here are our top tips to make the most out of your first year of university:
1. Start doing your research
No matter what degree you study, your hopes by the end of it is to score a job somewhere. Right now, that place might not be clear. You might not even know what area you want to go into, never mind the company you’d like to work for. This is the time to start your research. You don’t want to get to your third year, and still have no idea where you’re headed. It’s just research at this point. No life decisions will be made. But it’s important you start somewhere.
2. Insight days
In your first year of university, insight days are key to get an insight into various companies or career paths. Larger companies usually host insight days or networking evenings for first year university students. You might think it’s too soon, but it’s not — these events are vital to securing your second-year internship, but also, to help you form your decision regarding your career choice.
3. Study
Everyone always says “first year doesn’t count”, this is NOT TRUE, you still need to pass! So, our advice is study. Don’t kill yourself studying, but make sure you do enough to at least pass the year. You might think this is easy but there’s a bit of adjusting to do from A-Levels, so figure out your study style and make sure you get those grades. If you start well in your first year, you can set the tone for the rest of your time at university. Good grades are important, you don’t need to necessarily get a first, but many companies have 2:1 as a minimum requirement — keep that in mind.
4. Get involved with extra-curricular/societies
If there’s one thing you do in your first year at university, then let it be getting involved with extra-curricular activities/societies. University has societies for everyone, from sports to movie society or even a culture or faith-based society. Believe me, this is the one thing that will help you in interviews. Especially if you don’t have any work experience in your first year. Questions in interviews generally test your competencies (skills), for example, leadership skills or resilience. Being part of a society or doing extra-curricular activities, gives you something to talk about, bonus points if you can be a society committee member. You can continue with these in second year university, but by third year university it’s likely you’ll want to focus on getting those top marks. So, be a yes (wo)man, and get involved — there’s a load of opportunities out there, and they’ll do wonders for your career.
5. Have fun
Finally, enjoy yourself! Don’t stress about your first year. It’s important, but your world won’t come crashing down if you miss out some things from this list. First year can be daunting for many people, and it takes a while to get settled, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself, but at the same time make the most out of every opportunity. You only have one university experience, so make it a great one!
Gradgurus wishes you a fantastic first year — keep an eye out for our events in the upcoming year so in the future you can thank you for being proactive with your career.
