Career Readiness After University

Graduation is coming: are you prepared for the world of work after you graduate? King's can help.

Wondering how to grow your network and build job experience in university? Here are some tips from King's University College to help you build your professional network, gain valuable job experience, and discover a career path that's right for you!

1. Attend your school's networking events

The first and most important step is to put yourself out there! It can be intimidating at times to try new things, but take a deep breath, be confident in yourself, bring a friend if you'd like, and get out to the networking events held by your school.

Whether it be program specific networking nights, alumni networking socials, or even a local job fair at your city — go out and get involved. These events can be extremely helpful to meet professionals in your field of interest, learn about different jobs that you may not have known about, and it's great practice for you on how to conduct yourself in a professional environment.

2. Utilize on-campus supports

Most schools will offer different support to students after graduation; the most notable being career counselling. Career counselling is an extremely beneficial tool that students should utilize throughout their academic career, not just in their graduating year.

By meeting with career counselling early on, you can:

• dig into your areas of interest
• your skill set
• outline different tasks, certifications, courses, etc., that may be helpful

Career counselling can better prepare you to find employment after graduation. It's also beneficial to students who may not know what they'd like to do after university. Meeting with your campus' career counselling specialist can help you to identify your capabilities and help you find career options that play to your strengths and interests.

3. Explore employment opportunities on campus

Your campus will offer plenty of employment opportunities to students. These jobs can range from internships, to co-ops, to part- or full-time employment. The benefit of working in conjunction with your campus is that your employer understands that your education is the highest priority. This is especially helpful for scheduling your working hours around your class/exam schedule, but is invaluable when your employment uniquely reflects your personal interests and career aspirations.

College or university is the perfect time to explore different careers, so try out things you're interested in and make sure they're a good fit for you. Programs that have experiential learning or practicums built in are especially good for this as it gives you a taste of what you can expect after graduation.

At King's, we offer a program called Catholic Studies for Teachers which allows our students to experience a classroom placement prior to attending teacher's college. Our Social Work program also offers students over 700 hours of practicum placement. You can learn more about the many different programs we offer at King's on our site.

4. Get involved in extracurriculars

Getting involved in extracurriculars — clubs, sports, volunteering, etc. — helps build your experience as well as develop skills helpful for future employment.

For example, maybe you were the treasurer of your campus History club: this experience could have given you meaningful skills that will help in your future employment; the ability to budget, have financial foresight, keep detailed and organized records and reports, and anything else that may be relevant to your role.

Joining extracurriculars is a great way to meet other students with similar interests as you. You never know who your future colleagues may be: it's important to present yourself well in every kind of collaborative environment.

At King's, we offer an additional opportunity for first year students called The King's Promise. This is a four-year co-curricular program which will guarantee students meaningful employment within six months of graduation. If you don't get a good job in six months, you can return to King's for an additional year of courses and campus-based support at no cost.

The King's Promise has many career readiness supports built in over your four year degree. You can learn more about the King's Promise on our website.

We hope to help support your future career aspirations here with us in the fall!