Start thinking about your career now...it sounds simple but it’s important says Simon Bason, Careers Manager.

Employers, when interviewing students, expect them to have really thought about why they want the job. Questions that they will ask will include:

  • Are they motivated to join us?
  • Have they thought about what they will be doing if they work here?
  • Do they understand the environment in which we operate? 
  • Will they fit in with the other people who work here?

To answer these questions well, you will need plenty of time to gather the relevant information. You also need to have time to have thought about what you have learnt and ‘make sense’ of it.

It will be very useful to take opportunities to hear yourself articulate this in a conversation by discussing it with family, friends or colleagues. Listening to yourself  talk about what you have researched and learnt about a company is important, you do not want the first time you answer the question “why do you want to work for our organisation” to be at that interview. Like any performance you will want to have practiced it first for it to feel authentic and convincing and for you to feel confident.

Gathering information can seem daunting but remember it is easier to gather your information in small chunks rather than to try and cram it all at once. There are strategies you can start using now to help you do this.

Research

Commercial awareness is a capability all organisations look for. Follow the business news across a number of different platforms so that you can build a balanced picture. There are a diverse range of resources in the public domain such as Bloomberg TV, Financial times as well as business information that is fed out via social media. Warwick Business School students also have access to a wide range of excellent business databases and industry reports via The University of Warwick library which are invaluable when building up a picture of a company or market.

Start to really understand the sector you are interested in by reading widely, and thinking about questions such as "what is driving the growth here?" or "what are the challenges being faced?" and "how have companies innovated to deal with the changing conditions?"

Get face to face

Getting out into the market and talking to people who work in the sector really helps. Be proactive and perhaps contact companies directly. Tell them you want to learn about the industry and ask if you could come and see them and discuss the sector and their organisation. You will be surprised how many people will say "yes", many were students once too and remember what it was like when they began their careers.

Be informed

We will be running a series of webinars for incoming Masters students in July, focusing on how you can develop your career throughout your studies, but don’t forget it’s never too early to start thinking about, researching and crafting your career goals.

To find out more about career support visit our individual course pages or The University of Warwick Skills & Student Development site.
 

Tiffany describes how the career support at WBS helped her secure her internship