10 Ways Your Degree Will Improve Your Employability

Is there anyway you can prevent going from this:



image credit Wake Forest University








To This!?














Let's face it. You joined university in the firm belief that a degree would enhance your employability job prospects. Why should you think any differently? That's certainly the impression that's given off from the prospectii and the mantras that a broadcast in all areas of society. Figures are wheeled out to show how you how your earning power in the long run is so much better than someone who hasn't got a degree. Well that's assuming you aren't carrying too much debt of course. And it assumes that are jobs available in the first place!

So how are you going to get a job after graduating especially in a recession?

There are differences of course with regard to the type of degree you have. If you have a degree based on the natural sciences or technology then its probably the case that you had a specific career in mind. The same goes for particular professional services such as accounting and law. It might also be the case that you see your degree as a step on the way to an academic research and /or teaching career. Where things become a bit less certain is with those degrees that cover what might be termed 'managerial' subjects.

There is a paradox with such degrees. They provide a young graduate with exposure to a raft of concepts tools and ideas which can be very helpful to business. The problem is they tend to be 'analytical and reflexive' and when trading is tough businesses want 'doers' not 'thinkers'. Not only that business graduates are caught in a cleft stick. Join a big corporate (even they aren't recruiting as much as they used to at the moment) and when they do you become a very small cog in the machine, you are a front line soldier expected to do the grunt work that the previous tranche of graduate starters now shovel your way. You will be beguiled with promises of career progression, expected to sell your soul and time to the company to find after 5 years you are simply a number in the company's 'Graduate Idol' competition where there is only one winner. On the other hand you can join a small entrepreneurial business. Usually the boss has his ideas and no time for 'fancy college' stuff. It's 'My Way or The Highway'. Invariably the entrepreneur wants to know you can help him sell 'more of his stuff'. You might have a fancy title but you'll have no power and you'll be judged by what you bring in not how fantastic your market analyses are.


So 10 Ways To Get A Job With A Degree:

1. Don't be gullible and expect your degree to get you a job

2. Use your connections in every way possible. Many graduates today come from families who aren't 'connected' in the same way that richer families are so this is a major problem.

3. Do something for a business that shows 'willing'. This doesn't mean being taken for a ride. It means exploiting the phenomenon of reciprocation. Help people and they tend to help you.

4. Volunteer. It might hurt financially in the short term but it shows your committed and it gives the prospective employer a chance to see you in action.

5. Really pay attention to social skills. Deference where its due. Don't go bragging about 'my degree' Earn a reputation as a problem solver and a safe pair of hands.

6. Listen. listen.listen. Offer alternatives and suggestions, not prescriptions and must do's. Forget the typical 'recruitment' and 'HR' advice for interview techniques. Everybody follows those tips so by definition you will not come across as 'different' or 'interesting'. Instead study sales presentation skills. These will enable you get across the reasons why anyone should consider employing you. Check out How To Persuade People To Buy From You for more ideas.

7. Set up your own business.

8. Use your bachelors degree to get a Masters Degree. Re-read 1-7 above.

9. Put the 'subject' of your degree to one side. Ponder on what the experience of higher education has given and translate that into 'benefits' for an employer. i.e.what can you 'do' for them with your research, team work, presentation skills

10. In an interview spend alot of time asking about the interviewers business/organisation. (Be careful not to be patronising or appear as a consultant)Uncover problems and challenges they face, THEN match your skills and knowledge to them as solutions. Use phrases such as 'so am I right in understanding...', 'one thing you might do in that situation is...'

11. BONUS tip. Avoid going into 'super salesman' mode at all costs. It won't wash and it will make the employer's toes curl. If on the off chance you are expected to be table thumping, hard nosed and brash then be very wary of the type of organisation you are getting into. In 9 cases out of 10 business are NOT looking for the next Apprentice In the UK The programme has been criticised in the media for suggesting that success in the business world requires possession of unsavoury qualities. Terence Blacker of The Independent newspaper, for example, said that he believed that the programme falsely linked success with being "nasty, disloyal, greedy and selfish, claims the Wikipedia article.

12 Super BONUS tip. Don't waste your time and emotional energy with recruitment companies. You will simply be treated as their commodity. They are not 'talent' spotters they are 'job' matchers. Do yourself a favour and put effort into direct approach and formal letter. By all means attach a resume/CV, but best of all give something of yourself in a biographic story that aims to connect with your prospective employer, and please don't say 'I liked the look of your web site'

Is A Degree Worth Anything In A Recession?

The simple fact is that possessing an undergraduate degree is less of a differentiator than it was in the past because more people have them. So you might think that a swimming certificate might be of more value to you when you are thrown into the employment deep end.

The UK government are throwing a lifebelt of sorts with their Internship idea, although like a real life belt this can only be a temporary life saver.

Recession doesn't mean that all jobs will evaporate, what it means is that employers will become more selective, and that means as always that the better candidate will be selected. Now, depending on the job that doesn't necessarily mean the best grade, but when large corporates are processing thousands of potential candidates grades are an obvious 'coarse screen'.

Don't be gullible and think that possessing a degree provides any right to employment. It is an indication of a general undergraduate level of education. Whilst this might lead to a degree (sic) of independent learning capability, critical, analytical and synthesising skills, these are only a small part of the 'know how ' that is needed to operate convincingly in a fierce commercial environment. Despite 'work experience' having a degree will not provide you with the skills that only experience can bring.

The problem with internships is that they suggest that somebody can 'continue their learning' whilst on the job. Do not for one minute think that this means a continuation of the benign and supportive learning university environment. More so in a recession the people expected to guide you will be full on concerned with keeping their jobs and not baby sitting a new graduate.

So in an interview be clear about what you can 'do' for the organisation and don't spew out platitudes such as 'good team working', 'enthusiasm', 'leadership', 'problem solving ability', 'presentation skills'. Just like a degree these are now just the table stakes for being allowed to play the employment game. What difference can you specifically make to outputs and key performance indicators of the company or department? Do you have any contacts that your prospective employer can use? Do you have research or information they can use? Can you bring customers or suppliers to your employer? Can you facilitate access to specialist know how?

Any business studies graduates out there need to wake up! Do you seriously think that your employers haven't heard about SWOT, PEST, Five Forces, Missions, Values, Slippage, Belbin, Myers Briggs, Forming Storming Norming and Performing, Suitability Feasibility and Acceptability, and the myriad of other managerial concepts covered in standard business tomes.

Its not what you know but who you know. These might just be the difference between sink or swim.

Read More:
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