Welcome to our new students

Welcome to our new students A warm welcome to all our new students from Anne Wilson, Head of Careers.. You may be thinking a careers post is just a little bit premature; you’ve barely had time to unpack, settle in, make friends or borrow some coffee. Fear not â€" we’re not here to tell you what to do with the next 30 years of your life, we just want to make sure you enjoy the next 3! We’ve scratched our collective heads and have come up with a  top 10 tips  to help you make the most of your Warwick experience. And they may just help you get a job too at the end. Follow your passions. Join at least one  club or society. Explore your curiosity, try something new or use your existing talents in a new and creative way. You might enjoy it so much that you decide (a bit later on) to pitch for an exec or leadership role. This will give you plenty to talk about when it comes to future applications and interviews. Use  myAdvantage  in order to access and book one of the 100s (yes, 100s) of activities we run: skills sessions, careers events, appointments, employer presentations and fairs. And that’s before we get to vacancies and internship opportunities. Customise your profile and set your preferences to receive the weekly newsletter and job alerts. Develop your skills. What would you like to improve or develop? Have you had had a long standing, deep-seated fear of presentation skills and are dreading your first seminar? Don’t suffer in silence â€" our skills programme is designed to help. And you could even get an  award! Find work experience. The single most influential activity which recruiters look for is evidence of work experience. This may be related to your career interests but, remember, any experience is better than none. It’s also a great way to ‘try before you buy.’ Our Placement Learning Unit can support you and if your experience is unpaid you may be eligible for our  bursary. Volunteer. It’s a way to do something worthwhile and there are a variety of ways you can ‘make a difference’ to others. A bonus is that you will also develop skills graduate recruiters value Meet a graduate recruiter! We offer a vast array of  employer events  during the academic year (215 and counting) from large careers fairs, sector events in the autumn and spring terms through to employer presentations. It’s a great way to meet recruiters and explore the opportunities available to Warwick graduates. See a careers consultant. If you have no idea what you want to do (and don’t worry â€" that’s probably most of you) this a great time to see a careers consultant and get the ball rolling. You’ll find one linked to your  department. We are happy to see students at any stage of their career thinking â€" from absolutely clueless to focussed and driven. Begin with the end in mind. Time invested finding out who you are and what matters is time well spent. The more self-aware you are, the more informed your choices will be later on. If you get stuck, look at the resources on  Warwick Advantage. Get involved. If you want to make a difference to the quality of your fellow students experience (and your own), consider becoming an  SSLC representative. When youve found your feet, you could even apply for one of our careers reps posts next summer. And if youre feeling really bold or fired up, start campaigning Enjoy yourself! You’ll only do this once (probably) so make the most of it. Have fun, make friends, get stuck in and the rest will follow.