Hi all! Welcome to Skills Week, where I (Madelaine) will be running through the nuts and bolts of how you can best set yourself up for the world of work. Don't worry; I'm easing you into it, as today I'll be running through all of the things you can get up to on campus that will teach you tons of skills that employers look for!
Hi all! Welcome to Skills Week, where I (Madelaine) will be running through the nuts and bolts of how you can best set yourself up for the world of work. Don't worry; I'm easing you into it, as today I'll be running through all of the things you can get up to on campus that will teach you tons of skills that employers look for!
Starting off with the obvious one: part-time work. Between and , there are over 1000 part-time jobs available on campus! Whether you fancy working in the evenings at one of the bars (which will teach you customer relation skills, the ability to work in a busy and demanding environment, along with much more), or selling the university to prospective students as a Student Ambassador (hello public relations experience, hello project delivery skills), there is simply a massive range of roles about. The best part is that all of these help you develop transferrable skills, so you don't have to take on a job that's exactly what you want to do in the future.
Maybe you want to try your hand at ? Much like the part-time jobs on campus, there are opportunities galore. Whether you want to try a summer role, abroad, full-time for a whole month, or give an hour or so each week, volunteering is a flexible way to develop skills and give back to the local community, or even further afield! Take a look at the Royal Holloway Volunteering Hub, and you'll see just how many different ways you can get involved.
Right here at the Students' Union, we host , with sports clubs, societies, and academic and inclusion communities all offering student leadership positions, from committee members to community officers, from Treasurers to Wellbeing Secretary. Each of these roles offers a unique opportunity to build skills, and develop experience of real-world tasks - ever filled in a risk assessment? That's legislative compliance. Ever balanced a budget for a society event? Well, that's one for the CV! Ever handled a sponsorship deal? You see where I'm going with this?
The truth is, there are so many different ways to gain skills. They don't need to be big fancy placements or official schemes. Don't sell yourself short by leaving things off your CV that will really help show what you can do. Don't be shy to talk about non-conventional experience in interviews, or in your cover letter. This is the stuff that paints the full picture of who you are, and the skills you have.
On that note, don't forget to come along on Friday, from 10:30 to 12:30 in Tommy's Lounge! There will be coffee, tea, and a chance to talk through your roles, experiences, to best set yourself up for sending out that CV.
E-See you tomorrow for another blog (yap), where I'll be unpacking summer internships and all that comes along with them.