The End of a Degree: Employment

In coming to the end of my bachelor’s degree I was faced with the question: what next? It was difficult to imagine at the beginning of my degree that I would ever finish it, let alone that it would come to an end as fast as it did. Yet here I am a degree almost under my belt and the future wide open. There are many avenues one can explore when it comes to the end of a bachelor’s degree, in this series I will focus on the big three: a master’s degree, a gap year, and employment. This final blog will turn its attention to the opportunities for those choosing to go straight into the workforce after their bachelor’s degree.

To those of you who aim to enter the workforce straight after your bachelor’s degree, I commend you. To me, the concept of working is very daunting and something I am probably going to try and put off until I am extremely overqualified. However, after some research, there are ways I believe that the process of finding employment can be made less daunting.

It has been recommended that career preparation and planning happens throughout your bachelor’s degree. At this point, the tasks of refining one’s academic and career interests are of great importance. Whether it be learning about opportunities in fields of interest or developing self-determination and an impressive resume, this preparation is key to a smooth transition into the workplace. Moreover, many universities such as Leiden have career services that are dedicated to the task of preparing one for employment. The career service at Leiden offers personal advice and guidance about internships and jobs as well as workshops in career planning, job applications, and interview skills. All of which greatly help in the process of job hunting. Furthermore, universities often offer career events or job fairs where one can learn about how to find the job you want.

Photograph from https://careerzone.universiteitleiden.nl

A well-recommended stepping stone into the workforce is internships. Internships not only provide you with the required work experience and insight into a job, but they are also a great way for you to test out your interests and slowly get into the rhythm of working a 9 to 5 job. Finding internships can sometimes seem like going into battle, with many candidates all competing for the prized position of being an intern. Nevertheless, there are ways to make this task easier as well. The top websites for finding an internship as listed by Forbes are:

• LinkedIn where you can create a profile for people to view your qualifications and interests regarding employment or internships

• Glassdoor gets internship listings from several sources and partnerships.

• Your school’s job listing site and alumni network where alumni post internship listings or contacts for these internships.

• com which displays over 100 000 internship offers.

• Global Experiences which provides genuine work experience in foreign cities. However, here the interns pay instead of getting paid.

Photograph from rawpixel.com

Overall, employment can be overwhelming and tedious but it has always been one of the main reasons we started our endeavour into a bachelor’s degree in the first place. In all truth, if we weren’t scared by employment I think there would be something misplaced in us. To be daunted by working is understandable but the job itself can be viewed as exciting and a new adventure to you. So, I wish you luck in your pursuit of employment, may it be smooth and fulfilling at every step.