Career Advice For College Students

Although, many young people are of the thought that they do not have the time in college, that is a wrong notion. College is the chance you get to do and start working in line with what your chosen career is; because you have the theoretical knowledge, it becomes more easier for you to be pragmatic. Being a student also opens to you platforms that might be difficult for others to get as long as you are ready to forgo financial rewards.  Doing this can help you better prepare and ensure you’re ready for any professional opportunities post-graduation.

College can give you many opportunities to help in starting your professional career. During this time, it is important that you focus on your career aspirations, plan for the future and also put into consideration any suggestions that can help you advance in your chosen field.

It is quite unfortunate that not many young people are opportune to have access to advices and guidelines like this while in college so count yourself lucky to be reading this article at this time. As you take the advices embedded in this article, you also want to check out Nigeria job site to start checking out jobs that suit you and you can apply for.

College is a great opportunity to learn life skills; it is also a time when you’re surrounded by several resources and individuals ready to help you advance in your field. As a college student, taking career advice in particular can help you feel more equipped upon graduation. It can also help you become more confident in your skills and ensure you’ve chosen the right field as well as guide you toward making helpful career decisions.

Here are 10 tips to help you prepare for your future career while you’re in college:

  1. Seek internship opportunities
  2. Take time to learn alot
  3. Attend events or career workshops
  4. Network
  5. Get involved in your school’s societies and workshops
  6. Create opportunities
  7. Take up volunteering roles
  8. Strive for excellence and stay motivated
  9. Work on your CV
  10. Find companies on social media
  1. Seek internship opportunities

To get Nigeria jobs, experience is very important and one of the ways in which you can gain hands-on experience is by interning. Meanwhile, for you to benefit from your internship, you have to ensure that you intern at an organization that suits your chosen career. For example, if you want to build a career in On Air presentation, then you should intern in a broadcast media house where you can learn the needed skills, charisma, voice management, etc needed as an On Air Presenter and not a book publishing company.

Here are some ways in which you can find an internship opportunity:

  • Network: Let your professors, classmates, family, friends and your academic advisors know you are in search of an internship opportunity, tell them your interests and ask them to inform you should they know any you will be interested in.
  • Attend career or internship fairs:  Many companies use career fairs to recruit and hire candidates. These events are a great way to get face-to-face with prospective employers.
  • Do some internet research: Many companies post internship openings on internship or career websites. You can also check company websites for relevant opportunities.
  • Contact employers: Find a company that you’d be interested in interning for and contact their human resources department. They can let you know if they’re seeking interns and what the qualifications are.
  1. Take time to learn a lot

While in college, you might be tempted to focus squarely on your academics, of course that is the reason you are in school. However, you should not limit your learning to what you are taught in class only. Take time to learn as much as you can even beyond what you are studying in school.

In Nigeria today, things have changed from how they used to be, an engineer now works in the banking industry, a microbiologist now works in the media, this is because there are limited job opportunities. Having adequate knowledge in other fields affords you the opportunity to take up a job different from what you studied and also presents you as a versatile candidate to your recruiter.

  1. Attend events or career workshops

Never underrate the importance of career workshops and events. As a young person who is building a career in a field, you need the help of established figures in that field to help you navigate through getting success in your career and one of the ways you can meet with and connect with these people is via organized workshops or seminars.

This makes your connection much more personal and if you are able to successfully get their attention, you can then request to connect with them on their social media platforms.

Meanwhile, some organizers provide a session in events where you can meet personally with these invited guests or speakers.

  1. Network

“Your network determines your net-worth”, this saying though has been underrated has a lot of wisdom embedded in it. The quality of people you know determines how much quality you get. As a student you need to begin to grow your network even while you are in school, this will help you greatly after school and for job search. How then do you grow your network? By attending events and workshops as earlier explained and on social media. For social media you have to ensure that your timeline and profile is tidy enough to attract professionals to you, you need to learn how to use social media for job search.

  1. Get involved in your school’s societies and clubs

Many college students have failed to understand the importance of becoming a member of societies and clubs while in school. While some see it as a playing ground, some see it as a place for people who do not have fun. These societies and clubs organize events where they invite professionals to speak and coach students there by preparing them for life after school. Some if not all of these speakers already work high paying jobs in Lagos, Abuja, etc.

This can also be a good platform for you to network and meet quality people. Clubs like Rotary, Lions Club, JCI, etc are clubs that student s are encouraged to attend and participate in their activities for career building.

  1. Create opportunities

Outside of seeking traditional opportunities, consider creating your own. For example, you can create a blog, a photography business or an online course that can help you gain experience and skills relevant to your field. These opportunities can also improve your soft skills, such as leadership skills or communication skills, which are beneficial in several industries.

  1. Take up volunteering roles

Volunteering is another way to build your career and gain hands on experience for job employment after school. Unfortunately, many students no loner want to offer services or knowledge for free in the name of volunteering forgetting that needed experience will be required for them to get a job when they finally get out of school.

Even if you are unable to get a big organization or company to intern with, find a small organization or non-governmental organization to practice what you have learnt with, by so doing you learn in the job and get better at it before graduation, this will give you an edge over other fresh graduate candidates who have little or no experience,

  1. Work on your CV

Do not wait until you are out of school before you start working on your CV, work on it now. You never can tell when a job opportunity will come knocking, you should start putting your little knowledge and experience gained together on your CV while you are in school. This will better prepare you from any opportunity that might emerge and of course provide you with a skeletal representation to improve on as you get better on the job.

By Deborah Yusuf

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