Skill Up: Life After University

University is absolutely one of the best experiences you can have. It teaches you how to survive on your own, gently nudges you towards adulthood and hopefully tips you out at the other end with a decent degree you can show off to potential employers.

However, it would be a mistake to think that once university is over, the learning is over too. Sure, you might not choose a path where essays and exams are expected of you, but this doesn’t mean that you should stop building up your skill set. Your dream job won’t just drop into your lap, you need to keep grafting.

Employers are impressed by degrees in all kinds of subjects, but if you really want to nail that interview, you will need to show that you have various skills to offer as well as the willingness to learn.

Take Courses and Learn at Home

Many degrees are now much more vocational and angled towards particular career paths but many students still choose more academic courses such as English Literature, any of the Sciences or Maths. While these courses give you an excellent foundation, an employer might be looking for an additional something to show that you are capable of transferring your skills.

For example, if you are an English Graduate wanting to go into marketing, taking a short course in marketing basics could be a good way to stand out from the crowd. You could either find a course local to you or you could try home learning with Avado Learning to get where you want to go.

Build Your Skill Set with Different Experiences

Building your skill set takes time but luckily for you, there are plenty of ways and means to show different skills as well as other sides to your character. When you come out of university and have that final long summer, take the opportunities you can to explore different things.

Traveling is a great option if you can afford to do it and interrailing is really popular with graduates as you can get around cheaply and see a lot. Joining clubs or groups is also an ideal way to show that you are willing to get involved with new things and that you are a team player.

There is no one way to build a skill set but when you start to think laterally, there are all kinds of things you can talk about in an interview that will show various soft skills.

Share Your Skills

Though the focus is on building your own skill set, teaching others is a big part of working up the ladder and sharing your skills with colleagues is a really good idea. Not only will you show that you are a team player with plenty to offer, but you are also more likely to get offers from others to teach you too.

University might be over but you should be ready to learn throughout your life. The world is always changing and you need to be ready to keep up.

Disclaimer: this is a collaborative post.